Students with disabilities are disciplined at disproportionately high rates, despite federal laws designed to ensure disciplinary protection. We examine the association between disability and discipline using a novel approach, investigating whether behavior problems trigger special education referral, and if disciplinary outcomes change once students are enrolled. Using longitudinal data from an urban school district, we estimate lagged variance decomposition models that disaggregate the outcomes of special education services from the behavioral characteristics that prompt disciplinary responses. We find that (1) ongoing disruptive behavior leads to placement in special education and (2) receiving special education is associated with a reduced likelihood of punishment. Earlier identification is vital in order to treat, rather than punish, disruptive behavior.

尽管联邦法律旨在确保纪律保护，但残障学生受到的惩戒率却高得惊人。我们使用一种新颖的方法研究了残疾与纪律之间的联系，调查了行为问题是否会触发特殊教育转介，以及一旦招收学生后纪律结果是否发生变化。使用来自城市学区的纵向数据，我们估计了滞后方差分解模型，该模型将特殊教育服务的结果与提示学科反应的行为特征进行了分类。我们发现（1）持续的破坏性行为导致接受特殊教育，并且（2）接受特殊教育与减少惩罚的可能性有关。早期识别对于治疗而非惩罚至关重要，