What is the Larry P law?

In California, schools are not allowed to use IQ tests or standardized cognitive assessments to develop an IEP for an African-American or Black child. The ruling comes from a lawsuit in 1971 known as Larry P v. Riles in which the District Court of Northern California determined that the IQ tests used were biased toward labeling African-American children with intellectual disability (ID). Dr. Sarah Pelangka tells us, “Although the original intent was to not over-identify African-American students in SDC classes, the case law has almost had the opposite effect after all these years. Now, psychologists will just not administer any tests in the area of cognition. Many students often go undetected and, as a result, lose out on services. Many processing measures can be administered when considering African-American students for ID."

For more information about cognitive testing and alternatives, see our full article about intellectual disability.