tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/racial-disciplining-17882/articlesracial disciplining – The Conversation2019-01-30T11:52:59Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1105612019-01-30T11:52:59Z2019-01-30T11:52:59ZSchool suspensions don’t stop violence – they help students celebrate it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255976/original/file-20190128-108342-16kn227.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The code of the street – where respect is won by fighting – often follows children into school.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bully-africanamerican-teenage-boy-on-dark-1176066490?src=s57C8tZvGEC5LA9OHsHXvA-1-65">Pixel-Shot/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When school officials suspend students, the idea is to maintain a safe environment and <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/112/5/1206.full.pdf?download=tru">deter violence</a> and other problematic behavior on the school campus. </p>
<p>But when I interviewed 30 children in southeast Michigan who had been suspended from school, I learned that suspensions might actually be having the opposite effect.</p>
<p>That’s because students use school suspensions strategically to earn respect and build a reputation for being tough. I made this finding – which will be published in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjcj20">Journal of Crime and Justice</a> – as part of my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VcznCP0AAAAJ&hl=en">ongoing research</a> into how black students and their parents view school discipline, school safety measures and the police.</p>
<p>To interview the students, I obtained permission from their parents. I also took a look at students’ disciplinary records. All of the students I spoke with were black. I only spoke with 30 students because after a short while, the same themes began to emerge. I also interviewed 30 parents.</p>
<p>What the students and parents told me has implications not only for educators, parents and policymakers, but for the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-are-growing-federal-data-shows/2018/04/24/67b5d2b8-47e4-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?utm_term=.dac808b334a3">millions of students</a> who are suspended in the U.S. each year. The implications are even more serious for black students, who represented <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-are-growing-federal-data-shows/2018/04/24/67b5d2b8-47e4-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?utm_term=.8b9dbab929e8">31 percent</a> of all law enforcement referrals and arrests in the 2015-2016 school year, even though they only represented 15 percent of the school population.</p>
<h2>Doesn’t deter violence</h2>
<p>In interview after interview, students told me that being suspended from school would not stop them from fighting in the future.</p>
<p>For example, a 9th-grade girl who got suspended from school five times for fighting said being suspended “probably makes it more likely” for her to fight because it will lead other students to test her.</p>
<p>“So if you push my buttons or press me the wrong way, I will end up fighting you and I told my mom this, and she said if you fight … OK … just let me know,” the student said.</p>
<p>A 10th-grade girl who has been suspended from school more than 30 times told me that being suspended made her seem “more tough and popular” and helped her establish friendships with other students.</p>
<p>“Because they’d be like ‘well we can be friends because I know you have my back no matter what,’” the girl explained. “If they don’t think you’re tough enough they will bully you.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256162/original/file-20190129-127151-1y6uxhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256162/original/file-20190129-127151-1y6uxhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256162/original/file-20190129-127151-1y6uxhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256162/original/file-20190129-127151-1y6uxhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256162/original/file-20190129-127151-1y6uxhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256162/original/file-20190129-127151-1y6uxhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256162/original/file-20190129-127151-1y6uxhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Several girls in the study indicated that fighting gives a boost to their reputation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-girl-doing-different-expressions-sets-323489441?src=x6hWsDrsDgwpqMXoRgj9rQ-2-69">Chris Bourloton/www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A 10th-grade boy who has been suspended 12 times also told me his popularity “went up” after being kicked out of school.</p>
<p>“People like people to get suspended,” the boy said. “You get in trouble, ‘Oh, you coming back, bro? What’s up?’ Everybody trying to talk to you when you come back.”</p>
<p>In my interviews with parents, I found they often advised their children not to walk away from fights.</p>
<p>“The fantasy is that we believe we will only be hit once with a soft right paw and will be able to walk away to tell the authority and they come and resolve the problem,” the father of a 10th-grade girl who has been suspended 15 times told me. “The reality is that you are either going to get hit to get knocked out or you are going to get hit and keep getting hit. You only get to walk away after somebody ass has been kicked.”</p>
<h2>Street code in effect</h2>
<p>So what lurks behind the rationale of students who see being suspended as a way to get a rep, so to speak? For clues and answers to this question, I drew from sociologist Elijah Anderson’s “<a href="https://sociology.yale.edu/publications/code-street-decency-violence-and-moral-life-inner-city">Code of the Street</a>.” I wanted to see how the social norms that Anderson found were embedded in street culture might influence violence in school.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255982/original/file-20190129-108338-1m2xiej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255982/original/file-20190129-108338-1m2xiej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255982/original/file-20190129-108338-1m2xiej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255982/original/file-20190129-108338-1m2xiej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255982/original/file-20190129-108338-1m2xiej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255982/original/file-20190129-108338-1m2xiej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255982/original/file-20190129-108338-1m2xiej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255982/original/file-20190129-108338-1m2xiej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?id=6797&LangType=1033">W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The comments I got from the students show how the code of the street that Anderson describes in his book does not cease to operate once students pass through the schoolhouse door. Rather, the social norms that are embedded in street culture establish a code that regulates violence in public high schools.</p>
