Civil Rights Data Collection Research Articles

“Orange is the New Black” Comes to New Jersey’s Public Schools: Black Girls and Disproportionate Rates of Out-of-School Suspensions and Expulsions

This paper explores out-of-school suspensions and expulsions among Black females, who have often been ignored in the extant educational research literature. More specifically, the authors explore the question of whether Black females have been overrepresented in out-of-school suspensions and expulsions in New Jersey public schools. Using data from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the authors found that Black females in New Jersey have in fact been overrepresented in both, out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. The extent of that overrepresentation of Black females has not only worsened over time but could also be considered graver in New Jersey than in the rest of the United States. The authors additionally contend that these school push-outs increase the likelihood that Black girls will enter the school-to-criminal justice pipeline. After discussing the study findings in detail, the authors provide several recommendations that are designed to help better comprehend and address the various discipline-related issues impacting Black girls in the New Jersey public school system and that could potentially have broader implications for all of the nation’s schools.

Enrollment of students with disabilities in charter schools: Contemporary national and state level findings

There is no national study examining the rate of enrollment of students with disabilities in charter schools. We examined whether students with disabilities were significantly less likely to enroll in charter schools as compared to non-charter public schools accounting for state level variation using data for the entire national population. We utilized data from the Civil Rights Data Collection under the U.S. Department of Education for the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 academic years. These nationwide and contemporary data provided school-level numbers of students with disabilities receiving special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and charter school status. We performed hierarchical linear modeling to examine for differences in the percentages of students with disabilities under IDEA between charter and non-charter schools, which revealed significantly less students with disabilities enrolled in charter schools at the national and state level. Additionally, we identified and ranked states according to the degree of discrepancy in the percentages of students with disabilities under IDEA between charter and non-charter schools.

Black Students in Handcuffs: Addressing Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline for Students with Dis/abilities

Although there are federal protections for students with dis/abilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 1975, Black students with and without dis/abilities continue to be suspended and expelled at rates that exceed their peers. Still, there is limited research on how Black girls and Black boys are disciplined across suspension types, and based on their identification for special education services. The purpose of this article is to examine the overrepresentation of Black girls and Black boys with and without dis/abilities and to determine, using a quantifiable percentage, how the overrepresentation of Black students for in-school and out-of-school suspension can be eradicated. We use data from the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection 2011–2012 to examine equity (justice and fairness) in disciplinary referrals using state-by-state and regional data. Using an equity formula, we analyzed national data to determine the magnitude of Black females’ and Black males’ overrepresentation in in-school and out-of-school suspensions for students with and without dis/abilities. This study indicates that Black females with dis/abilities had the highest rate of overrepresentation in the Midwest in in-school and out-of-school suspension. In comparison, Black males experienced a greater representation in in-school suspension. Regardless of geographic area Black girls and Black boys are continuously being overrepresented in disciplinary punishments. To end the over-representation of Black girls and Black boys in in-school and out-of-school suspensions, schools and policy makers must collaborate with communities of color, eliminate teacher implicit and explicit racial biases, and discontinue racially punitive school policies.

Estimating the Relationship between Corporal Punishment Use and School Suspensions: Longitudinal Evidence from the Civil Rights Data Collection

ABSTRACTCorporal punishment use in schools has decreased significantly over the past several decades; however, little research has explored the implications of such reductions in corporal punishment use. Theoretically, reducing or banning the use of corporal punishment could alter student and teacher behavior, resulting in changes in rates of other forms of discipline, such as suspension. Using nationally representative, longitudinal data from the Civil Rights Data Collection, this study estimates the relationship between corporal punishment use and suspension rates. Results from a series of fixed effects regression models suggest that reduced use or elimination of corporal punishment predicts lower rates of suspension overall but may predict higher rates of suspension in school districts serving larger proportions of racial minority students. Implications of these findings for current policy discussions around corporal punishment bans and for racial equity in school discipline are discussed.

Misbehavior or Misdemeaner? A Report on Utah's School to Prison Pipeline

The school to prison pipeline is a national trend where children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. This trend is exacerbated by zero tolerance policies and criminalizing behavior that should be handled inside schools instead of resorting to law enforcement action. Students who are suspended, expelled, referred to law enforcement, or have a school related arrest are more likely to not finish high school than their peers. Within this pipeline are major issues that need to be addressed. There are unacceptably high racial disparities. We are suspending too many kids. Despite common belief, Utah is not doing any better than the nation at large. The U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) has provided data on key education and civil rights issues in our nation’s public schools since 1968. The following report uses this data to explore these areas and how they apply to Utah specifically.

