9.4 Diversity, Individual Differences & Social Justice Advocacy

Why Diversity and Social Justice Are Tested

The ETS outline's Equitable Practices section asks candidates to recognize the importance and influence of culture, background, and individual learning characteristics when designing and implementing interventions; to know the importance of working with community liaisons to understand the needs of diverse learners; to know the impact of personal beliefs and implicit and explicit bias (Section 9.2); and to recognize the importance of promoting fairness and social justice. The legal and ethical section adds advocating for children and families on issues such as disproportionality, poverty, access, and equity.

Dimensions of Diversity

The ETS outline lists many characteristics that shape how a student learns and how interventions should be designed:

Students hold several of these identities at once. Intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) describes how overlapping identities, such as being a Black girl with a disability, create experiences that differ from any one identity alone.

Cultural Competence and Cultural Humility

Cultural competence refers to the knowledge, awareness, and skills needed to work effectively across cultures. Cultural humility (Tervalon & Murray-García, 1998) adds a lifelong stance of self-reflection, recognition of power imbalances, and learning from families as experts on their own culture. In practice:

• Examine your own cultural assumptions and biases (Section 9.2).
• Ask families about their values, goals, and preferences instead of assuming.
• Recognize that individuals vary within every group; avoid stereotypes.
• Consider how history (for example, past discrimination by schools) affects trust.

Acculturation

Berry's model describes four acculturation strategies based on whether a person maintains the heritage culture and whether they participate in the new culture: integration (both), assimilation (new culture only), separation (heritage only), and marginalization (neither). Integration is generally associated with the best adjustment. Acculturation stress, differences in acculturation between parents and children, and experiences of discrimination can all affect behavior and learning.

Designing Culturally Responsive Interventions

Evidence-based interventions can be culturally adapted while keeping their core components:

• Surface-structure adaptations change materials, examples, names, images, and language to fit the audience.
• Deep-structure adaptations address cultural values, family roles, and beliefs that influence how the intervention is received.

Involving families and community members in planning, delivering services in the family's language, and aligning goals with family priorities improve engagement. Culturally responsive teaching and CR-PBIS (Section 9.2) apply the same principles schoolwide.

Working With Community Liaisons

Community liaisons (sometimes called cultural brokers or family liaisons) are people with ties to a community, such as parent coordinators, faith leaders, leaders of community organizations, or experienced staff from the same background, who help schools and families understand one another.

Both roles matter, but they should not be confused: a trusted community member is not a substitute for a qualified interpreter during testing.

Supporting Specific Groups

Immigrant and Refugee Students

• In Plyler v. Doe (1982), the Supreme Court held that states may not deny children a free public elementary and secondary education because of their immigration status. Schools should not ask about immigration status in ways that discourage enrollment.
• Refugee students may have experienced trauma (Section 6.5) and interrupted formal education. Assess for opportunity to learn before assuming disability.
• Newcomer supports, English language development, and family outreach through liaisons help students adjust.

LGBTQ+ Students

• National school climate surveys consistently find higher rates of harassment and lower feelings of safety among LGBTQ+ students, which are linked to absences and poorer mental health.
• Protective practices include enforced anti-harassment policies, supportive staff, inclusive curricula, and student clubs such as Gender and Sexuality Alliances, which are associated with safer school climates.
• NASP Standard I.2.5: school psychologists do not share information about a student's sexual orientation, gender identity, or transgender status with anyone without that individual's permission.
• Federal and state law and policy on gender identity in schools have changed repeatedly in recent years and vary by state. School psychologists follow current law and district policy while applying NASP ethical standards, and they raise conflicts through appropriate channels (Standard IV.2.3).

Religious Diversity

Respect for religious practices includes reasonable flexibility for holidays, dress, dietary practices, and fasting (which can affect test performance), and awareness of how beliefs may shape views of disability, mental health, and treatment.

Students From Low-Income Families

Poverty is a context, not a deficit. Connect families with resources (meals, health care, housing supports, McKinney-Vento services; Section 4.6), and avoid assumptions that low-income parents do not value education (deficit thinking, Section 9.2).

Gender and Identification

Identification rates vary by sex in ways that may reflect bias: for example, girls with ADHD (often inattentive presentation) and girls with autism are more likely to be identified late or missed. Consider how referral patterns may overlook students who do not fit stereotypes.

Fairness and Social Justice

NASP describes social justice as both a process and a goal: ensuring that every student's rights, opportunities, and well-being are protected, especially for those whose needs have been ignored or whose voices have been silenced. Practical targets include:

• Equitable identification: universal screening instead of referral-only processes for gifted programs and special education, which reduces bias from who happens to be referred.
• Access to rigorous coursework and advanced classes for underrepresented groups.
• Equitable discipline (Sections 5.4 and 9.2).
• Access to mental health services in school, without stigma.

The Ethical and Legal Basis for Advocacy

• NASP Standard I.3.2 directs school psychologists to work to correct school practices that are unjustly discriminatory or that deny students their legal rights.
• Standard III.2.3 makes the rights and welfare of children the school psychologist's highest priority and obligates them to speak up even when it is difficult.
• Standard IV.1.2 calls for promoting systems change and advocating for policies in children's best interests.
• NASP's definition of advocacy states that nothing in the code requires insubordination (willfully disregarding an employer's lawful instructions) or filing complaints with regulatory agencies as part of advocacy. Advocacy works through positive, legal channels: presenting data, proposing alternatives, and building coalitions.