Short-Term Impacts of Chicago's Suspensions and Expulsions Reduction Plan

• In Event: 77.041 - Mass Shootings, Education Policy, and School-Level Practices: The Challenges of Keeping Students Safe and Treating Students Fairly

Abstract

While there is a growing body of literature linking school suspensions to negative academic outcomes and involvement with juvenile justice systems, there is little empirical evidence that this relationship is causal. This paper uses a difference-in-difference research design to analyze the effect of the Chicago Public School’s Suspension and Expulsion Reduction Plan (SERP) on freshmen year suspensions, and on academic as well as school climate and arrest charges. At the school-level, I find that SERP decreased school-level out-of-school suspension rates by 36.5 percent in the first full year of implementation. I further find that SERP caused improvements in attendance outcomes while also reducing student reports of chaotic classrooms. I find no evidence that SERP had any impact on academic achievement.

Author

• Ijun Lai, Michigan State University