Awareness Is Not Enough: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of Providing Discipline Disproportionality Data Reports to School Administrators

One commonly used strategy used in attempts to decrease racial disproportionality in school discipline across the country is sharing data with school administrators that discipline disparities are a problem in their schools with the assumption that it will increase attention to equity and improve outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of providing monthly disciplinary equity reports to school administrators in 35 schools on levels of (a) disciplinary equity report viewing, (b) disciplinary equity, and (c) inclusion of disciplinary equity into school improvement plan goals. We used a small, double-blind randomized controlled trial in which half of the schools were randomly assigned to receive either monthly disciplinary equity reports or monthly general discipline reports. Results showed that schools receiving the equity reports had significantly increased rates of viewing equity reports but no meaningful change in disciplinary equity or equity goal setting.

Parental Involvement and the Black–White Discipline Gap: The Role of Parental Social and Cultural Capital in American Schools

Discipline disproportionality is the overuse of exclusionary discipline, such as suspension and expulsion, on Black students in American schools. This study adds to the literature by examining how parental involvement affects racial disparities in disciplinary outcomes in in-school suspension and by theoretically analyzing how parents’ social and cultural capital affect student disciplinary outcomes. The study uses Hayes’s dimensions of parental involvement as potential moderators between race and exclusionary discipline: achievement values, home-based involvement, and school-based involvement. Using base year data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 ( n = 15,362), a logistic regression model examines the three parental involvement dimensions as moderators of race and suspension. Two of the three dimensions significantly moderate the relationship between race and suspension. Both moderators are associated with a higher rate of discipline disproportionality. The analysis suggests that even while Black parents act as “adept managers” of capital, schools are still marginalizing the nondominant forms of capital that Black parents have.

Using Discipline Data to Enhance Equity in School Discipline

There is a longstanding and pressing challenge regarding overuse of exclusionary discipline (e.g., office discipline referrals, suspensions) for students of color and students with disabilities. Moreover, many common efforts to address the problem have not been shown to enhance equity in school discipline. This article describes a promising four-step approach, described in the freely available PBIS Disproportionality Data Guide, for using school discipline data to identify specific interactions that are more susceptible to the effects of implicit bias on decision making and change the environment to meet the needs of all students. A case study is included that identified disproportionality for physical aggression on the playground as a primary source of overall disproportionality and implemented a plan that included elements of explicit instruction and cultural responsiveness. Results showed a consistent decrease in discipline disproportionality over time.