Racial Discipline Disparities in Predominantly White Schools: A National Quantitative Analysis

• In Event: 32.083 - Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: 32.083-14 - Critical Examinations of Academic Persistence and Outcomes Among Students of Color

Abstract

Decades of research have found that students of color are disciplined more often and more harshly than their White counterparts. While numerous studies have examined racial discipline disparities, few have addressed how non-White students are disciplined in predominantly white schools. This study uses national data to analyze the relationship between the relative risk of receiving school discipline for students of color (as compared to White students) and the proportion of white students in a school. It also assesses the influence of several other variables related to gender, socioeconomic status, disability status, school resources, school staff, urbanicity and level (elementary, middle, high). Preliminary results suggest that the percentage of White students in a school tends to increase the relative risk of school discipline for non-White students. Results are interpreted using a) critical race theory and b) intergroup threat theory to position pervasive racial disparities in school discipline as a function of both the structural and individual level discrimination, which results in a host of negative effects on the educational attainment, social and emotional well-being and life chances of youth of color.

Author

• Nicholas Paul Triplett, University of North Carolina - Charlotte