Research and Resources on School Discipline

 Suspension is not effective in extinguishing challenging behavior or teaching proactive

alternatives. Evidence suggests that suspension increases undesirable behaviors and
results in reduced school safety. Out-of-school suspensions lead to more suspensions,
greater likelihood of dropping out, and criminal justice involvement. (Skiba & Rausch,
“Zero tolerance, suspension, and expulsion: Questions of equity and effectiveness.” In
C. M. Evertson & C. S. Weinstein (Eds.), Handbook of classroom management: Research,
practice, and contemporary issues, 2006, pp. 1063–1092).
 In elementary schools, greater use of exclusionary discipline strategies was associated
with lower order and discipline scores, whereas greater use of classroom-based positive
behavior supports was associated with higher scores on order and discipline, fairness,
and student–teacher relationship. These findings suggest that pre-service training and
professional development activities should promote teachers' use of positive behavior
support strategies and encourage reduced reliance on exclusionary discipline strategies
in order to enhance the school climate and conditions for learning. (Mary M. Mitchell
and Catherine P. Bradshaw. “Examining classroom influences on student perceptions of
school climate: The role of classroom management and exclusionary discipline
strategies,” Journal of School Psychology, Volume 51, Issue 5, October 2013, Pages
599-610.)
 After tracking nearly 17,000 students over three years, two Midwestern researchers
found that high rates of school suspensions in middle and high schools harmed math
and reading scores for non-suspended students. (Morris, Edward W.; Perry, Brea L.
“Suspending Progress: Collateral Consequences of Exclusionary Punishment in Public
Schools,” American Sociological Review, November 5, 2014.)
 The 2011 Council of State Governments report found that a single suspension or
expulsion doubles the risk of that student repeating a grade, which is in itself one of the
strongest predictors of dropping out. In addition, an American Psychological
Association review in 2006 found that suspensions are also linked to behavioral
problems, detachment from social interaction with peers and adults, and high rates of
dropout from school.
 Skiba, Michael, Nardo, and Peterson (2000) found that Black males were
overrepresented in receiving suspension as a discipline consequence relative to their
White peers. They also documented that Black males were punished for more
subjective offenses, such as disrespect, which suggested that they were disciplined
more harshly for less serious behavior than their White peers.
 Statistics
From OSSE’s discipline report (all data is SY2016-2017 unless otherwise noted):

 In the 2015-16 school year, 6.0% of elementary students, 16.5% of middle-school

students and 12.7% of high school students received at least one out-of-school
suspension. Suspension rate overall according to OSSE was 7.8% but when you exclude
pre-k and adult students, who by and large are not suspended, it would be higher,
about 10%.

 7,181 students received at least one out-of-school suspension, 613 received at least one
in-school suspension and 100 were expelled.

 Most suspensions and expulsions happened in middle school and 9th grades, the same
transition that is a major focus area for schools to ensure high school graduation. In
SY15-16, more than one out of five 7th and 8th graders were suspended, almost one in
five 9th graders were suspended.

 Black students accounted for over 95% of expulsions (vs. less than 70% of enrolled
students), and were 8 times more likely to be suspended than white students, plus
more likely to be suspended more than once and for more days at a time.

 Students with disabilities and students “at-risk” of academic failure were 1.6 and 1.5
times as likely to be suspended, respectively. In SY15-16, economically disadvantaged
students were twice as likely to be suspended, as were students who attended more
than one school.

 In SY15-16, Combination of disproportionality for black special education students was

greater than the combination of other black and special education.

 30 schools had no out-of-school suspensions. The highest out-of-school suspension rate

was 38.1%. Seven schools had out-of-school suspension rates at or above 30.0%.

 Discipline actions for violence are going down, but for subjective reasons are going up.

 51.6% of students receiving out-of-school suspensions were “truant” vs. 27.5% of peers,
and the “truancy” rate went from 43.2% to 53% before and after initial out-of-school
suspension. These are students already not attending school and they are even less
likely to after the suspension. The longer the suspension, the more those two rates
increase. Schools reported 390 out-of-school suspensions pertaining to attendance
(absence, tardy, skipping), up from 264 in SY15-16.
Read OSSE’s full SY2016-2017 report here