A preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of states’ non-suspension and non-expulsion policies

Abstract

The continual use of suspension and expulsion remains an unsettling concern for many educational stakeholders. With some guidance from the federal government, states have begun to address the issue of discipline disproportionality through policy reform that restrict the use of suspension and expulsion for certain student groups (e.g., Pre-Kindergarten through 2nd grade) and particular behaviors (e.g., dress code, tardiness, willful disobedience). This study is novel as it extends the research base by providing a preliminary assessment of restrictive discipline policies, or non-suspension and non-expulsion policies. Findings from this study found that 0 states had non-in-school-suspension policies, 20 states had non-OSS policies, and 18 states had non-expulsion policies. Further, descriptive statistics demonstrated that White, Hispanic, and Black students saw increases in academic achievement after non-out-of-school-suspension and non-expulsion policies were implemented with Black students experiencing lower rates of OSS but higher expulsions and Hispanic students experiencing both higher rates of OSS and expulsions compared to White students. Implications for policy, research, and practice are discussed.