School Discipline Practices Over Three Years in a Rapidly Growing, Diverse Public Middle School

• In Event: The Politics of Equity and Social Justice in Student Achievement

Abstract

Pressure to reduce racial disparities in school discipline weighs heavily on many district and school leaders around the country. Part of curbing discipline disparities may actually involve re-evaluating school-level factors less obviously related to discipline, such as school leaders’ approaches to learning and achievement. Using data collected from an ethnographic case study during the 2014-15 school year, this paper describes the relationships between school leaders’ approaches to learning and achievement, and racial disparities. I argue that school leaders use discipline practices to accomplish two specific learning-related projects, permitting learning and protecting learning, that inadvertently contribute to racial disparities in discipline.

Author

• Kathryn Elizabeth Wiley, University of Colorado - Boulder