<p>Anderson found that respect is difficult to obtain and easy to lose on the streets, and so people who live by this code believe respect must be continuously earned. Some of the students in my study got up to 30 out-of-school suspensions for their repeated involvement in fights, suggesting the same dynamics were at play as they sought to exhibit toughness and maintain respect.</p>
<h2>Tough choices</h2>
<p>This poses a serious dilemma for educators and policymakers who have a duty to maintain a safe school environment. On one hand, every school principal needs a reasonable deterrent that discourages violence and prioritizes student safety. On the other hand, my findings show out-of-school suspension actually exacerbates physical violence in the school setting and sets up a competition for popularity based on perceived toughness and respect.</p>
<p>Given the widespread use of school suspension in America’s schools, this is a dilemma that cannot be ignored. The most recent U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights report shows approximately <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-are-growing-federal-data-shows/2018/04/24/67b5d2b8-47e4-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?utm_term=.dac808b334a3">2.7 million children</a> received a school suspension during the 2015 to 2016 school year. In light of what suspended students told me, one has to wonder how many of those millions of suspensions were actually caused by other suspensions.</p>
<p>The issue takes on an added layer of importance when you consider how U.S. education secretary Betsy DeVos recently decided to <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2018/12/betsy_devos_revokes_obama_discipline_guidance_students_of_color_protect.html">rescind an Obama-era policy</a> that advised schools to address racial disparities in school discipline. Her argument was that school discipline is best left to schools. But evidence shows black children are <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/05/02/black-students-bear-uneven-brunt-of-discipline.html">suspended at disproportionately higher rates</a> than their white counterparts.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f8nkcRMZKV4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘School Suspensions Are an Adult Behavior,’ Rosemarie Allen’s TEDxMileHigh talk.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The need for alternatives</h2>
<p>My findings also show the need for a thorough review of the consequences associated with school suspension. Prior research has consistently shown the adverse effects associated with out-of-school suspension, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spv026">poor academic achievement</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912454442">school dropout</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X17752208">future incarceration</a>.</p>
<p>So what should school leaders and policymakers do if suspensions are so problematic? Since research shows that conflicts typically originate in a child’s neighborhood and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07418820802245060">carry over</a> into the school setting, I think it would be wise for school leaders to consider establishing partnerships with violence prevention organizations such as <a href="http://cureviolence.org/">Cure Violence</a> and <a href="http://www.philaceasefire.com/">CeaseFire</a>. Such organizations are often <a href="https://johnjayrec.nyc/2017/10/02/cvinsobronxeastny/">uniquely skilled</a> at identifying the source of a conflict and <a href="http://cureviolence.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/McCormick-CeaseFire-Evaluation-Quantitative.pdf">effective at intervening</a> before a violent altercation occurs. Violence prevention partnerships would help identify conflicts when they are still brewing in the streets – and potentially stop them before they take place in school.</p>
<p>School leaders can <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S1532768XJEPC1204_02">improve school culture</a> if they involve students in the development of school discipline policies, reward students for positive behaviors and provide guidance on conflict resolution.</p>
<p>Regardless of what kind of preventive measure or remedy is pursued, it’s important to include the voices of students in the way I have done in my study. There’s simply no way to fully understand the root of school violence or how to effectively deter it if students are shut out of the discussion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110561/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Bell works for Illinois State University. He has received funding from the American Society of Criminology. </span></em></p>While school suspensions are meant to deter violence and other troublesome behavior, some students see being suspended as something that makes them more popular and tough, a researcher has found.Charles Bell, Assistant Professor, Illinois State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1000732018-12-19T11:42:54Z2018-12-19T11:42:54ZAlternative approaches needed to end racial disparities in school discipline<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250170/original/file-20181212-76968-hq33jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A student discusses a recent conflict with another student solved through restorative justice, at Ed White Middle School in San Antonio, Texas.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Rethinking-School-Punishment/c80a047ebd0d46758a5a4a07bed3931b/19/0">Eric Gay/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Education Secretary Betsy DeVos wants to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/betsy-devos-school-safety-panel-takes-aim-at-obamas-discipline-guidance/2018/12/10/7e515700-f6b6-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.165666fc906b">get rid</a> of an Obama-era <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201401-title-vi.html">policy</a> that sought to end racial disparities in school suspensions and expulsions. Statistics show those disparities mean black students are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289687063_The_Punishment_Gap_School_Suspension_and_Racial_Disparities_in_Achievement">four times more likely</a> to be suspended than white students and two-thirds of black males will be suspended at some point during their K-12 careers.</p>
<p>Even if DeVos does scrap the policy that sought to end racial disparities, schools can still end the disparities on their own.</p>
<p>To do that, schools must first rethink the way they carry out school discipline. Instead of kicking students out, schools can take a <a href="https://youth.gov/youth-topics/positive-youth-development">positive youth development</a> approach.</p>
