Reexamining Disproportionality in Special Education: Evidence From New York City

• In Event: 51.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: 51.078-6 - Structural Inequalities in Schools

Abstract

The educational landscape for students with disabilities has undergone vast changes since the passage of federal legislation in 1975 and its subsequent reauthorizations. Most striking perhaps has been the growth in special education enrollment, which has led to the advent of persistent controversy in special education related to racial composition of students with disabilities, in particular whether or not there is over-representation of Black and Hispanic students. Using linear probability and hierarchical linear models on student level longitudinal data from New York City from 2006-2015, we find evidence that disproportionality varies by grade. We also find that disproportionality is predicted by the racial composition of the school—on average, the more number of White students, the more disproportionality there is.

Authors

• S. Sana Fatima, New York University

• Leanna Stiefel, New York University

• Joseph R. Cimpian, New York University