Exclusionary School Discipline Research Articles

The Benefits of Familiarity: The Effects of Repeated Student-Teacher Matching on School Discipline

Using administrative data from elementary school students in Indiana, I investigate the effects of having the same teacher for two consecutive years on school disciplinary outcomes. Controlling for student and teacher fixed effects, I find that student-teacher rematches reduce the probability of receiving exclusionary school discipline, including suspensions and expulsions, and these effects are larger for students enrolled in special education services and students with prior disciplinary records. My results provide empirical evidence that repeated student-teacher matching can result in positive disciplinary outcomes. The findings of this study highlight the importance of having familiar teachers for students’ development, particularly for those who often find it difficult to build close relationships with teachers.

School Discipline, Police Contact, and GPA: A Mediation Analysis

Exclusionary school discipline is one of the primary ways that schools address student behavior. Existing scholarship has focused on examining the implications of exclusionary school discipline for two sets of outcomes: academic achievement and future juvenile and criminal legal involvement. However, these two areas of scholarship are largely treated as separate. In this paper, we bridge these two research areas by drawing on scholarship examining the negative educational consequences of police contact for youth. Specifically, we formally test the proposition that the association between school suspension in childhood and adolescent academic achievement is mediated by police contact experienced in early adolescence. Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we find support for this hypothesis: Early adolescent police contact explains approximately 30% of the association between school suspension in childhood and adolescent GPA. By relying on exclusionary school discipline, our results suggest that schools are setting the stage for youth to become involved in the criminal legal system, which, in turn, hinders future academic achievement.

Juvenile School Discipline and Well-Being Among College-Educated Emerging Adults

Amidst a decline in exclusionary school discipline, the current study asks how a more holistic set of school discipline practices are associated with emerging adult well-being. We use original survey data from over 700 college-educated emerging adults to show that this sample can be categorized into three groups with unique school disciplinary histories—those who received minimal discipline, those who received primarily school-managed discipline, and those who received intensive discipline. These groups were distinguishable not just on the severity or exclusionary nature of discipline but also the involvement of parents, police, or support staff (e.g., counselors). After accounting for selection into these groups, we find that emerging adults with histories of both school-managed and intensive discipline reported lower well-being than their minimally-disciplined counterparts. Such findings demonstrate the reach of school discipline even to this relatively privileged sample and the need to think about discipline and its potential consequences more expansively.

Carceral and Cathartic by Design: An Anti-Racism Historical Analysis of School Discipline in the U.S.

ABSTRACT The longstanding overrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) students in United States K-12 exclusionary school discipline outcomes (i.e., suspension, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement and arrests) underscores the unrecognized concept that school discipline disparities are a purported outcome—rather than a flaw—of a racialized educational system. While these outcomes are prevalent across all school locales, they are of more significant consequence in urban schools/districts due to ineffective racial integration efforts and the historical and contemporary forms of hyper-(re)segregation. For historically marginalized communities, schools and the functionality of school discipline serve to maintain racism through what can is the cathartic carceral system: the policies, approaches, and practices that establish punitive/prison-like school disciplinary outcomes that promulgate the exclusion or release of racialized students in order to maintain, restore, and protect racism and thus whiteness. The purpose of the article is threefold: (1) define the cathartic and carceral school discipline system; (2) analyze historical artifacts (research, books, newspaper articles) that describe or interrogate race/racism, school discipline, and pivotal stakeholders (teacher education, school administrators, teachers, and support personnel) through critical race theory and content analysis; and (3) proffer transformative solutions according to the findings for PK-12 stakeholders and teacher educators through an anti-racism framework. This content analysis of history will focus on three significant educational periods concerning school discipline; pre-segregation (before 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling), early integration (post-Brown until 1975), and post Children’s Defense Fund Report in 1975, which from a national perspective, was seminal in establishing the relationship between race and school discipline outcomes.

Education Equity and Brown: Reform, Retrenchment, and Exclusionary School Discipline

Education Equity and Brown: Reform, Retrenchment, and Exclusionary School Discipline

Exclusionary School Discipline and School Achievement for Middle and High School Students, by Race and Ethnicity

