To: Betsy DeVos, United States Secretary of Education
From: Kianna Gousby
Re: Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline
________________________________________
Black students are 3 to 4 times more likely to be suspended than white students (Gergory et al., 2012). This racial disparity has been recorded since the early 1970’s (Gregory et al., 2012). Suspension disproportionately affects black students regardless of their public or private school rank and social status. It is important to address the varying rates of suspensions for black and white students because of the negative connotations and outcomes associated with suspension frequency. Studies show that suspended students are more likely to have lower test scores and dropout of high school, which consequently widens the achievement gap and lowers graduation rates (Gregory et al.,2012). Former United States Education Secretary John King said “ [These] findings lay bare the US’ systemic failure to educate all students equally. Students of color, those whose first language is not English and those with disabilities are not getting the same opportunities to learn” (USA Today, 2016). Unfortunately, school is a different place for black students than it is for white.
The new data released by the United States Department of Education showed that African-American students (grades K-12) are 3.8 times more likely to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions as their white counterparts (USA Today, 2012). 6% of all students received one or more out-of-school suspensions in the 2013-2014 school year (USA Today, 2016). Of that 6% of suspended students, 18% were black boys and 10% were black girls. Furthermore, within that 6%, only 5% were white boys and 2 % were white girls (USA Today, 2016). There are steps that schools and the education districts can do to lessen the rate at which they suspend children, especially those of African-American descent.
Why is this occurring?
Minority students are more likely to have inexperienced teachers:
• 11% of African-American students and 9% of Latino students attend schools where more than one in five teachers are on their first year of the job. Whereas only 5% of white students are in schools with inexperienced teachers. The implication of this is that inexperienced teachers will likely suspend students because it’s a simpler solution than actually taking the time to dissect the problem and address it properly (without immediate suspension). A highly qualified teacher is defined generally in the profiles as one who is “fully certified or licensed by the State … holds at least a bachelor’s degree from a four-year institution, and demonstrates competence in each core academic subject area in which the teacher teaches.” (Huffington Post, 2014) According to Susan Polistrok and Jay Gottlieb, writers of The Impact of Positive Behavior Intervention Training for Teachers On Referral Rates for Misbehavior, Special Education Evaluation and Student Reading Achievement in the Elementary Grades, state:
“When teachers are making both disciplinary referrals and referrals for special education evaluation and placement due to conduct problems occurring at high rates, it suggests that the teaching staff depth of training in whole class management overall [lacks].” (Gottlieb et al., 2006)
When teachers are inexperienced they are more likely to make disciplinary referrals for students when the situation at hand may not have required disciplinary action. It is important to note that this argument is not to say that inexperienced teachers should not teach, but recognize that inexperienced teachers and disciplinary action rates are interrelated.
Cultural incompetence:
• With regard to education, cultural incompetency is the idea that educators are not successfully educating students who come from cultures other than their own (NEA, 2008). Families discipline their children in different ways, as do teachers. What a teacher may find to be disruptive in class may be something that the student was taught or is found to be acceptable in their home. Often times, a students behavior is linked to external factors. For example, a student be dealing with personal issues outside of the classroom, in their homes. According the NEA’s policy brief on cultural competency in education, only one out of three states require teacher candidates to study some aspect of cultural diversity in their core preparation courses, and/or to have a teaching practicum in a culturally diverse setting (NEA, 2008). This is problematic because the lack of cultural competency among educators directly affects their students. A lack of cultural communication potentially causes teachers to immediately assume the student is misbehaving purposefully. This miscommunication could be corrected if teachers, administrators understood that some behavior patterns might be associated with their personal lives.
Chronic Absence:
• The United States Department of Education defined ‘chronic absence’ as missing 15 or more school days a year. 22% of black students (K-12) are labeled as chronically absent. These chronic absences are due to illness and/or suspension. 13% of students nationwide are labeled chronically absent (again, of that 13% of students nationwide, 22% are black). This is problematic because students cannot be successful if they are not in attendance.
Current solutions:
• In 2014, President Barack Obama’s administration issued guidelines advising schools to create more positive climates, setting clear expectations and consequences for students, (New York Times, 2014). These actions put the pressure on schools and their administrations to critically examine why their reasoning for suspensions and behavioral consequences.