The Influence of Pay-To-Play Fees on Participation in Interscholastic Sports: A School-Level Analysis of Michigan's Public Schools.

School districts in the United States are turning toward new sources of revenue to maintain their interscholastic sports programs. One common revenue generating policy is the implementation of participation fees, also known as pay-to-play. One concern of the growing trend of participation fees is how it impacts student participation opportunities. This study looks at how pay-to-play fees are impacting participation opportunities and participation rates in the state of Michigan. Through merging 3 school-level data sets, Civil Rights Data Collection, the Common Core of Data, and participation information from MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association), bivariate analysis and ordinary least squares regression were used in our analysis. Our findings indicate that certain types of schools are able to support pay-to-play fees: relatively large schools that are located in suburban, white communities, with relatively low poverty rates. We also found that participation fees are not decreasing the number of sport opportunities for students, participation opportunities are higher in schools with fees; but participation rates are similar between schools with and without participation fees. Participation fee policy implications are discussed and we offer suggestions for future research.

K–12 Students Eligible Solely Under Section 504

This analysis provides an update of the national incidence data for “504-only” students, that is, students who are not eligible under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act but are eligible under the broader definition of disability in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by the Americans With Disabilities Act of 2008. More specifically, this article analyzes the data for 504-only students overall and for selected student and school characteristics based on the 2011–2012 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) and compares the results with the parallel analysis of the 2009–2010 CRDC. The findings include a national incidence of 1.48%, as compared with 1.02% for 2009–2010, and continuing notable difference for student race/ethnicity and gender, and for school Title I status. However, the more recent data do not show a notable difference between the percentages of 504-only students in charter and non-charter schools. The discussion includes research as well as policy considerations.

The “P.R.O.P.E.R.” Way to Educate Black Students: 25 indicators of School Excellence<em>(Editor’s Commentary)</em>

We need to shift the focus from 'Why are young Black males failing?' to 'Why are schools failing young Black males?'That was the tweet I posted in 2014. In response, Cato June, a noted high-school football coach and former professional player, wrote: Not sure that they are. Kids don't show up. Schools can't fail them if they aren't there.Then ensued a Twitter conversation among us and Rhonda Bryant, author of the report, Uneven Ground: Examining Systemic Inequities That Block College Preparation for African American Boys (Bryant, 2013). Bryant and I contended that racial inequities in schools result directly in Black boys' failing to live up to their academic potential. Specifically, we drew from our analyses of the Civil Rights Data Collection (see ocrdata.ed.gov), which shows that high schools with the largest percentage of Black students systematically omit advanced math and science classes, use more-punitive disciplinary policies, have higher student-to-counselor ratios, more often have teachers who are not qualified to teach their assigned courses, and more frequently rely on substitute teachers.But June argued that Black boys need a system of strict accountability, and that making excuses for their failure is, itself, inexcusable. The school has the responsibility to teach the child, he said, and the child has the responsibility to seek education. Inspiring the child to want to learn is not the school's responsibility. June also cited some common explanations for underachievement: disengaged parents, more interest in video games than in college readiness, and so on.The exchange reinforced my skepticism of coaches becoming principals of inner city high schools. I am sure Coach Cato's no nonsense/no excuses attitude works fine for preparing his football team. But I wonder if he would continue the same lines if he showed up to a football game with his team and the new rule was that the home team needs to go 50 yards to score, and the visiting team needs to go 150.We can't coerce, intimidate, bully, embarrass or even motivate children to learn in an academically inept learning structure. Coaches are only effective principals when they personally place more value on their ability to create robust learning experiences for their students, and less value on their ability to get defiant students to submit to the status quo.The special focus of this issue of The Journal of Negro Education is Research Methods, Cultural Narratives and Responsibilities in Education. This issue is timely because, today, school districts' perspective on the proper learning environment to Black students is devoid of good research and diminished by an excessive focus on meeting benchmarks established by standardized testing. School districts' dependency on standardized tests is so pervasive that after I criticize state tests, school leaders often ask me, If we don't use state tests, how would we know how a school is doing?Based on the research, every school leader should know and improve upon the following information about their school:1. Average student attendance.2. The mean GPA of all students.3. Number of students who participated in competitions, such as science fairs, spelling bees, foreign language and math competition.4. Suspension rate.5. Results of student satisfaction surveys.6. Results of parent satisfaction surveys.7. Results of curriculum reviews.8. Teachers' total number of hours in, and content of, professional development.9. Teacher's credentials and certification.10. Number and percent of students participating in extracurricular activities.11. Number and percent of students in honors and AP classes.12. Dropout rate.13. Graduation rate. …

