Disproportionate identification of special needs for ethnic and language minority students in England–patterns and explanations

Abstract

Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study, this article contributes to research on disproportionate special needs identification of ethnic and language minority students in England. It addresses the reasons behind such disproportionalities. By considering a comparatively broad set of indicators on students’ abilities, behaviours and exposure to risk factors, it examines if these indicators fully account for existing disproportionalities. Remaining discrepancies might hint at teacher bias and discrimination. Results indicate that overrepresentation of minority students within different special needs categories is fully explained by their exposure to risk factors, when a broad set of risk measures is considered. This also holds true for the overrepresentation of Black Caribbean students within the category of social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Underrepresentation, however, remains largely unexplained by students’ exposure to risk factors, school-related abilities and behaviours and even tends to increase when this information is considered. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2021.2002682 .