School Racial Composition and Racialized Sorting into Special Education

• In Event: 3169 - Race and Segregation

Abstract

Schools differentially sort students into special education by race, though researchers continue to debate the extent to which this is caused by racist practices in schools, and the extent to which it is caused by variation in student need for services caused by other racial inequalities. Identifying the source of the racial disparities can reveal the role that schools play in creating racialized categories of disability, and the role of special education in racial inequality. Building on research that looks to school context as an explanation for racial disparities in special education receipt, I test the interaction between school-level racial composition and student-level race as a predictor of special education receipt. I find that as the proportion of White students increases, the risk of special education receipt for lower-status disability categories, such as intellectual disability, increases for Black, Latino, and, less consistently, Native American students. In contrast, as the proportion of White students decreases, White students’ risk of receiving special education for higher status disabilities, such as speech/language disability, increases relative to students of color. Thus, in the context of racial distinction, or standing out racially from a majority of peers, student race becomes salient to sorting into special education, constructing the intersection of disability and race, and reinforcing racial inequalities.

Author

• Rachel Elizabeth Fish, New York University