New Reports Detail Disproportionality, Effective Alternatives to School Suspensions

New research from the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the UCLA Civil Rights Project detail the growing use of punitive disciplinary measures that disproportionately affect African-American — particularly African-American young men — Latino/a and disabled communities.

“Out of School & Off Track: The Overuse of Suspensions in American Middle and High Schools,” written by Daniel J. Losen and Tia Elena Martinez, uses U.S. Department of Education data on more than 26,000 U.S. middle and high schools to highlight racial disparities and the increased use of suspensions. Detailed data from 20 localities across the nation shows how suspension rates fall across race, gender, English learner and disability status. According to the research, more than one-third of all Black male students with disabilities  enrolled in middle and high schools were suspended at least once during the 2009-2010 academic year. Prior research has indicated that being suspended even once in ninth grade is associated with a 32 percent risk for dropping out — double that for those receiving no suspensions.

“We now see that across the nation, one in four Black students and one in five students with disabilities and English Learners are suspended,” said Daniel Losen, report author and director of The Center for Civil Rights Remedies. “There is something terribly wrong when, despite very effective alternatives, so many middle and high schools quickly punish and exclude students of color, students with disabilities and English Learners. We know these schools can change because in many large districts, we found many low-suspending schools where suspension is still a measure of last resort.”

Successful alternatives to out-of-school suspensions are described in “Closing the School Discipline Gap: Research to Practice.” That report highlights 16 new research papers from leading scholars across the nation that describe the reasons for the race/ethnicity gaps, and how reducing the use of suspensions can help improve graduation rates, achievement scores and life outcomes, while also decreasing the incarceration rate for juveniles and adults.

Among the report’s recommendations are transparency and clarity in reporting discipline data to the public on a consistent basis; making discipline a data-driven core component of school and district evaluation; support and training for effective alternatives at the federal, state and district levels and research-based recommendations for policy and practice to educators, parents, advocates, policymakers and media.

See new guidance from the National School Board Association which voted for a resolution to prevent the use of out-of-school suspensions and encourage districts to implement positive discipline policies that keep students in the classroom and learning.