Classroom Segregation without Tracking: Chance, Legitimacy, and Myth in “Racial Paradise”

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

Using national, student-level data from Brazil covering 2011 to 2017, this article examines how racial classroom segregation arises without formal school tracking among Brazilian 5th and 9th graders. Findings indicate segregation by chance: schools initially place students into effectively random classrooms and then persist with these initial assignments even when they produce high segregation. The results align with the myth of racial democracy in Brazil, which legitimizes de facto segregation and weakens support for race-conscious desegregation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Classroom segregation and prior research

The Brazilian case and the racial paradise claim

Research approach and findings

Segregation by chance and mechanisms

Myth of racial democracy and legitimacy effects

AERA Open January-December 2023, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1–20 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584231176456 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2023. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Classroom Segregation without Tracking: Chance, Legitimacy, and Myth in “Racial Paradise” Josh Leung-Gagné Stanford University Though schools do not track in Brazil, I find that racial classroom segregation in Brazil is on par with recent estimates from North Carolina high schools (Clotfelter et al., 2020). How does racial classroom segregation occur without tracking, and ina supposed “racial paradise,” no less? Using national, student-level data spanning from 2011 to 2017, I describe racial classroom segregation among Brazilian 5th and 9th graders and assess potential mechanisms identified in the literature. The findings are consistent with segregation by chance in which (1) schools initially segregate students by using effectively random classrooms assignment practices and (2) schools choose to move forward with these initial assignments, even when they are highly segregating, rather than make race-conscious adjustments. This is consistent with the myth of racial democracy, a prominent colorblind ideology in Brazil that promotes the legitimacy of de facto racial segregation and undermines the legitimacy of race-conscious desegregation. Keywords: Tracking, Race, Sociology, Desegregation, Descriptive Analysis, Secondary Data Analysis, Demography, Random Segregation, Index Bias, Racial Democracy, Colorblind Racial Ideology Introduction Classroom segregation – how the grouping of students for whole-class instruction maps onto student characteristics – has long concerned education and inequality scholars who argue that it enables differential treatment within schools, particularly along racial and economic lines (Bowles & Gintis, 1976; Mickelson, 2001, 2015; Oakes, 1990, 1992, 2005) . To date, racial classroom segregation research has focused primarily on racial segregation that occurs downstream of segregation by academic status. These practices take the form of (1) tracking, where students are sorted for formally differentiated instruction explicitly on the basis of perceived ability for one or more subjects, with varying rigidity (i.e., varying interdependence of classroom assignments across subjects and grades), and (2) pseudo-tracking, which are practices that academically sort students into classrooms in ways that diverge from archetypal tracking in that instruction is not formally differentiated or perceived ability is not the sorting criterion. The latter can involve sorting by perceived ability without formal instructional differentiation or sorting by other academic criteria (e.g., by prerequisites, course schedules, past grade retention) . US high schools are particularly known for producing racial classroom segregation via tracking and pseudotracking, and for the charged debate surrounding these practices. A recent study in North Carolina provides a high quality and up-to-date benchmark of how much racial segregation occurs under tracking; there, white/black segregation among 10th graders has a Dissimilarity Index score (D) of.20 (vs. D = .06 among 4th graders) (Clotfelter et al., 2020) . Among racially diverse school systems, it is difficult to imagine a less likely place for racial classroom segregation than Brazil. Brazil does not formally track classrooms or have curricular differentiation programs like those that are tied to classroom segregation in the US (e.g., honors, gifted and talented, advanced placement) . Brazil also prides itself on higher cross-race interaction and the absence of de jure segregation in its history, with political leaders often evoking a favorable comparison to US segregationism and racial conflict and some going so far as to proclaim Brazil a “ra

FAQs

How can racial classroom segregation occur in Brazil without formal tracking?

The study argues that schools use effectively random classroom assignment and then continue with those initial placements, producing segregation by chance even without tracking.

What dataset and age groups does the research use?

It uses national, student-level data from Brazil covering 2011 to 2017 and focuses on Brazilian 5th and 9th graders.

How do the findings relate to Brazil’s ideology of racial democracy?

The results are consistent with the myth of racial democracy, which legitimizes de facto racial segregation and undermines the legitimacy of race-conscious desegregation.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam