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

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (13) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Dorothy E. Hines ◽  
Robb King ◽  
Donna Y. Ford
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Black Males ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Black Boys ◽  
School Suspension ◽  
Black Females ◽  
School Suspensions ◽  
Out Of School

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.

scholarly journals The inequitable consequences of school disciplinary policies on Black girls in Ohio

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-184
Author(s):  
Terry Husband ◽  
Shamaine Bertrand
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Black Boys ◽  
School Suspension ◽  
Suspension Rates ◽  
Office For Civil Rights ◽  
Discipline Policies ◽  
Out Of School ◽  
Policies And Practices

Studies have examined the effects of school disciplinary policies and practices on Black boys. Much of this research highlights the degree to which many of these disciplinary policies and practices have affected Black boys in P-12 contexts in negative ways. A small and emerging body of scholarship has begun to investigate the effects of school discipline policies and practices in P-12 contexts on Black girls. The focus of this study was to investigate the effects of disciplinary policies on Black girls in comparison to girls from other races in the 15 largest school districts in Ohio. Drawing from recent out-of-school suspension data from the Office for Civil Rights Data Collection, we examined the degree to which Black girls were suspended out of school in the 15 largest school districts in Ohio. More specifically, out-of-school suspension rates (1 or more suspensions combined) for Black girls in relation to the suspension rates of girls from other racial backgrounds was analyzed. Findings indicated that Black girls were suspended at disproportionately higher rates in the majority of the districts in this study. Recommendations for practice are discussed.

The role of race in the Out-of-school suspensions of black students: The perspectives of students with suspensions, their parents and educators

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 274-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla A. Gibson ◽  
Robert Wilson ◽  
Wendy Haight ◽  
Misa Kayama ◽  
Jane M. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Black Students ◽  
School Suspensions ◽  
Out Of School

Semantic Habits and Attitudes of Black College Students

1978 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 963-969
Author(s):  
Kathleen Chen
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Black Males ◽  
Black College ◽  
Black College Students ◽  
Black Females ◽  
Black And White ◽  
White Males ◽  
White College

In exploring the associative patterns and attitudes toward self and others, some measures were obtained on 79 black and 97 white college students. Results show reduced tendencies of the black students to use positive evaluational concepts in association. Black females are much like black males in associative patterns. There is no difference in the reported self-concepts of black and white females. Black males, however, reported more positive self-concepts than white males.

scholarly journals Principal discretion and the use of out-of-school suspension in public high schools

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Seth Harrell
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
High School Principals ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Student Discipline ◽  
School Suspension ◽  
Study Results ◽  
School Suspensions ◽  
Student Misbehavior ◽  
Principal Decision Making ◽  
Out Of School

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to analyze school principal's perception and use of out-of-school suspension as a consequence to address student misbehavior. This study was conducted on current acting high school principals in the southeast region of a Midwestern state. Participants completed a survey that consisted of items related to principal decision making as well as the use of zero-tolerance policies to determine discipline outcomes. Survey items were designed to determine how out-of-school suspensions are used in relation to the use of principal discretion and zero-tolerance policies. Principals in this study were given the opportunity to participate in follow-up interviews where principals were asked more specific questions about their use of out-ofschool suspension as a form of student discipline. Study results found that principals felt the use of out-of-school suspension were an effective consequence to address student misbehavior. Principals felt they had the autonomy to use their discretion to determine the most appropriate consequence to address student misbehavior in their respective schools. Opinions were mixed on the use of zero-tolerance policies. A majority of surveyed participants felt that zero-tolerance policies were an effective method used to address student misbehavior. However, principals who were interviewed preferred to use their discretion over zero-tolerance policies when determining the most appropriate consequence because principals wanted to be able to consider all of the circumstances of a discipline situation. Principals concluded that out-of-school suspensions are necessary in-order to protect the learning environment for all students; however, there are inconsistencies in the use of such suspensions. These inconsistencies are present through the use of principal discretion and decision making, the use of zero-tolerance policies, the length of the suspension, and the unnecessary use of suspensions for minor discipline infractions.

scholarly journals Factors predicting out-of-school suspensions for young children

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Bell ◽  
Donna Bayliss ◽  
Rebecca Glauert ◽  
Jeneva Ohan
Keyword(s):  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Family Factors ◽  
School Entry ◽  
Criminal Offending ◽  
Family Risk ◽  
School Suspension ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitalizations ◽  
School Suspensions ◽  
Grade 3 ◽  
Out Of School

