Inequities at the intersection of race and disability: evidence from community colleges

We track the academic progress of students who had special education designations in high school as they enroll in and persist through community college, irrespective of disability disclosure. We disaggregate outcomes by disability incidence and race/ethnicity, and use critical quantitative methods (QuantCrit) and DisCrit as frameworks to explore how racism and ableism intersect to produce inequitable outcomes at college entry and as students persist in college. Despite similar prior academic achievement, Latina/o/x students with disabilities were more likely to be placed in developmental English, and Black students with low-incidence disabilities (e.g. visual, hearing, and physical impairments) were less likely to complete coursework. We discuss how institutionalized racism and ableism work together to create these outcomes.