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Sense of belonging has long been recognized as a fundamental psychological need and essential component of achievement motivation and socioemotional thriving. However, research on school belonging has only recently begun to examine the barriers to, supports for, and experiences of belonging among racially marginalized students of color within U.S. schools and universities. Further, motivation science has a limited understanding of what belonging means, how it is internalized, and what shapes it for such students of color. In this article, we evaluate the developmental trends in school belonging research conducted with racially marginalized student populations. Through our review, we identify and describe three distinct and consecutive trends of school belonging research: assimilationist, reformist, and sociopolitical, as well as the ideological and methodological characteristics of each trend. Further, we employ critical race and optimal distinctiveness theories as conceptual guides to assess the affordances and limits of each trend and how the literature has evolved across these three trends. Finally, we offer insights for responsibly advancing school belonging research in ways that authentically address the needs of racially marginalized student groups and honor the cultural and contextual nuance of their lived experiences.