• Former President Obama administration’s and the Department of Education published “educator equity profiles” for every state and the District of Columbia (Huffington Post, 2014). The profiles compare the qualifications of educators who teach in low-income, high-minority schools with those who teach in wealthier areas. The Excellent Educators of All initiative is an effort that ensures that all students have equal access to the best educators, regardless of background (Huffington Post, 2014). The initiative required states to develop plans for reversing the trends that cause inequitable distribution of teachers.
Recommendations:
Mandate cultural competency training for educations:
• Culture plays a critical role in learning, It is essential to student learning as every students brings a unique culture to their classroom. A policy brief written by NEA states that:
“And while students are not solely products of their cultures and they vary in the degree to which they identify them, educations must become knowledgeable about their students’ distinctive cultural backgrounds so they can translate that knowledge into effective instruction and enriched curriculum.” (NEA, 2008)
Mandating cultural competency training for educators will create effective teaching . Culturally competent educators understand that students benefit from a learning environment that increases the connection between home and school culture and involves families and the broader community in students’ education (NEA, 2008).
Abolish out-of-school suspensions nationwide.
• Abolishing out-of-school suspensions will reduce the percentage of chronically absent children and weakening the effects of anti-socialism due to in-home suspensions. Alternative to in-home suspensions, schools can offer an in-school suspension policy that allows children to still be active in their class lessons. School administrators can ask students to write a reflection on their suspension, forcing the students to recognize the reason they are being disciplined so that they do not repeat the behavior.
School districts with high rates of suspensions have mandatory behavioral management training.
• In school districts with high rates of suspensions, there should mandated behavioral management training for educators and administrators. This training would help educators and administrators learn how to better manage students with behavioral problems in the classrooms. Implementing this this training will equip education professionals with the skills needed to properly diffuse and correct negative behaviors from students.
Alternative to out-of –school suspensions, give an extra assignment as a disciplinary tactic.
• For example, if you find a student misbehaving or fighting, instead of suspending them, assign them an intense reading with the requirement that they report back their main findings or important facts. Administrators and educators will find that students do not want to complete additional work. This can used as alternative to out-of-school suspensions and will encourage students to have better behavior because they do not want to have to complete additional work.
Conclusion
It is clear that there are many outlining factors that contribute to the racial disproportionality of suspension and discipline rates. Research has showed black students (specifically black boys) are suspended more often tha white students. The findings mentioned above are alarming and action must be taken to ensure that every student has an equal education. I have recommended four ways to rectify the racial disproportionality of school discipline and of those four, it is most important and feasible to implement cultural competency training, workshops, and standards for 50 states in America and the District of Columbia. As of right today, only nine states have cultural knowledge or competency standards for educators (NEA, 2008). These nine states include: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, and South Dakota (NEA, 2008). It is crucial that all 50 states and the District of Columbia maintain cultural competency standards for educators and administrators in order to see an effective change in suspension rates for black students.
Works Cited:
Gregory, Anne, Dewey Cornell, and Xitao Fan. “The Relationship of School Structure and
Support to Suspension Rates for Black and White High School Students.” American
Educational Research Journal 10.5 (2011): 1-31. AERA, 2011. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
Klein, Rebecca. “These Are The States Where Poor Students Are Most Likely To Have
Inexperienced Teachers.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Dec.
2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.
NEA. Promoting Educators’ Cultural Competence To Better Serve Culturally Diverse
Students(2008): Center for Public Schools. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.
Polirstok, Susan, and Jay Gottlieb. “The Impact of Positive Behavior Intervention
Training for Teachers On Referral Rates for Misbehavior, Special Education
Evaluation and Student Reading Achievement in the Elementary
Grades.” Psychnet.APA.org. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and
Therapy Volume 2, No. 3, 2006, 2006. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.
Rich, Motoko. “Analysis Finds Higher Expulsion Rates for Black Students.” The New York Times. N.p., 24 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.
Toppp, Greg. “Black Students Nearly 4x as Likely to Be Suspended.” USA Today. N.p., 7 June 2016. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.