EXCLUSIONARY DISCIPLINE AND DISPROPORTIONALITY: PART 1
What is exclusionary discipline? It is any kind of discipline that removes a student from the learning environment. It can be sending a kid to the office, in-school suspension (ISS), out-of-school suspension (OSS) and expulsion. The use of exclusionary discipline in American schools has increased consistently over the past four decades, with suspensions and expulsions of secondary students up by almost 40% since the 1970s. A groundbreaking study from 2011 revealed that 60% of Texas students are suspended or expelled (Fabelo et al, 2011). While these practices were once reserved for only the most extreme behavior, usually involving the safety of students and staff, many of these punishments are now handed out for more minor infractions. In Texas, only 3% of removals were the result of conduct for which the state requires suspension or expulsion, while the other 97% were discretionary, based on local school codes of conduct (Fabelo et al, 2011). What is disproportionality? It is the over or under-representation of a particular race or group in a system, compared to their representation in the general population. Nationally disproportionality exists in rates of exclusionary discipline in K-12 schools. According to the latest Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) report, black students are 3.8 times more likely to be suspended than white students. Latino, indigenous, Pacific Islander and multiracial boys represent 15% of K-12 students, but 19% of students who receive out-of-school suspensions. Students with disabilities (those served by IDEA) are more than twice as likely to be suspended as their peers without disabilities. Black students are almost twice as likely as white students to be expelled. In Pre-K, black children represent 19% of the student population, but 47% of those suspended (US Department of Education, 2016). Yes, we are talking about 3 and 4-year-olds. In Austin ISD black students make up 8.2% of the student population, but represent 19.8% of ISSs and 22.4% of OSSs. Hispanic children make up 59.8% of the student population, but 68.4% of expulsions, while multi-racial children are 2.6% of the total population, but 5.3% of expulsions. Disabled children served by IDEA make up 10.1% of the students in the district, but 19.3 of ISSs, 23.8% of OSSs and 26.3% of expulsions. Multi-racial disabled girls are almost 10 times more likely to be suspended out of school than white disabled girls, while multi-racial disabled boys are 4 times as likely as white disabled boys. Disabled black girls are 5 times as likely to receive OSS than disabled white girls, while disabled black boys are suspended at a rate 3.5 times that of disabled white boys (US Department of Education, 2016). Research has shown that there are no significant differences in types or rates of misbehavior by different racial or ethnic groups. Nor does poverty explain racial disparities in rates of discipline (Skiba & Williams, 2014). What are the effects of exclusionary discipline? Research has shown various short- and long-term effects of school suspensions. Suspensions have a negative effect on student achievement, with the disproportionality of discipline contributing to the achievement gap. Even just one suspension can have long-term effects (Morris & Perry, 2016). Exclusionary discipline also negatively affects the achievement rates of non-disciplined students, even in otherwise safe and controlled schools (Perry & Morris, 2014). Students with just one suspension in secondary school double their chances of dropping out, while simultaneously significantly lowering their chances of enrolling in and completing post-secondary education (Balfanz et al, 2014). Suspension also increases the chances of a student becoming involved in the juvenile justice system and is a direct contributor to the school-to-prison pipeline (Fabelo et al, 2011). Stay tuned for Part 2 examining causes of disproportionality in discipline and alternatives to exclusionary discipline. Please share your thoughts, ideas and opinions in the Comments, by clicking on "Comments' under the title. Further information: “The hidden racism of school discipline in, in 7 charts”, http://www.vox.com/2015/10/31/9646504/discipline-race-charts The Equity Project at Indiana University, Discipline Disparities Collaborative http://www.indiana.edu/~atlantic/ Look up CRDC discipline reports for individual schools, districts and states here: http://ocrdata.ed.gov/DataAnalysisTools/DataSetBuilder?Report=6 References: Balfanz, R., byrnes, v., & Fox, J. (2014). Sent home and put off-Track: The antecedents, disproportionalities, and consequences of being suspended in the ninth grade. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 5: Iss. 2, Article 13. http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol5/iss2/13 Fabelo, T., Thompson, M., Plotkin, M., Carmichael, D., Marchbanks, M., & Booth, E. (2011, July). Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement. New York, NY: Council of State Governments Justice Center. https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Breaking_Schools_Rules_Report_Final.pdf Morris, E. W., & Perry, B. L. (2016). The punishment gap: School suspension and racial disparities in achievement. Social Problems, 63(1), 68-86. doi:10.1093/socpro/spv026. Perry, B. L., & Morris, E. W. (2014). Suspending progress: Collateral consequences of exclusionary punishment in public schools. American Sociological Review, 79(6), 1067-1087. doi:10.1177/0003122414556308 Skiba, R. & Williams, N. (2014, March). Are black kids worse? Myths and facts about racial differences in behavior. The Equity Project at Indiana University. http://www.indiana.edu/~atlantic/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/African-American-Differential-Behavior_031214.pdf U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. (2016). 2013–2014 civil rights data collection: A first look. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/2013-14-first-look.pdf U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. (2016). Discipline report for Austin ISD. Retrieved from http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Page?t=d&eid=30255&syk=7&pid=2001&Report=6
3 Comments
Michelle
4/29/2017 07:56:56 pm
This is disturbing. In my experience teaching in CA, decisions on suspension/expulsion were made at the administrative level. Is it typically the same here in TX?
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Larissa
5/2/2017 10:09:25 am
Michelle,
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Ingrid Ristroph
5/8/2017 01:52:47 pm
The status quo of racially disproportionate suspension needs our attention. Thank you for writing about it.
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AuthorMy name is Larissa and I am a graduate student at the University of Texas in the Learning Technologies Program in the Curriculum and Instruction Department of the College of Education. Archives
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