There are racial and ethnic inequities in exclusionary school discipline (ESD) (ie, a disciplinary action that removes students from their classroom or school environment, eg, referrals, suspensions, and/or expulsions) practices in the US. Exclusionary school discipline has been associated with negative education, health, and criminal justice outcomes. To investigate whether experiencing an ESD event was associated with decreased grade point average (GPA) and whether minoritized students (eg, Black or Latine [description used in database]) are disproportionately affected compared with White students. In a cohort study using retrospective administrative longitudinal data of children in the 6th to 10th grades (August 18, 2014, to May 26, 2017) in a large, single urban school district in California, linear mixed models were applied to compare the timing of the first exclusionary event and the average change in GPA and evaluate the relative variation among minoritized students experiencing an exclusionary event. Data analysis was conducted from August 18, 2018, to August 21, 2023. Year at which students experienced first ESD events over the study period. The primary outcome of interest was change in average grade point average (GPA); students' GPA averaged across courses was averaged across each year. Of the 16 849 students (8756 [52.0%] male), 21.4% experienced at least 1 ESD event. The mean (SD) age was 14.3 (1.6) years, and 7.5% identified as Black, 25.6% Latine, and 10.0% White. Black and Latine students experienced exclusionary events at nearly 10 and 3 times more than White students (mean [SD]: Black, 6.69 [12.80] events; Latine, 2.01 [6.18] events; White, 0.71 [4.46] events; P < .001). When controlling for gender, maternal educational level, race and ethnicity, and school year, having experienced an ESD event in the first year was associated with an average decrease in GPA by 0.88 (95% CI, -0.91 to -0.84) points compared with no ESD events; experiencing ESD events also had significant differences in the second (-0.63 [95% CI, -0.67 to -0.59]) and third (-0.52 [95% CI, -0.57 to -0.47]) years. Black and Latine race and ethnicity was associated with the greatest decrease in GPA compared with White students (Black, -0.56 [95% CI, -0.61 to -0.51]; Latine, -0.51 [95% CI, -0.54 to -0.47]; P < .001). This study observed racial and ethnic inequities in ESD prevalence and its association with educational attainment. The findings suggest that it may be beneficial for pediatricians and other health care professionals to screen for exclusion, as experiencing ESD events may affect health across the life course. In addition, it may be useful to categorize ESD events as an adverse childhood experience and abolish the practice from schools as a disciplinary measure.

Examining the Black Gender Gap in Educational Attainment: The Role of Exclusionary School Discipline &amp; Criminal Justice Contact

Abstract Black men and women have different levels of average educational attainment, yet few studies have focused on explaining how and why these patterns develop. One explanation may be inequality in experiences with institutional punishment through exclusionary school discipline and criminal justice exposure. Drawing on intersectional frameworks and theories of social control, I examine the long-term association between punishment and the Black gender gap using data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY-C). Decomposition analyses reveal that about one third of the gender gap can be explained by gender differences in experiences with institutional punishments, net of differences in observed behaviors. These measures are predictive at key educational transition points, including finishing high school and earning a 4-year college degree. Though Black boys and girls have similar family backgrounds and grow up in similar neighborhoods, results suggest that Black girls have a persistent advantage in educational attainment due in part to their lower levels of exposure to exclusionary school discipline and the criminal justice system. In addition, I find that gender differences in early achievement, early externalizing behavioral problems, school experiences, and substance use in adolescence and early adulthood are associated with gender differences in educational attainment. Taken together, these results illustrate the importance of punishment disparities in understanding disparate educational outcomes over the life course of Black men and women.

Suspensions in QLD state schools, 2016–2020: overrepresentation, intersectionality and disproportionate risk

Overrepresentation in exclusionary school discipline is extensively documented for certain groups of students, particularly students of colour and those with disability, yet while these groups may overlap, policies that aim to address disproportionality tend to consider equity factors in isolation. The majority of research on overrepresentation, intersectionality and disproportionate risk has been conducted in the United States, yet there has been limited research within an Australian context despite reports of the overrepresentation of students in priority equity groups: students with a disability, Indigenous students and those living in out-of-home care. To disentangle the intersectionalities between these three priority equity groups, we created seven independent groups in which one or more of these factors was present. We then compare each of these seven groups to one referent group (not Indigenous, no disability, not in care) to examine trends in Queensland state school suspensions from 2016 to 2020. Findings show that students in the seven groups were issued suspensions at rates disproportionate to enrolments, in contrast to the referent group, with the risk of suspension increasing with greater intersectionality. Further analyses highlight disability as a common underlying factor, both in terms of increasing risk of suspension and in its repeated use, particularly for students recorded as receiving adjustments in the Social-Emotional category. These findings underscore the need for more nuanced reform and support strategies that can better account for the intersectionalities between groups.

