Alternative Education Placements: Differential Distribution of Odds Along Race, Class, and Gender

• In Event: Policing, Discipline Disparities, and Race in Schools

Abstract

Every year, approximately half one million students transition from traditional school settings into alternative education settings for “at risk” youth. While descriptive statistics show that Black, Latinx, and low-income students are disproportionately represented within alternative education settings, little is known about how risk of placement and the context of the placement decisions are differentially distributed amongst students’ race-ethnic, sex, and socioeconomic social categorizations. Using longitudinal observations on a cohort of Indiana students, this project examines students’ odds of experiencing an alternative education outplacement and placement for academic versus behavioral reasons. Preliminary findings suggest that students with statistically similar academic, behavioral, and demographic profiles face differential odds of placement along race-ethnic, sex, and socioeconomic categorizations. Study implications are examined in detail.

Author

• Kenya Iman Lee, University of Notre Dame