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Abstract
Issues of educational equity and opportunity cannot be understood without regard to special education, as a key response to disabilities, disadvantages, and difficulties. Likewise, globalization cannot be understood without regard to cross‐border migration and minority group status in society. Illuminating the nexus of these, research into disproportionality in special education, defined as the over‐ or under‐representation of particular ethnic groups in such programs, shows that this, too, has become a global phenomenon. Comparing Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the USA, this article explores international trends in migration and discusses the globalization of ethnic group disproportionality – as a primary indicator of inequity in education. We conclude by questioning the functions of special education in an era of globalization and identifying the challenges ahead that these findings indicate.