Unequal Treatment: Do At-Risk Students Receive Stiffer Disciplinary Responses?

• In Event: School Discipline and School Choice: Racial Inequities Within Neoliberal Policy Contexts

Abstract

Using administrative data from the Oregon Department of Education, I examine whether and what extent at-risk students in elementary and middle school students receive stiffer disciplinary actions. I find that after controlling for infraction type and school difference, racial/ethnic minority students do not receive more punitive responses than their white counterparts. However, the results suggest that students from low-income families, students enrolled special education, and low-achieving students have an elevated risk of receiving stiffer and longer disciplinary responses.

Author

• NaYoung Hwang, University of Notre Dame