Over the past decade, several prior studies have found Black K-12 students are significantly more likely to experience scholastic punishment than their peers. A new study led by the University of California, Berkeley and the U.S. Department of Education has found even more evidence of this disparity on a national level.
The authors cross-examined data on six different types of scholastic punishment, three comparison groups, and 16 subpopulations and found that “no matter how you slice it, Black students are overrepresented among those punished and excluded.” These disparities persisted when broken down by gender, special education status, socioeconomic background, age (pre-k, elementary, middle, and high school), and school setting (public, magnet, charter, and alternative schools).
Relative to their White classmates, across all subpopulations, Black students are 3.6 times more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension, 2.5 times more likely to receive an in-school suspension, 3.4 times more likely to be expelled, 2.4 times more likely to be referred to law enforcement, 2.9 times more likely to be arrested at school, and 2.3 times more likely to experience corporal punishment (e.g. spanking).
While there was no subpopulation or type of discipline in which Black students were not overrepresented among those punished, the largest overall disparities were found among out-of-school suspensions, in-school suspensions, and corporal punishment, and in wealthy, semi-wealthy, and alternative school settings.
In American alternative schools, Black students are 3.1 times more likely to be arrested and 15.3 times more likely to experience corporal punishment than their White peers. In the country’s wealthiest schools, where less than 25 percent of students receive free or reduced-priced lunch, Black students are 5.3 times more likely to be suspended and 7.8 times more likely to be expelled than White students.
The authors conclude that federal, state, and local governments, as well as school administrators and teachers, must work together to develop pathways to mitigate these racial disparities in scholastic exclusion and punishment. These interventions could include implementing teacher professional development in equity and empathy and increasing diversity in the teacher workforce. They also advocate for alternatives to exclusionary discipline, such as positive behavioral interventions and restorative practices that focus on building community, teaching social and emotional skills, and incentivizing good behavior.
