Abstract
Although in-school suspensions may be viewed as less severe than out-of-school suspensions, both discipline consequences limit students’ access to learning opportunities and are negatively associated with a range of educational outcomes. Moreover, if sending students out of class perpetuates the same racial disparities as sending them home, this practice does not realize the equity goals of discipline reforms over the last decade. Our study draws on Critical Race Theory and QuantCrit to understand racial discipline gaps across in-school and out-of-school suspensions using data from students and schools in one large district. Results of multilevel regression models indicate similar racial disparities in both suspension types, suggesting neither approach is equitable. These findings illustrate the limits of race-neutral policies in mitigating exclusionary discipline gaps. Addressing the thorny issues that contribute to racial disparities will likely require greater resources for high quality implementation of school-wide culture change initiatives that are explicitly anti-racist.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 565-584 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Race Ethnicity and Education |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Spencer Foundation [201900065]. Following the recommendations of Beltran and Mehrotra (2015), the authors would like to honor our intellectual ancestors who shaped our thinking in this manuscript. First Author: I am grateful to my parents, Joan and Bob, and my Aunt Jean for exposing me to injustice, nurturing my critical thinking, complicating my understanding of oppression, and modeling different approaches to promoting equity. The young people I worked with for many years in the Bay Area taught me too many relevant lessons to name, but most of all, they helped me understand my Whiteness and how racism works in students’ everyday lives. My mentors at the beginning of my academic career, Al Camarillo and Milbrey McLaughlin influenced my commitment to community-engaged research that incorporates multiple ways of knowing. Second Author: I owe my awareness and understanding of racial inequality to the many teachers that I have had, both formal and informal, whose powerful curriculum and deeply humanizing spirits brought me into political consciousness about the workings of power, inequality and racism in society. This line of teachers began for me in high school, with English teachers Mr. Nicholas, Mrs. McSherry, and Mrs. Henry who used literature to elevate issues of privilege and oppression. It continued into graduate school, where sociologists, historians, philosophers and legal scholars including Drs. Marki LeCompte, Linda Mizell, Michelle Moses and Kevin Welner expanded my worldview, and this line continued through my dissertation work, when I met several Black youth who shared their knowledge and wisdom on racism in schools. These young people are in large part the reason why this work has become so important to me. Third Author: My intellectual family tree is rooted with the first people who taught me true humility, my peers and the staff at the homeless shelter I resided in as a young person. [De-identified], and all of the others who never let me off the hook, and always had my back. These people taught me how to listen, and how to be authentic in my voice. The tree was strengthened with guidance from professors like Glenn T. Morris who crossed the line at some point from instructor to comrade, and who introduced me to the work of Derrek Bell and critical race theory. In my PhD program, I was fortunate to have the guidance of Dr. Frank Tuitt, who gently pushed me to think deeper not only about the world around me, but also about my own values and goals as a scholar. The tree constantly blooms with all the things I have learned from the young people I worked with, as well as all the students I have had the opportunity to instruct. Fourth Author: I would like to first acknowledge my parents, Rose and Ed, for paving the way for my own education. Not only were you an example of how to survive as a person of color in academia, but also how to use that education to give back to the community. To the rest of the Alvarado and Trujillo family both past and present; thank you for all your tireless work and support that brought me to this point. Lastly, Eileen, Javier, and all the youth and staff at at Latinas Adelante and the Youth Empowerment Program. Thank you all for helping me to understand the intricacies of the education system, and the power of community.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- Critical Race Theory
- Quantcrit
- Suspension
- exclusionary
- racial disparities
- school discipline
