A new study from the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the Graduate School of Education of the University of California, Los Angeles, documents a large racial gap in school discipline nationwide and offers recommendations for what can be done to eliminate the disparity.
The report find that the largest racial gap in school suspensions in the elementary grades is in Missouri. For secondary school students, the largest racial gap in suspensions is in Wisconsin.
Daniel J. Losen, director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies and the editor of the report, said that “the question we’re asking here is, ‘Are we closing the school discipline gap?’ For the first time, we can answer that question in a really meaningful way. And the answer is, ‘A lot of school districts are closing the gap in a profound way, but not enough to swing the national numbers.’”
The full report, Closing the School Discipline Gap: Equitable Remedies for Excessive Exclusion, was published recently by Teachers College Press.
