Discipline Disparities: An Analysis of School Discipline Practices in a North Carolina High School

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Participatory Action Research to Address Inequities and Misconceptions in Student Learning

Abstract

School discipline research has examined the inequitable discipline experiences of Black students for the past forty years. Black students, according to research, are disciplined at higher rates (and for less serious infractions) than their White counterparts. As a result, Black students are at greater risk of being referred, suspended, and/or expelled from school (Skiba & Peterson, 2000; Owen, Wettach, & Hoffman, 2014). The purpose of this study was to examine the school discipline profile and practices in a suburban, predominantly White, North Carolina high school and to explore whether Black students at this school are disproportionately overrepresented in discipline referrals, referrals leading to ISS, and/or referrals leading to OSS. Findings from this study suggest that they are.

Author

• Yvonna Hines-McCoy, University of North Carolina - Charlotte