IntroductionDespite limited evidence supporting the effectiveness of out-of-school suspension for rectifying behavioural issues, the practice continues. Certain demographic factors (male, ethnic minority, low SES) predict suspensions; however, developmental and family factors can also play a role. Knowledge of these factors may inform alternative practices aimed at limiting the practice of suspension. Objectives and ApproachThis study investigated the relationship between out-of-school suspensions and demographic, developmental, and family factors. Children suspended in early schooling may be particularly at risk of poor school outcomes; thus, our sample includes children in the first years of school. Linked administrative data were obtained for 14,269 children enrolled in grade 3 at public schools in Western Australia. Multilevel logistic regressions were run, grouped by school, with out-of-school suspensions predicted by: child and parent demographic characteristics; a measure of children’s school-entry development (the Australian Early Development Census); and indicators of family risk (parental psychiatric hospitalizations, parental criminal offending, child maltreatment). ResultsApproximately 2% of children had been suspended at least once by grade 3. Aboriginal children, boys, and children attending schools with high levels of socioeconomic disadvantage had significantly increased odds of being suspended from school (2 times, 6 times, and 3 times increase, respectively). Furthermore, children considered socially and emotionally vulnerable at school-entry were around 3 times more likely than their peers to be suspended in the first few years of school. Parental psychiatric hospitalizations, parental criminal offending, and child maltreatment all significantly predicted out-of-school suspensions. Odds increased exponentially with each additional family risk factor experienced in early childhood. Children experiencing all three family risk factors were almost 7 times more likely than their peers to be suspended at least once by grade 3. Conclusion/ImplicationsOur results provide further justification for the implementation of alternatives to out-of-school suspension, as children who would most likely benefit from a stable, nurturing school environment were significantly more likely to be suspended. Schools need to be better supported by inter-agency collaboration to manage the complex needs of vulnerable children.

Locating Black Girls in Educational Policy Discourse: Implications for the Every Student Succeeds Act

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (13) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Venus Evans-Winters ◽  
Dorothy E. Hines ◽  
Allania Moore ◽  
Teresa Lawrence Jones
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Chicago Public Schools ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
School Suspensions ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act ◽  
Out Of School

The enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 by President Barack Obama increased accountability requirements and was designed to reduce achievement and opportunity gaps, and racial disproportionality in school discipline. Despite the implementation of ESSA, Black girls still continue to experience hypercriminalization and policing, and when disaggregated by race and gender, they still receive the highest rates of disciplinary punishments in school and out of school. In this article, we discuss how Black girls in the Pk–12 public school system are invalidated and ignored in educational policy discourse and in school reform. In our discussion, we argue that ESSA tends to focus on identity categories (such as race, gender, class, and linguistics), and not on the intersectionality thereof, or how race does not operate as a silo (race, gender, social class, and other parts of our identity are layered and form a mosaic). We draw from literature on Black girls, zero tolerance, and critical race feminism to examine Black girls’ disciplinary punishments in Chicago Public Schools, and ESSA's effect on a national scale. In our analysis of quantitative data from Chicago Public Schools, we find that, in the third largest district in the United States, Black girls are disproportionally the recipients of out-of-school suspensions. Black female students received 78% of all female out-of-school suspensions during the 2016–2017 school year. A majority of the actions that Black girls were punished for were minor in nature and not due to violence or criminal offenses. We find that when Black girls are made invisible during the policy process and made visible when they are recipients of bias punishments, they will be more susceptible to receiving hyperpunitive disciplinary outcomes. Therefore, this article recommends that schools, policy makers, and researchers examine how harsh discipline and exclusionary policies affect Black girls as racialized and gendered beings while not ignoring the needs of Black female students during the school reform process.

Out-of-School Suspension of African American Youth and Progressive Education Alternatives

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Haight ◽  
Priscilla Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Progressive Education ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Exclusionary Discipline ◽  
School Suspension ◽  
Racial Disproportionality ◽  
School Suspensions ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Out Of School

Racial disproportionality in out-of-school suspensions (suspensions) is a persistent, multi-level social justice and child well-being issue affecting not only youth, families, and schools but society as a whole. It is a complex, multiple-level social problem that will require an equally complex response. The design of effective remedies will require adequate understanding of the problem as well as the historical and sociocultural contexts in which it emerged and is perpetuated. Progressive educators have offered a number of alternatives to harsh and exclusionary discipline, but research is needed to examine their effectiveness, especially in reducing racial disproportionalities.

All My Life I Had to Fight

2018 ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Terry Husband ◽  
Chequita Brown
Keyword(s):  
Black Males ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Large Body ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
School Officials ◽  
Black Females ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Policies And Practices

Over the past two decades, a large body of research has documented the effects of school disciplinary policies and practices on Black males. As a result of this overemphasis on the educational plight and experiences of Black males in schools, very few studies have examined the impact of school discipline policies and practices on Black females. Given the absence of discourse about this issue, it is often assumed or taken for granted by many researchers and teachers that Black females receive equitable educational opportunities as other student populations. Using data from five large urban school districts, this chapter argues that the formal and informal disciplinary policies and systems in many schools and classrooms in the United States have a disproportionately negative impact on Black girls. Recommendations for administrators, teachers, and other key school officials are presented.

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