Longitudinal relationships among exclusionary school discipline, adolescent substance use, and adult arrest: Public health implications of the school-to-prison pipeline

PurposeExclusionary school discipline is an initiating component of the school-to-prison pipeline that is racialized and may lead to short- and long-term negative substance use and criminal legal outcomes. However, these impacts, and racial disparities therein, have not been well explored empirically at the individual-level. ProceduresWe analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (1995–2009). We fit survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression models to estimate reciprocal relationships between exclusionary discipline and adolescent substance use, between these factors and subsequent exposure to the adult criminal legal system, and whether these relationships were modified by race or ethnicity. ResultsWe found that students reporting substance use had 2.07 (95% CI 1.57, 2.75) times greater odds of reporting subsequent school discipline, and students exposed to school discipline had 1.59 (95% CI 1.26, 2.02) times greater odds of reporting subsequent substance use. Substance use and school discipline were associated with 2.69 (95% CI 2.25, 3.22) and 2.98 (95% CI 2.46, 3.60) times the odds of reporting subsequent adult criminal legal system exposure, respectively. There was little evidence of effect modification by race/ethnicity. ConclusionsFindings indicate that school discipline and substance use are reciprocally associated and have direct implications for adolescent health and future criminal legal system exposure.

The Effects of Student–Teacher Ethnoracial Matching on Exclusionary Discipline for Asian American, Black, and Latinx Students: Evidence From New York City

Although Black and Latinx students disproportionately face exclusionary school discipline, prior research finds that the likelihood of suspension for Black students decreases when they are taught by greater proportions of Black teachers. Little prior work, however, has examined whether these effects generalize to large, diverse, urban school districts or to Asian American or Latinx students and teachers. Using student fixed-effects models and 10 years of data from New York City, we find that assignment to greater proportions of ethnoracially matched teachers decreases the likelihood of suspension for Black and Latinx students. The magnitudes of these effects are small but suggest that diversifying the teacher workforce could lead to significant decreases in exclusionary discipline in urban districts.

Child protective services involvement and exclusionary school discipline.

The study examined the impact of child protective services (CPS) contact on out-of-school suspensions for 49,918 Wisconsin students (followed from ages 5-6 to 14-15; [school years 2010-2019; 74% White; 7% Black; 11% Hispanic; 8% other; 49% female]). A quasi-experimental design comparing recent CPS contact to upcoming (future) CPS contact shows that both recent CPS contact without foster care and future CPS contact predict higher odds of suspension compared with no contact. Higher odds of suspension emerged prior to CPS contact and did not substantially increase during or after CPS contact, suggesting that system-induced stress is not a primary driver of behavioral problems leading to suspension. Foster care reduced the odds of suspension among White children and children in special education.

Restorative practices and exclusionary school discipline: an integrative review

ABSTRACT This study used integrative review methodology to synthesize research on the relationship between school-based restorative practices and exclusionary discipline outcomes in the United States. Exclusionary discipline outcomes were defined as out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and referrals to law enforcement. A literature search produced 5,764 publications, and 11 studies were included in the final sample. Peacemaking circles were the most common restorative practice implemented, and secondary analysis of school records was the most common method utilized. Findings indicated that restorative practices are associated with reduced suspension rates, which suggest that school-based restorative practices are a promising approach to reducing exclusionary discipline outcomes.

The Ecosystem of Racial Inequalities in Discipline in Early Childhood Education

Preschool children are suspended and expelled at a rate greater than school-aged youth, and exclusionary discipline practices are further inequitable across racial and ethnic groups. Denied the documented benefits of early childhood education, Black students are disproportionately excluded from US educational institutions beginning in early childhood, effectively preserving and reproducing racial inequities. Black students, especially boys, are the most likely to lose access to schooling due to exclusionary discipline. The disparities are dehumanizing and detrimental to students’ opportunities to learn, as early educational experiences greatly influence development and future outcomes. Although there is a plethora of evidence concerning the significant role of space, place, and relationships in early childhood education, less is understood about how these act independently and interact to create racial and ethnic disparities in discipline within preschools. In this conceptual paper, we argue that decolonizing early childhood education requires a novel approach in how we think about racial inequalities in discipline that centers the conversation on context and incorporates the interrelated frameworks of geography of opportunity, ecological systems theory, and the youth control complex. Children’s interactions with adults in school are situated in a particular space and place and within a complex nexus between the school, home, and neighborhood contexts. It is imperative to decolonize geographically stratified classroom management, manifested through exclusionary school discipline of young children, for the possibility of more equitable educational opportunity.

The relationship of intergenerational poverty and exclusionary school discipline

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.

