A new series of studies examines disciplinary rates in schools across the nation. Credit: EdSource file
In schools across the nation, African American boys receive harsher penalties than white students for the same offense; there is no evidence that “bad” students need to be removed from class so “good” students can learn; and poverty does not fully explain racial disparities in discipline, according to the findings of a series of reports released Thursday.
The reports are from the Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative, a group of 26 nationally known researchers, educators and policy analysts, including a number of experts from California. The group spent the past three years investigating disciplinary disparities across the nation. The results of the reports were based on a review of numerous research studies on discipline practices in public schools as well as an analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on suspension and expulsion rates for the 2009-10 school year.
Among the findings:
- There is no evidence that racial disparities in discipline – which occur most frequently for African American boys – are due to higher rates of offenses or more serious misbehavior by those students.
- Suspensions are most often used for conduct that is not a threat to safety.
- Middle class African American students are disproportionately suspended