Voices That Matter: Chief Administrative Officers’ Role in the Student Discipline Gap

Abstract

This study explores how community socioeconomic status (SES), geographical location, and administrator perspectives influence the implementation of exclusionary disciplinary policies. Using Geographical Information Systems mapping technology, in-depth interviewing, and document analysis, this study finds that schools located in high SES sectors have higher rates of exclusionary disciplinary practices, whereas schools located in low SES sectors have lower levels. The findings also indicate five normative values that influence leadership’s decisions to exclude students more frequently. These guiding belief systems include productive efficiency, equality versus equity, the potential of legal liability, prescribing to a cultural deficit ideology, and the notion of strict surveillance.