The Role of Teacher Decision Making in the Relationship Between Student Race and the Discipline Gap

• In Event: Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in Education: Teachers

Abstract

This study explored teacher education students’ (TES) decisions about discipline differ by race of the student, predicting that TES would be more likely take an action that removes Black students from the classroom than white students. The results showed that TES varied in the actions they said they would take with students depending on student race as well as pathology criteria, with the greatest differences for ADHD symptoms and internalizing criteria. This may indicate that teachers are more likely to seek external help for white students while choosing to work with Black students in the classroom themselves; TES may view Black students as lacking in controllability and in need of guidance rather than external help for a potential disorder diagnosis.

Author

• Nicole L Lorenzetti, The City University of New York