Addressing Racial Disparity in School Discipline: A Cognitive Flexibility Approach to District Improvement

• In Event: New Evidence on School Effectiveness and School Improvement

Abstract

Detentions and suspensions disproportionately affect children from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, specifically Black children and children of lower socioeconomic status. These disparities in school discipline are addressed in a cognitive flexibility approach to professional learning through a privately funded district improvement partnership between a team from a university college of education and a local school district. Through facilitated sessions and on-site coaching, educators reflected on their attitudes and assumptions about themselves, their students, and race. Educators worked in teams using protocols for collaborative inquiry, self-reflection, and data-based action planning to transform their disciplinary practices. We highlight the cognitive flexibility approach and the reduction in suspensions of Black students by 54% from the 2014-15 to the 2018-19 school year.

Authors

• Tara Kintz, Michigan Assessment Consortium
  Presenting Author

• Nicole Christine Ellefson, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author