Black Female Adolescents and Racism in Schools: Experiences in a Colorblind Society

This article takes up the questions: (a) How do Black female adolescents define racism?, (b) What kind of experiences with racism to they report having in schools?, and (c) How can these perspectives and experiences inform educational reform efforts? The in-depth analysis of 18 student surveys and interviews revealed that most of the definitions of racism centered on prejudice, discrimination, and differential treatment; and most of the experiences the girls described regarding racism in school illustrated issues of prejudice, discrimination, and differential treatment as well as stereotypes, labels and low teacher expectations. Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Feminism, and Black Feminist Thought were used as interpretive theoretical frameworks. Implications for teacher education, secondary education and broad reform efforts are discussed. Keywords: Black girls, racism, high school, ideology ********** In June, 2016, the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights released an initial analysis of the 2013-14 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The dataset includes data from 99.2% of all school districts in the U.S., 99.5% of all public schools, and over 50 million students. Initial analyses indicate that Black pre-school students are 3.6 times more likely than their White peers to be given one or more out-of-school suspensions. In K-12 the trend continues with 18% of Black boys receiving suspensions and 10% of Black girls while only 6% of all K-12 students receive one or more out-of-school suspensions. Further, Black students are 1.9 times as likely to be expelled from school and are 2.3 times more likely to be disciplined through law enforcement than their White peers (U.S. DOE OCR, 2016). The extensive analysis of U.S. Civil Rights Data provides substantial evidence that there are issues of racial injustice in U.S. public schools. However, current policies and practices are overwhelmingly engaging in approaches that do not take a serious stance on issues of race, racism, or racial injustice. For instance, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) passed in December 2015 continues the approach from the previous federal law, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), of requiring disaggregated data based on race. Further, it requires actions be taken to limit school suspensions and curtail negative discipline policies (Brownstein, 2015) as well as to disaggregate data collected regarding school discipline policies by race (as well as by other sub-groups identified in the law). Although, those policies appear to be positive, The Civil Rights data above suggest that the groups most deeply impacted by these policies are Black students (boys and girls), yet the law takes no proactive stance regarding racial justice issues in its approach to changing discipline practices. By treating school discipline issues as colorblind (Bonilla-Silva, 2006), like ESSA does, current policies and approaches are not capable of overcoming serious issues of racial injustice in school and society. In fact, approaches serve to hide, minimalize and overlook serious issues of inequity based on race in school and society (Jackson, Sweeney, & Welcher, 2014; Lopez, 2007; Urrieta, 2006). Black adolescent girls are an important group that is often overlooked in schools due to approaches and the complexities of multiple intersectional identities, based on race and gender. For Black girls, being overlooked can include issues of disempowerment whereby they are faced with hegemonic representations of beauty and femininity (Annamma, Anyon, Joseph, Farrar, Greer, Downing, & Simmons, 2016; Muhammad, 2012), and are more likely than any other group of girls to be suspended and expelled from school (Annamma et al., 2016; Morris, 2012). Gender and racial stereotypes, in part, significantly contribute to the creation of such climates. Therefore, educational leaders and policy makers should pay close attention and engage in important work to improve the educational opportunities and outcomes for Black girls. …

Racial Discipline Disproportionality in Montessori and Traditional Public Schools: A Comparative Study Using the Relative Rate Index

<p class="normal">Research from the past 40 years indicates that African American students are subjected to exclusionary discipline, including suspension and expulsion, at rates two to three times higher than their White peers (Children’s Defense Fund, 1975; Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002). Although this phenomenon has been studied extensively in traditional public schools, rates of racially disproportionate discipline in public Montessori schools have not been examined. The purpose of this study is to examine racial discipline disproportionality in Montessori public elementary schools as compared to traditional elementary schools. The Relative Rate Index (RRI) is used as a measure of racially disproportionate use of out-of-school suspensions (Tobin & Vincent, 2011). Suspension data from the Office of Civil Rights Data Collection was used to generate RRIs for Montessori and traditional elementary schools in a large urban district in the Southeast. While statistically significant levels of racial discipline disproportionality are found in both the Montessori and traditional schools, the effect is substantially less pronounced in Montessori settings. These findings suggest that Montessori schools are not immune to racially disproportionate discipline and should work to incorporate more culturally responsive classroom management techniques. Conversely, the lower levels of racially disproportionate discipline in the Montessori schools suggests that further study of discipline in Montessori environments may provide lessons for traditional schools to promote equitable discipline.</p>

