Spatial Othering: Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline and Special Education

Keywords: Othering, spatial other, racial disproportionality, special education, school discipline
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 77

Abstract

In the US, Black, Latinx, and Native American students are disproportionately represented in behavioral outcomes (i.e., exclusionary school discipline and emotional/behavioral disorder [E/BD]) at a much higher rate compared to their white peers. This study examines racial disproportionality in a demographically changing suburban school district and its community, Riverside School District, in Wisconsin. While Riverside is growing more racially and economically diverse, Black students are 10 and 6 times more likely than their White peers to receive exclusionary discipline and are labeled with E/BD, respectively, compared to their white peers. Grounded in interdisciplinary scholarships drawing on literature in special education, critical geography, and educational policy, this study aims to unpack how larger systemic structures work together to spatially other racially and economically minoritized families and students. I used a qualitative case study to analyze how space is organized at three interconnected levels: city planning (organization of housing), school district planning (school attendance zones), and school discipline and special education practices (who can stay in general classrooms). Findings indicate that assumptions about problematic behaviors and disability are deeply rooted in perceptions of race relations that shape how historically minoritized students experience education. It seems acceptable and natural for educators to lump together differences in racial/ethnic group, economic status, and students’ residential areas with assumptions about behaviors, intelligence, and disability. Such assumptions reflect the legacy of segregation and racism that was built into Riverside as a suburban community.