When categories change value: How new educational resources reshape patterns of inequality

Educational categories play a crucial role in shaping students’ access to resources, but we know less about what happens when resources associated with categories change. This study examines a policy change by the College Board that linked Section 504 plans for students with disabilities to SAT accommodations, offering a unique lens to explore how shifts in resources tied to an educational category impact its utilization and distribution. Using quasi-experimental methods and national data, I find evidence of a significant rise in 504 plan enrollment among high schools following the policy, with disproportionately larger increases in more affluent schools. However, socioeconomic differences between schools do not fully explain the change: even within the same schools, White students experienced significantly greater increases in 504 plan enrollment than their racial minority peers. Although 504 plans are designed to mitigate disability-related inequalities, responses to the policy change have simultaneously reinforced racial and socioeconomic disparities. This analysis reveals how educational categories evolve in ways that both contest and reinforce social inequality. Even as policies aim to direct compensatory resources toward disadvantaged groups, the evolving uptake of institutional categories tied to those resources can preserve or even enhance other types of educational disparities.