<p>The young people and school leaders who spoke with my team and me at the Boston University-based <a href="http://www.americaspromise.org/program/center-promise">Center for Promise</a> recently for <a href="http://gradnation.americaspromise.org/report/disciplined-and-disconnected">“Disciplined and Disconnected,”</a> called for the same approach.</p>
<p>I <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zuoN9ykAAAAJ&hl=en">study ways to create conditions children and adolescents</a> need to thrive academically and socially, and as employees and citizens. The Center for Promise, which I head, is a research center for America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit that convenes people and organizations to help young people thrive.</p>
<p>Just as <a href="http://www.americaspromise.org/report/dont-call-them-dropouts">prior research</a> has shown, the young people we spoke with stressed the need for school teachers and staff to get to know them and the reasons behind their behaviors. As one student in our study said, “All you got to do is to get suspended one time and you’re labeled. I see it, like they follow the same kids around, like everybody knows, ‘Hey, those are the bad kids…‘ Every time something happen, they either go to them or they [c]ome to me and [my friend] and be like, 'You know what happened?’”</p>
<p>School leaders spoke about the need to change the cultural norms in schools from punitive to positive. As one school administrator in our study stated, “For us, it’s about keeping kids in school, keeping kids connected. Because we all know the research: the more connected a kid is, the better they do.”</p>
<h2>Bias in school discipline</h2>
<p>That kind of change, however, is less likely if a school safety commission headed by DeVos has its way. The commission wants to scrap the Obama-era guidance that asked schools to keep track of racial disparities in school discipline. Without such guidance to raise awareness of how exclusionary discipline is implemented, research suggests that schools will <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/04/05/implicit-racial-bias-causes-black-boys-to-be-disciplined-at-school-more-than-whites-federal-report-finds/?utm_term=.2304a63f390d">disproportionately punish students of color</a>. </p>
<p>The school safety commission headed by DeVos was formed in response to the Parkland school shooting. There is no data to suggest that students of color are more likely to perpetrate school shootings, especially mass school shootings. Still, the commission seems to believe getting rid of the Obama-era policy memo meant to reduce racial disparities in school suspensions and expulsions will somehow reduce school violence, which is its primary charge. </p>
<p>At first blush, this seems to make little sense, but here’s how their thinking goes: Earlier this year, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/critics-perplexed-devos-listening-sessions-school-discipline/story?id=54254466">conservative leaders</a> called for Secretary DeVos to rescind the Obama-era memo. They <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/betsy-devos-shouldnt-roll-back-guidance-on-racial-discipline-disparities/2018/04/06/0743ff86-3916-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?utm_term=.cdbc32c780b3">argued</a> that it has made schools less safe by keeping dangerous students in school.</p>
<p>But experience and research shows that kids with problematic behavior don’t have to be removed from school to keep schools safe. Instead, there are very promising and proven alternatives that can lead to safer schools, improved behaviors for individual students, and more positive school climates. My research shows the key is to make sure these alternatives are implemented with the right support for teachers and school administrators.</p>
<p><a href="http://indiana.edu/%7Eequity/articles/Skiba_Knesting_Zero_Tolerance_2001.pdf">Exclusionary disciplinary practices</a> – that is, suspensions and expulsions – on the other hand, can create divisions between students and teachers. They also place educational attainment further out of reach for students of color and students with disabilities, who are suspended more frequently than other students.</p>
<p>Indeed, the consequences of being suspended extend far beyond missing a few days of school. A 2014 study from the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University found that a single suspension <a href="http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1217&context=childrenatrisk">doubles the odds</a> that a student would drop out of school.</p>
<h2>Alternatives to kicking kids out</h2>
<p>Fortunately, more schools have begun to implement practices that may actually improve student behavior without removing students from the classroom. These are practices that could begin to give teachers hope that there are effective tools to maintain productive learning environments, even amid recent <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-school-discipline-20151108-story.html">district-wide bans</a> on suspensions, such as in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. In these districts, teachers are pushing back against these bans because they are not being given enough professional development and school resources to effectively implement effective, alternative practices. Armed with the right tools, proper training, and school administration buy-in, schools can confidently begin to move away from using the blunt instrument of suspension in favor of practices that engage all students in safe, supportive and healthy learning environments.</p>
<p>At their core, these practices help schools rethink discipline by rethinking young people: from problems to be remediated to assets to be supported. Punishment is not seen as separate from the rest of the learning environment, but as part of the overall school climate. Two illustrative examples are restorative practices and the Building Assets, Reducing Risks program, or BARR.</p>
<h2>Restorative justice</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.iirp.edu/what-we-do/defining-restorative/">Restorative practices</a>, often referred to as restorative justice, involves getting school teachers, staff and students together to identify and understand the harm done. These approaches are meant to resolve the impacts of the behavior on other students and the broader school through appropriate reparations or reconciliations. They also involve the repair of any relationships that have been disrupted. California, Colorado, Pennsylvania and individual districts throughout the country have implemented restorative practices.</p>
<p>Teachers can still remove students from classrooms for dangerous behaviors when using restorative justice. However, the removal is not a punishment, but rather a first step in understanding the reasons for the behavior and helping the student understand the impact of their behavior on themselves and others.</p>
