Research studies have historically indicated that students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds are overidentified for special education, suggesting bias in referral, assessment, and placement practices. Other studies, however, have suggested that students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds are not overrepresented in special education or may be underidentified for services. There is a perceptual interpretive element in defining the problem of disproportionality, as the use of different data sets and analyses impact how both the problem and results are interpreted. The purpose of this manuscript was to examine the ways in which current studies analyze disproportionality through statistical methods, and to compare those analyses based on the conceptualization of covariates. An integrative systematic review of the literature builds on previous works that examine the issue of disproportionality.
A full canon of empirical literature shows that students who are African American, Latinx, or American Indian/Alaskan Native, and students who are male, diagnosed with disabilities, or from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to experience exclusionary discipline practices in U.S. schools. Though there is a growing commitment to mitigating discipline disparities through alternative programming, it is clear that disproportionality in the application of harmful discipline practices persists. The purpose of this literature synthesis was to examine the effectiveness of empirically studied school-based interventions in reducing disproportionality in discipline practices. We analyzed articles that assessed both prevention and intervention program effects using at least one outcome variable representing exclusionary discipline, either in the form of office discipline referrals or suspension/expulsion rates. Included studies used experimental, quasi-experimental, or observational research designs that disaggregated student outcomes by race, ethnicity, gender, disability, or other sociodemographic categories. We identified 20 articles meeting inclusion criteria, four of which provided direct evidence of disproportionality reduction using interaction terms. Results indicate limited evidence that available programs reduce discipline disparities and that common programs may function as a protective factor for White and female students while failing to do so for marginalized students. Findings identify promising areas for future research.
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