Evaluating Special Education Services for Learners from Ethnically Diverse Groups: Getting it Right

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges in evaluating special education services for ethnically diverse groups is obtaining accurate, valid, reliable, and relevant information. This can be achieved by the right person asking the right questions of the right people in the right way at the right place and time. These deceptively simple requirements are discussed in the context of research studies evaluating special education services for indigenous Maori children in New Zealand. Examples of cross-cultural misunderstanding and miscommunication are described and strategies to avoid them are discussed.