The equity of exclusionary school discipline

This paper explores the equity in school suspension between Black and white students and among students from families with different economic backgrounds. The existing literature and popular press report that Black students are more likely to be out-of-school suspended than white students, on average. Using administrative data on students from North Carolina public schools over eight academic years, we find that the direction of racial disparity depends importantly on the type of offenses when students are compared within the same school. While Black students are more likely to be suspended for fighting and theft, white students are more likely to be suspended for insubordination and disrespect toward faculty. We also find that economically disadvantaged students are more likely to be suspended across all types of offenses.

‘Prepped for prison’? Experiences of exclusionary school practices and involvement with the justice system

Internationally, the link between punitive school disciplinary practices and increased risk of contact with the justice system has been chronicled via a substantial body of research on the school-to-prison pipeline. This research highlights some of the harmful effects of exclusionary school discipline for some students, including lower educational achievement, lower school completion rates and future contact with the justice system. Drawing on some of the findings from 50 in-depth interviews with former prisoners, educators, parents, and a range of key stakeholders, this paper builds on that research by identifying the informal ways that some groups of students are subjected to exclusion in schools. The findings suggest that to fully understand the factors that impact the path from school to involvement with the justice system, greater attention should be paid to the experience of informal school-based exclusionary practices.

Cumulative Racial and Ethnic Disparities Along the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Using the cumulative disadvantage theoretical framework, the current study explores whether school suspension and expulsion provide an indirect path through which race and ethnicity affect the likelihood of experiencing arrest, any incarceration, and long-term incarceration in adulthood.To address these issues, we use data from Waves I, II, and IV of the Add Health survey (N = 14,484), and we employ generalized multilevel structural equation models and parametric regression methods using counterfactual definitions to estimate direct and indirect pathways.We observe that Black (but not Latinx) individuals are consistently more likely than White persons to experience exclusionary school discipline and criminal justice involvement. However, we find a path through which race and Latinx ethnicity indirectly affect the odds of adulthood arrest and incarceration through school discipline.Disparate exposure to school suspension and expulsion experienced by minority youth contributes to racial and ethnic inequalities in justice system involvement. By examining indirect paths to multiple criminal justice consequences along a continuum of punitiveness, this study shows how discipline amplifies cumulative disadvantage during adulthood for Black and, to a lesser extent, Latinx individuals who are disproportionately funneled through the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland: is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform?

Well-established evidence of the ill-effects of exclusionary school discipline, its disproportionate use on students of colour, and association with the “school-to-prison pipeline” has, in the last decade, led to systemic reforms in the United States, which are successfully reducing exclusion and improving outcomes. Few studies, however, have similarly investigated overrepresentation in Australia, with little attention to systemic reform as a result. In this study, we analysed suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation rates in Queensland (QLD) government schools between 2013 and 2019 and found Indigenous students were consistently overrepresented. Suspension incidents proportionate to enrolments increased for all students, but this increase was faster for Indigenous than non-Indigenous students and driven primarily by steep rises in short suspensions during primary school (Preparatory-6). Exclusions increased—again disproportionately—for Indigenous students, chiefly in secondary school (7–12). During 2019, Physical Misconduct had the highest incident rate for both groups; however, Indigenous students were most overrepresented in suspensions for Disruptive/Disengaged behaviours. Further, while Indigenous students were overrepresented in all QLD regions, one region’s Indigenous suspension rate was higher than all others despite no difference in the distribution of Indigenous/non-Indigenous enrolments across regions. The scale and nature of Indigenous overrepresentation in exclusionary discipline incidents in QLD indicate clear need for further research to secure political commitment to systemic inclusive school reform, as well as to produce high-quality evidence capable of guiding that reform.

Reining in Punitive Discipline: Recent Trends in Exclusionary School Discipline Disparities

Concerns around disparities in suspensions and expulsions from schools in the United States have resulted in a concerted effort to reduce the use of exclusionary school discipline. In this article, the authors describe trends in the use of exclusionary discipline in Indiana and Oregon, two U.S. states with different school discipline policy climates. The findings point to a substantial decline in the use of suspensions and other forms of exclusionary discipline in both states. The authors further find that racial and socioeconomic disparities have recently narrowed in both states, though Black students and students who were identified as economically disadvantaged remain likely to be disproportionately exposed to exclusionary discipline. These trends, and their timing, illustrate the broad-based change in disciplinary norms that has occurred in the U.S. over the past decade.

Reining in Punitive Discipline: Recent Trends in Exclusionary School Discipline Disparities

Reining in Punitive Discipline: Recent Trends in Exclusionary School Discipline Disparities