Section 504-Only Students

Students with disabilities fit into two groups: (a) those with individualized education plans (IEPs), who are eligible under both the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and Section 504, and (b) those with 504 plans, who are eligible under Section 504 only. Updating the only previous data about the incidence of 504-only students, which was a non-governmental survey prior to the 2008 ADA amendments to the Americans With Disabilities Act, this study analyzed the data from the federal government’s 2009–2010 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The first finding was that the average proportion of 504-only students in the nation’s public schools is approximately 1%. Second, the percentage of this group is significantly higher for (a) Black and Hispanic than for White students and (b) for males than for females. Third, the percentage of 504-only students is significantly higher for (a) high IEP than for low IEP schools, (b) non-charter than for charter schools, and (c) non-Title I than Title I schools. These results suggest the need for more diligent and consistent identification of 504-only students and for more current and comprehensive research.

No Blacks Allowed: Segregated Gifted Education in the Context of <em>Brown v. Board of Education</em>

When submitting for this special issue on the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), these authors were guided by the unwavering belief that discrimination has no place in educational settings and segregation and integration are ideals that have yet to be realized in U.S. schools and gifted programs in particular. Consequently, at the forefront of this submission is the seminal case of Brown v. Board of Education in which segregated schools, classrooms, and programs based on race were declared illegal and unconstitutional. The Supreme Court avowed the ending of separate and unequal education in America; and desegregation was to occur with all deliberate speed. That was six decades ago, and this law and associated legal mandates have yet to be fulfilled, particularly in gifted education, Advanced Placement (AP) classes, and other courses for advanced learners (e.g., honors and International Baccalaureate classes).It is unprofessional and unethical to promote and permit the inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities to students based on race, which frequently occurs with Black students. Inequitable or unjust resources and opportunities contribute to and promote educational disparities, and create a vicious cycle in which Black students are denied access to school programs that are essential to reaching their academic, intellectual, socio-cultural, and fiscal potential and that can help close achievement gaps. Gifted education has promoted such racial inequities. For decades, educators, policymakers, and legal personnel have failed to recruit and retain an equitable percentage of Black students in gifted education and courses for advanced learners (e.g., Advanced Placement classes). This lack of accountability has resulted in de facto segregation and is witnessed in McFadden v. Board of Education for Illinois School District U-46, settled in 2013. In this unprecedented gifted education case, the court affirmed that, in creating a separate gifted education program for Hispanic students only, this school district violated the United States and Illinois constitutions' equal protection clauses. Rather than developing one gifted education program for elementary school students that provided language support when needed, this district created a separate gifted program for Hispanic students who had exited English Language Learner (ELL) programs. Judge Gettlemen (who presided over McFadderi) noted that establishing a separate gifted education program based on race perpetuates the problems that our nation's civil rights laws were created and authorized to prevent.This court case revives issues of disparate impact, which will be discussed later. This case is a notice to states and other districts to eliminate discrimination (intentional and unintentional) in gifted education practices for identification, programming, and services. With discrimination and under-representation in mind, these authors present trends (2009-2011) regarding the representation of Black students in gifted education using data from the Office for Civil Rights Data Collection (U. S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, 2011; CRDC: These files are state and national estimations. The 2009-10 estimations are based on a rolling stratified sample of approximately 7,000 districts and 72,000 schools and on reported data from those districts that responded to the survey). Under-representation is clearly persistent and nationally pervasive. Next, these data are positioned within the context of Brown where it is argued that gifted education must become desegregated and integrated. De facto and de jure segregation in gifted education must end, with all deliberate speed before another 60 years passes.BRIEF OVERVIEW OF GIFTED EDUCATION DEFINITIONS WITH CULTURAL IMPLICATIONSSimilarly to many terms, 'gifted' eludes consensus. Traditional definitions of giftedness (almost exclusively normed on and conceptualized on middle-class Whites) have been primarily operationalized in two ways: (a) by high scores on IQ tests (130 and higher) and (b) by high scores on achievement tests (often at or above 92nd percentile). …

Public Reciprocity in Education for Postsecondary Success (PREPS) for Students of Color: The Legal Justification and A Call for Action (Editor's Commentary)