<p>Significant focus is placed on how the student brought back to class after the issues have been resolved. Studies have <a href="http://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/OSI-RestorativePracticemastheadFINAL-1.pdf">found that restorative justice</a> leads to improved student-teacher relationships, improved student behavior, and a reduction in suspensions, particularly for students of color.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2728960">Denver</a>, for instance, where restorative justice had been introduced in 2003, suspension rates for black students fell from 17.61 percent in the 2006-2007 school year to 10.42 percent six years later.</p>
<p>Since disciplinary alternatives are part of the learning experience, the impacts should go beyond suspension rates and should consider the learning environment for all students in a school. In <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2728960">Denver</a>, students attending schools that have done a good job implementing restorative practices show improved rates of attendance and courses passed.</p>
<p>A more proactive approach, the <a href="https://barrcenter.org">Building Assets, Reducing Risks, or BARR program</a>, focuses on building relationships between students and teachers that include mutual trust, respect and understanding of their respective lives — not on creating punitive policies. Developed at one high school outside Minneapolis, BARR is currently in 84 schools throughout the country.</p>
<p>BARR programs create structured activities for students and teachers to build positive relationships and set aside time for teachers to reflect on their students. BARR programs also call for continuous data collection on student strengths – such as motivation, empathy and social competence – and challenges faced by students – such as homelessness, learning differences and food instability.</p>
<p>Results from a set of rigorous studies show <a href="https://www.barrcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/AIR-SREE-2018-BARR.pdf">BARR positively impacted</a> on academic proficiency, credits earned and courses completed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan F. Zaff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is poised to stop looking at racial disparities in school discipline – a move that one scholar believes will send the wrong message to schools.Jonathan F. Zaff, Research Associate Professor and Executive Director, Center for Promise, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1036672018-12-10T11:41:44Z2018-12-10T11:41:44ZHow activists are fighting racial disparities in school discipline<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249506/original/file-20181207-128214-js9mbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Numerous data show black students are kicked out of school at disproportionate rates.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-boy-sitting-alone-sad-feeling-1088478776?src=t2-CPSGXnNGnVeUMMZLJGQ-1-0">Rido/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Harsh and racially disparate discipline practices are widespread in America’s schools.</p>
<p>Not so long ago in Texas, for instance, <a href="https://csgjusticecenter.org/youth/breaking-schools-rules-report/">75 percent</a> of black students had been suspended at some point in high school. For black males in Texas, 83 percent were suspended.</p>
<p>Nationally, black students lost nearly <a href="https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/final_11-million-days_ucla_aclu.pdf">five times as many days of instruction</a> due to out-of-school suspensions as white children. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/race-discipline-and-safety-us-public-schools?redirect=issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/doing-math-devos">1.7 million students</a> attend schools with police officers but no counselors.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=XdrHNkkAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">public policy scholar</a> who focuses on education reform, community organizing and racial justice – and as I argue in my book, <a href="https://www.liftusupmovement.org/">“Lift Us Up, Don’t Push Us Out”</a> – none of these staggering statistics will change unless there is a <a href="https://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejpp/vol26/iss1/11/">new grassroots movement</a> led by people of color. </p>
<p>More specifically, I believe there needs to be an educational justice movement to build the power to transform the nation’s public education system to provide a quality and equitable education for all.</p>
<p>I speak not just as an observer, but as one who has actually collaborated with one of several organizations that are beginning to coalesce into a grassroots movement that is national in scope. That organization – the <a href="https://dignityinschools.org/">Dignity in Schools Campaign</a> – along with others like the <a href="http://schottfoundation.org/content/spotlight-alliance-educational-justice">Alliance for Educational Justice</a>, the <a href="https://www.j4jalliance.com/">Journey for Justice Alliance</a>, the <a href="http://www.reclaimourschools.org/">Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools</a>, are all fighting to end the racial disparities that beset school systems throughout the United States.</p>
<h2>Victories at the local level</h2>
<p>The new movement is creating important changes in districts across the country. </p>
<p>For example, Zakiya Sankara-Jabar had to drop out of college when her 3-year-old son was repeatedly suspended and expelled from preschool in Dayton, Ohio. As she spoke with other black parents and did some research in her college library, Zakiya learned that her experience was not unusual. She co-founded <a href="https://rjnohio.org/">Racial Justice NOW!</a> to organize other parents to advocate for change.</p>
<p>The group joined the Dignity in Schools Campaign, which provided the new group with much needed support and resources – like a <a href="http://dignityinschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Model_Code_2013-1.pdf">model alternative code of student conduct</a> to replace zero tolerance policies. It also provided training opportunities for parents to learn how to advocate for policy change.</p>
