Disparities in general education inclusion for students of color with disabilities: Understanding when and why

Abstract

Research on disproportionality in special education has largely overlooked how students of color with disabilities are less likely to spend time in general education classrooms than White peers with disabilities. Although disparities in general education inclusion for students of color with disabilities raise larger concerns about educational inequality within schools, when these gaps begin to emerge and what factors may explain them remain less understood due to methodological challenges. In leveraging individual-level administrative data from a large school district over a 10-year period, this longitudinal study found general education inclusion declines for all students as they age. However, Black students with disabilities experienced the least inclusion, whereas Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students with disabilities were included in the general education classroom more than Latinx and White peers with disabilities; this disparity was largely associated with academic test score differences and disability type.