According to the Department of Education's (2012) report, Revealing New Truths about Our Nation's Schools, 40 percent of the public schools with the highest Black/Latino enrollment in Prince George's County Public Schools do not offer Algebra II; however, the University of Maryland-College Park requires not only Algebra II, but also at least one year of math beyond Algebra II. Therefore, some public institutions in Maryland, through omission and negligence, collude to deny thousands of Black, Latino, and some White students the right to attend the state's flagship university. There are many U.S. states that systematically disqualify students of color from their best public colleges by omitting required courses from select public schools' curricula, but is this legal? Using our personal journeys, professional expertise, and consultation with an educational attorney, we explored the legal and ethical bases for Public Reciprocity in Education for Postsecondary Success (PREPS). We hope this analysis will spark a national discussion and subsequent action to remove one of the most pervasive and elusive barriers to postsecondary success for Black and Latino students. DR. TOLDSON'S JOURNEY graduated from Istrouma Senior High School, a public high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana of 750 students, 98 percent Black and 90 percent eligible for free or reduced lunch (GreatSchools, 2012). As a student at Istrouma, one of my friends informed me that Louisiana State University (LSU) required Physics for admission. Physics was not required for me to graduate high school, and had only marginal interests in attending LSU; however, decided to enroll in Physics during my senior year because did not want to limit my options. My school only offered a half year of Physics (.5 credits), so was not certain that met LSU's admissions criteria, but my application was accepted. enrolled in LSU the summer after graduated, through a minority bridge program, and graduated four years later. During my sophomore year of college, returned to Istrouma to visit my high school Physics teacher; one of my favorite teachers named Mr. Jacob. Toldson man! Mr. Jacob, who is White, exclaimed, I think our principal forgot what color he is. At the time, the principal was Black. Mr. Jacob was upset because the principal had recently succeeded in eliminating Physics from the curriculum at Istrouma High School. Admittedly, had the utmost respect for our principal. He oversaw the transformation of the school after we had two shootings and one stabbing resulting in a student's death during my sophomore year of high school. Upon his hiring, he restored order and discipline, but perhaps his myopic view of his responsibilities was not conducive to students like me. IfI were bom two years earlier, the man who created a safer learning environment for me might have also denied me the opportunity to attend my state's flagship university. Over the past 5 years, have spoken frequently to colleagues, teachers, counselors, and school administrators about students who are being systematically denied access to colleges and universities because the curricula of their assigned public school are not compatible with public institutions of higher education. have conducted trainings with groups of principals and principal trainees who talk candidly about the challenges of providing academic enrichment to students, while meeting social and political pressures to enforce strict disciplinary policies and procedures. The Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC: 2012) report reveals that problems associated with public high schools under preparing Black students for college is far more pervasive than imagined. DR. LEWIS' JOURNEY My secondary education took place at Capitol High School, a predominately Black, low socioeconomic status (SES), urban public high school in Baton Rouge. As class president of 264 graduating seniors, knew that many of my friends had been motivated by our teachers to attend various colleges/universities in the state. …

Racial and Ethnic Representation in Gifted Programs

The Elementary and Secondary School Survey data and Civil Rights Data Collection of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) were analyzed to describe the issue of overrepresentation of gifted Asian American students in gifted education programs in the United States. Nationally, Asian and Whites have been overrepresented in gifted education since 1978, whereas, students from other ethnic backgrounds, such as those from American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, and African American groups, have been underrepresented with gradual increases in this underrepresentation since 1994. When the data were disaggregated by state for the period from 2002 to 2006, each racial and ethnic group displayed varied ranges of representation. Those varied distributions can be attributed to each state's unique demographic profile, varied definitions of giftedness, identification procedures, and identification policies. By focusing on Asian American students, this study addressed some difficulties that gifted Asian American students may face concerning the image of model minority and through the acculturation processes as immigrants or descendents of immigrants. Furthermore, this study suggests a need for disaggregated data collection and more research concerning gifted Asian American students from various ethnic Asian groups. Putting the Research to Use: Findings from this study highlight the need for carefully collected data in the field of gifted education concerning race and ethnicity of students in programs and provide the reader with a picture of both underrepresentation and overrepresentation of students by state and ethnic group. Attention needs to be paid to sub-groups within categories of race and ethnicity to understand representation. By considering the issue of Asian Americans and their overrepresentation, this research has raised awareness about factors, such as identification processes, acculturation, and academic motivation that might promote recognition of giftedness among some ethnic groups. Finally, this research offers readers with a new, multiple-year, current, analysis of the representation in gifted programs nationally and by state for racial/ethnic groups, an area of continued concern to those in the field of gifted education.