<p>In a few short years, parents in Racial Justice NOW! achieved a <a href="https://www.liftusupmovement.org/zakiya-sankara-jabar">series of victories</a>. For instance, they won a moratorium on <a href="https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/dayton-public-limit-suspensions/uM7yB628rYnS1OBX1uQNnL/?clearUserState=true">pre-K to third-grade suspensions</a> in Dayton schools. They also changed the district’s code of conduct to <a href="https://www.dps.k12.oh.us/students-parents/student-information/student-code-of-conduct/">end zero tolerance policies</a> and won the <a href="https://www.dps.k12.oh.us/students-parents/student-information/student-code-of-conduct/restorative-justice.html">implementation of restorative justice alternative programs</a> in eight schools. Restorative justice approaches help schools get at the root causes of behavioral issues. Rather than punish and suspend, students and teachers gather in circles to discuss the harm caused by conflicts and attempt to restore relationships.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249505/original/file-20181207-128208-g1xxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249505/original/file-20181207-128208-g1xxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249505/original/file-20181207-128208-g1xxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249505/original/file-20181207-128208-g1xxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249505/original/file-20181207-128208-g1xxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249505/original/file-20181207-128208-g1xxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249505/original/file-20181207-128208-g1xxuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Using a restorative justice model, which includes teachers and students gathering in circles for discussions, seventh-graders at Ed White Middle School in San Antonio talk with school officials about a recent conflict in 2015. Three years after starting a restorative discipline program at the school, out-of-school suspensions have dropped by 72 percent, principal Philip Carney said, shown in the bottom right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/School-Punishments/a13cfdcbcca042b09dc62b11ad45372f/43/0">Eric Gay/AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similar victories have taken place at large school districts elsewhere. For instance, a number of organizing groups working with youth of color in Los Angeles schools who faced repeated suspensions – often for minor misbehavior – formed the <a href="https://www.libertyhill.org/brothers-sons-selves">Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition</a>. The coalition led a campaign to lobby the Los Angeles Unified School District to adopt a <a href="https://achieve.lausd.net/cms/lib/CA01000043/Centricity/Domain/416/School%20Climate%20Bill%20of%20Rights%20-%20Elementary.pdf">School Climate Bill of Rights</a>.</p>
<h2>Allies are crucial</h2>
<p>With allies like Board of Education member Monica Garcia, the bill passed in 2013 and ended suspensions for “willful defiance,” an offense that is subjectively interpreted by teachers and affected by <a href="http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/racial-disproportionality-in-school-discipline-implicit-bias-is-heavily-implicated/">racial bias</a>. As a result, the number days lost to out-of-school suspensions fell from <a href="https://home.lausd.net/apps/news/article/262220">nearly 75,000 per 2007-2008 school year</a> to just over <a href="http://schoolinfosheet.lausd.net/budgetreports/getdrpdf?reporttype=LAUSDSummary&schoolyear=20162017&district=&school_name=&school_code=&prop=TCIBCfwDEq8ZVcVy%2B845cpt9NdNIwJRFgFhbXenbtYt7jXi757PbkkYDP3591uy0Dfnd95UNsHKg%0D%0ARsruyVFIzqapHDb8HYOsTD2MrugBGxM6YhShcr%2BGF2jdafgX17i1et%2Bqu9AuSlI47XqrkEcEjJ0L%0D%0A5eIEnp3xTNE43KI8HqtFKa4IPI1lO07VXMPCGw1Gzu6NIsHjum4%3D">5,000 by the 2016-17 school year</a>.</p>
<p>The bill also supported <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/blog/restorative-justice-resources-matt-davis">restorative justice programs</a>. Research has shown that <a href="https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/safe-and-healthy-students/school-climate">less punitive and more positive school climates</a> – both chief aims of restorative justice – are tied to improving attendance rates, test scores, promotion rates and graduation rates.</p>
<p>Teacher allies have proved critical to the movement’s ability to implement restorative alternatives. Movement activists fear that restorative justice might fail if it is simply imposed on teachers without their buy-in or the resources to faithfully implement it.</p>
<p><a href="https://teachersunite.org/publications/building-safe-supportive-restorative-school-communities-new-york-city-vol-i/">Teachers Unite</a>, a group of New York City public school teachers, lobbies their fellow teachers to change their “hearts and minds” away from zero tolerance discipline and toward less punitive approaches such as restorative justice. At these schools, restorative justice is more than a “program.” It becomes a <a href="https://teachersunite.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC-NY_CaseStudyVol.III_2015.pdf">true partnership</a> with students, families and teachers to transform relationships and create positive school cultures that support student success.</p>
<h2>Larger problems loom</h2>
<p>Racial disparities in discipline aren’t the only problems the movement must confront. Children from low-income communities of color attend schools that are <a href="https://webspm.com/Articles/2018/01/11/Funding-Inequity.aspx">systematically underresourced</a>. These schools <a href="https://webspm.com/Articles/2018/01/11/Funding-Inequity.aspx">often have less</a> qualified teachers, larger class sizes and less challenging curriculum. </p>
<p>Technical changes – like improvements to curriculum or teaching methods – can help in small ways but ultimately fail to address the <a href="https://www.tcpress.com/learning-power-9780807747025">systemic nature</a> of inequities in education. </p>
<p>Changing those larger problems requires more services - like social-emotional supports and health care services located in community schools – and greater resources to lower teacher-student ratios, modernize school facilities and provide up-to-date classroom materials.</p>
<p>The new educational justice movement faces challenges with the current administration as well. For instance, the Trump administration is <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/04/11/betsy-devos-weighing-action-on-school-discipline.html">contemplating withdrawing</a> federal guidance that warns school districts against zero tolerance discipline policy.</p>
<p>Yet the movement’s strong local base continues to create change at district and even state levels where the majority of education policy is determined and funded. Public education remains vital to the promise of <a href="http://education.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-25">American democracy</a>: It profoundly shapes the <a href="https://www.russellsage.org/publications/whither-opportunity">life opportunities</a> of future generations. The new grassroots educational justice movement is working hard to make this promise a reality in the lives of children of color and their families.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103667/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark R Warren receives funding from the Ford Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. He has previously received funding from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the NEA Foundation. Although he has no formal affiliation, he collaborates with the Dignity in Schools Campaign. </span></em></p>A grassroots movement to end racial disparities in schoolhouse discipline is beginning to take root throughout the nation and winning important victories at the local level. Can it sustain the effort?Mark R. Warren, Professor of Public Policy and Public Affairs, UMass BostonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945582018-04-25T10:49:53Z2018-04-25T10:49:53ZKids of color get kicked out of school at higher rates – here’s how to stop it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213459/original/file-20180405-189807-pogwe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black students and students with disabilities get suspended at higher rates, federal data show.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/troubled-young-man-491263282?src=cmGwqLnUN1d4bLOeZI8gCA-4-68">From www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When two black men were <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/gma/men-arrested-starbucks-were-business-meeting-hoping-change-114103068--abc-news-topstories.html">arrested</a> at a Philadelphia Starbucks where they had been waiting for a business meeting on April 12, the incident called renewed attention to the bias that racial minorities face in American society.</p>
