The relationship of intergenerational poverty and exclusionary school discipline

Abstract

AbstractMany prior studies have documented disparities in school discipline practices across racial, economic, and other student characteristics. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which students affected by intergenerational poverty (IGP) received infractions (incidents) and experienced exclusionary disciplines (suspensions and expulsions), relative to other student groups. To do so, this study examined incident and discipline rates, calculated the number of lost days of instruction per 100 students, considered the number of days lost based on disciplines received, and conducted an analysis of the disciplines received by students affected by IGP and similar peers. Results suggest that students affected by IGP have higher discipline rates than other student groups and were 1.78 times more likely to receive a discipline than similar peers. Policy considerations include a set of metrics useful at the state and local level for ongoing monitoring, the importance of data quality, and the need to revisit related policies and their implementations.