QuantCrit Analysis of Intersectional Disparities in Special Education: Examining Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Multilingual Status

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: CERECG SIG Round Table 3: QuantCrit and Interrogating Race in Quantitative Studies (Table 4)

Abstract

The Individual Disability Education Act (IDEA) prohibits special education eligibility decisions based on cultural/racial identity. However, Students of Color are still overrepresented in special education, particularly in urban school districts. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence of students receiving special education services based on middle school (6th–8th grade) students’ intersecting identities of gender, race/ethnicity, and multilingual status in six urban school districts using QuantCrit. Additionally, we used a phantom variable to examine the potential of anti-racist educators’ teaching practices to decrease the probability of students being overrepresented in special education. Findings revealed that Black non-multilingual and Latinx multilingual boys had increased probabilities of being overrepresented. Moreover, anti-racist educators can potentially mitigate the overrepresentation of students in special education.

Authors

• Sumaita Binta Salim, University at Albany - SUNY

• Nicholas S. Bell, University of Connecticut

• Yookyeong Park, University at Albany - SUNY