<p>A few days later, a similar incident unfolded at an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/20/us/la-fitness-apology/index.html">LA Fitness</a> in New Jersey.</p>
<p>While these two incidents involved adults at places of business, the reality is black children face similar treatment in America’s schools.</p>
<p>The latest evidence is in a recent <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-258?utm_campaign=usgao_email&utm_content=daybook&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery">federal report</a> that shows boys, black students and students with disabilities get kicked out of school at higher rates than their peers.</p>
<p>Findings like this are disturbing, but they are hardly surprising. As a trainer of <a href="http://www.apa.org/about/division/div16.aspx">school psychologists</a>, consultant and <a href="https://unlvcoe.org/directory/faculty/index.php?directory_id=132">researcher</a>, I have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10474412.2016.1246972?src=recsys">worked with schools</a> on the matter of racial disparities in school discipline, along with <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781136326264">other problems of justice</a>.</p>
<p>I believe racial disparities in school discipline will persist until educators seriously examine the role their decisions play in the matter. They will also persist until schools begin to implement new strategies that have proven it’s not necessary to kick kids out of school to effectively deal with their behavior.</p>
<h2>The source of disparities</h2>
<p>Racial disparities in school discipline are nothing <a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/library/archives/digital-library/school-suspensions-are-they-helping-children.html">new</a>. In 2014 – after years of <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/zero-tolerance.pdf">“zero tolerance”</a> policies proved <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/zero-tolerance.pdf">problematic</a> – the Obama administration issued a <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201401-title-vi.pdf">guidance</a> to remind schools of their obligation to teach all children and not to suspend or expel them unfairly. </p>
<p>Yet, the new federal data show that for virtually every school in the country for the 2013-14 school year, racial disparities were present irrespective of the type of disciplinary action, level of school poverty, or type of school attended. The bottom line is that some sort of bias is at play.</p>
<p>In research on the subject, this bias is known as implicit bias. This is defined as automatic, unconscious associations and stereotypes about groups of people that affect our understanding, actions and decisions. This topic has been <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553804642?_encoding=UTF8&isInIframe=0&n=283155&ref_=dp_proddesc_0&s=books&showDetailProductDesc=1#product-description_feature_div">studied extensively</a> and popularized by a collaborative research project housed at <a href="https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/aboutus.html">Harvard University.</a></p>
<p>How real is implicit bias? In a series of four experimental studies, the fourth study, using state-of-the-art <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797617705399">eye-tracking methodology</a>, demonstrated that – when asked to judge who was telling the truth – whites gazed more quickly at the “lie” response for blacks, which suggests a spontaneous mistrust of blacks. This is consistent with what <a href="https://theconversation.com/measuring-the-implicit-biases-we-may-not-even-be-aware-we-have-74912">other researchers have found</a>. Interestingly, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson <a href="https://news.starbucks.com/press-releases/starbucks-to-close-stores-nationwide-for-racial-bias-education-may-29">mentioned implicit bias as one of the issues</a> potentially at play in the Starbucks incident.</p>
<p>One study on <a href="http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/implicit-bias-2016.pdf">implicit bias in schools</a> concluded that teachers and staff <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0038040717694876">viewed black girls’ behavior differently</a>. The same study found that black girls were three times more likely to receive office referrals for discipline compared to white girls for subjective discipline violations. A different study found that black students were disciplined for <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.17988/bedi-41-04-178-195.1">subjective interpretations</a> of behaviors, such as “disobedience” and “disruptive behavior.”</p>
<p>An experimental study conducted at Yale found that preschool teachers <a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/childstudy/zigler/publications/Preschool%20Implicit%20Bias%20Policy%20Brief_final_9_26_276766_5379_v1.pdf">gazed at black boys longer compared to other children</a> when asked to look for challenging behavior on video clips.</p>
<p>This tendency to view black children with more suspicion harms the relationships between teachers and black students.</p>
<p>In issuing the <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-258?utm_campaign=usgao_email&utm_content=daybook&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery">new report</a>, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, or GAO, lists several areas to target racial disparities in school discipline. In my experience working with schools, I believe the GAO’s recommendations are correct, but will only work under certain conditions.</p>
<h2>In search of alternatives</h2>
<p>The first recommendation is to implement alternative forms of discipline that focus on proactive and preventative <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/research-and-policy/current-law-and-policy-priorities/policy-priorities/the-every-student-succeeds-act/essa-implementation-resources/essa-and-mtss-for-decision-makers">strategies for the whole school</a> rather than reactive punishment. In my work with schools implementing such approaches, the biggest <a href="https://www.ernweb.com/educational-research-articles/maryland-study-finds-biggest-challengeof-pbis-is-accentuating-the-positive/">problem</a> is the degree to which teachers and staff may not have buy-in on the strategies to implement them properly.</p>
<p>For example, some teachers and staff with one particular initiative became frustrated with certain challenging students and rarely gave praise or “behavior bucks,” which could be traded in for privileges and stickers. And when teachers did distribute the “behavior bucks,” they were sarcastic about it and often belittled students rather than being encouraging. In essence, teachers turned a positive strategy into a harmful one. </p>
<p>Due to the potential lack of buy-in from teachers, it is important to use strategies that enable a more collaborative approach to deciding the consequences.</p>
<p>This is the strength of <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/blog/restorative-justice-resources-matt-davis">the restorative justice approach</a>. Restorative justice is built upon a foundation of empowering students to collaboratively have their voices heard, take responsibility for one’s actions, and make hurt relationships right again through community dialogue.</p>
<p>For example, restorative justice approaches will gather students and adults together in a circle to discuss the infraction by focusing on who was harmed and what the community can do to make the hurt relationship right again, which is often a plan of amends. These circle discussions with various adults and students allow for all parties to understand one another’s perspective and produce empathy for students, teachers and classmates. In my view, collaborative decision-making is the key to reducing biases.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914002485">Restorative justice</a> has been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10474412.2014.929950?src=recsys">shown</a> to reduce racial disparities in discipline directly, which perhaps explains why other programs are <a href="http://www.pbis.serc.co/docs/PBIS%20and%20%20Restorative%20Practices%20final.pdf">integrating</a> restorative justice strategies into their programs.</p>
<p>Second, there need to be new laws and policies to discourage punitive, exclusionary disciplinary practices in schools and to encourage alternative approaches to school discipline. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/school-discipline">California</a> prohibits the use of suspensions and expulsions for children in grades K-3 for willful defiance. Other states and school districts, such as <a href="https://will.illinois.edu/news/story/illinois-issues-new-school-discipline-philosophy-one-year-later">Illinois</a> and <a href="https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=2391903">Seattle</a>, have done so as well.</p>
<p>Finally, it would be helpful if America’s schools had more school psychologists on hand. Unfortunately, the nation’s schools suffer from a <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources/school-psychology/shortages-in-school-psychology-resource-guide">shortage of school psychologists</a> at a time when they are needed most to help address complex issues of racial disparities in school discipline.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Song does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The recent arrest of two black patrons who were waiting on a business meeting at a Starbucks has parallels to how black children are unfairly discipline in school, a researcher argues.Samuel Song, Associate Professor of School Psychology, University of Nevada, Las VegasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/430992015-06-16T10:08:09Z2015-06-16T10:08:09ZWhen researchers ask for data on penalization of black kids, schools resist, cover up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85085/original/image-20150615-5846-1oj1oza.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students of color are more likely to be suspended.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/unirodlibrary/8726689218/in/photolist-ei9yEW-ei3Q8D-ei3P7x-ei9ypW-ei9yvu-fVx6Ld-aUkPAz-i6Ukv8-9DDm9K-aUkPZr-aUkQYP-ei9zwW-ei9zaU-ei9zj3-ei9xMQ-ei3QmD-ei3QdP-ei9ywY-ei3NSP-ei3NMV-ei3R6c-ei9zJA-ei3QBH-ei9yim-ei3QFM-ei3Qop-ei9xXf-ei3R1n-ei3QsH-ei9zWh-ei9ziQ-ei3Pc8-ei9yLy-ei3PXv-ei9zpE-ei3PCk-ei9y69-ei9ypj-ei9yzY-ei9y1u-ei3NVR-ei3Qjz-ei3QvM-ei3QPV-ei3PWK-ei9yB5-ei3P2D-ei3Qzr-ei9z7y-ei3Q9v">Rod Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>That students of color bear the <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-harsher-disciplinary-measures-school-systems-fail-black-kids-39906">brunt</a> of the zero tolerance discipline policies in schools has been <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdc-discipline-snapshot.pdf">well-established</a>. What is not so well known is that some school administrations are actually <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=17975">complicit</a> in this act of racial disciplining.</p>
<p>Nationally, students of color are <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdc-discipline-snapshot.pdf">more likely</a> to be suspended than white students. On average, black boys are <a href="http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Downloads/CRDC-School-Discipline-Snapshot.pdf">suspended</a> four times more than white boys. Latino students are also <a href="http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Downloads/CRDC-School-Discipline-Snapshot.pdf">suspended</a> more frequently than white students, and female students of color are also disciplined more frequently than white female students. </p>
<h2>The policy ‘problem’</h2>
<p>But this is not all. A recent <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=17975">study</a> that we conducted over a period of two years in Texas found that schools were in fact negligent when it came to addressing such practices of disciplining. The study covered four school districts in Texas with a population of nearly 200,000 students.</p>
<p>As researchers, we have been studying this issue since 2010. But what prompted this study was the suspension of one of the researcher’s sons from school. The child was given a US$500 court citation. And when we showed up for our court appointment, we saw that all the children were either black or brown. Did it mean that white children never fought in school?</p>
<p>We knew this was part of what is now known as the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice/race-and-inequality-education/school-prison-pipeline">school-to-prison pipeline</a> for children of color. It led us to take on a scholar-activist role. </p>
<p>Most schools and districts claim to be following <a href="http://uex.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/03/05/0042085913475635.abstract">“race-neutral” discipline policies</a>. School officials even point to their race-neutral suspension and expulsion policies to show how they are <a href="http://eaq.sagepub.com/content/39/1/68.short">“fair” with students</a> of all race and ethnic subgroups.</p>
<p>However, researchers have found that the problem lies in the application of these policies. </p>
<p>For example, black students are more likely to be suspended for breaking <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19083368">subjective school rules</a> such as a lack of respect for teachers than for objective ones, like having a weapon. Researchers point to <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1021320817372#page-1">cultural stereotypes</a> and misunderstandings from a primarily white teaching force as the reasons for the “disciplining gaps.” </p>
<h2>Data on discipline</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=17975">recent study</a> found that some schools are, in fact, negligent and even defensive when it comes to addressing the problem of school discipline practices and the discipline gap. </p>
<p>The kind of responses we got when we asked for school districts’ discipline data resembled a “corporate cover-up.” </p>
<p>Some school administrators resisted our attempts to provide information under the <a href="http://www.foia.gov/">Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)</a>, and some others released data that were not helpful. For example, in the discipline data submitted by a school district, we were not able to discern the race of the children who had been suspended or expelled from school. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85087/original/image-20150615-5812-1pf540f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85087/original/image-20150615-5812-1pf540f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85087/original/image-20150615-5812-1pf540f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85087/original/image-20150615-5812-1pf540f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85087/original/image-20150615-5812-1pf540f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85087/original/image-20150615-5812-1pf540f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85087/original/image-20150615-5812-1pf540f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some schools have been found to be negligent about school disciplining issues.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=14343824922903054000&search_tracking_id=3QRhFZ-NxCkmZBsSnyJAuQ&searchterm=school%20children%20african%20american%20&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=147613502">Student image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is hard for us to imagine that schools are not keeping track of usable disciplinary data, considering that in recent years, widespread attention has focused on the disciplinary treatment of black boys and other students of color. President Obama has even initiated <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/my-brothers-keeper">My Brother’s Keeper</a>, a national program intended to help black and Latino boys succeed. </p>
<h2>Responses from schools</h2>
<p>Our biggest surprise was finding out that districts perceived our request for data as a threat. We found that school administrations became secretive, defensive and even more protective of the data. It seemed to us that districts were essentially complicit in the process of oppression of youth of color. </p>
<p>Even the districts that provided the data were very defensive when informed of the discipline gaps that occurred in their schools. For example, when presented with data in his district, one data administrator responded, “Well, other districts in Texas are higher than us” and “We are not far off from the state average.” </p>
<p>It was very troubling for us to see schools reacting in this way, especially when lives of youth were at risk. These responses were unacceptable and deflected the district’s responsibility. </p>
<p>In the end, only one school district, out of four, instituted a district-wide program for the principals of their schools to learn more about the racial discipline gaps. It was the only one to take steps on how to begin reducing and eliminating racial discipline gaps at both the school and at the district level. </p>
<p>As we conducted the study, we also realized that there is no national legislation that prompts schools to address disparities in education. While No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and other national legislation have at least attempted to draw attention to <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/achieve/edpicks.jhtml">racial disparities</a> in achievement, no legislation exists that actually compels schools to address the problem.</p>
<p>This is unfortunate, given the close connection between the <a href="http://edr.sagepub.com/content/39/1/59.short">academic achievement gap</a> and the discipline gap. </p>
<h2>What must be done?</h2>
<p>It is important that schools make policies and goals for racial and ethnic groups more explicit. For example, a goal for “75% proficiency for students in math” is not as impactful as “75% proficiency for each student subgroup based on their racial, gender or language-based identity.” The reason we say this is: what if the population of a school is 25% Latino and that happens to be the same population of nonproficient math students? </p>
<p>At the policy level, what is needed is intensive training on <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/08/across-america-whites-are-biased-and-they-dont-even-know-it/">implicit racial bias</a> in most districts. In addition, school districts should be required to report overall suspension rates and discipline gaps within each of their schools. </p>
<p>Furthermore, state or federal policies must begin to regulate both the collection of discipline data and the rate of compliance of schools.</p>
<p>Parents too need to pay more attention. Parents of color and from other subgroups should begin to identify which schools are more likely to suspend students of color.</p>
<p>All this together can be a powerful impetus for districts and schools to attend to this problem. Otherwise, disciplining practices will continue to have devastating consequences for our kids.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Muhammad Khalifa works as a private consultant (schoolequityproject.com) and helps districts to close their achievement and discipline gaps, and to establish culturally responsive leadership. He is also a professor of educational administration for Michigan State University, and continuously trains school leaders to become culturally responsive leaders.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felecia Briscoe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students of color are subjected to harsher disciplinary measures. Are schools doing enough to check this practice?Muhammad Khalifa, Assistant Professor of Educational Administration, Michigan State UniversityFelecia Briscoe, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, The University of Texas at San AntonioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.