Poster #9 - Are Discipline Practices Pushing Students Out…to Another School? Longitudinal Analysis of Student Mobility

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

Sociologists of education have identified school discipline practices as factors that push students out of school, particularly among marginalized groups (Bowditch, 1993; Author et al., 2022), yet few studies explore how such practices contribute to student mobility. Student mobility, or the transfer of students between schools is highly prevalent, with most U.S. students experiencing at least one non-promotional move before high school (Rumberger, 2015). Research shows mobility significantly disrupts student outcomes, especially when it occurs midyear (Engec, 2006; Grigg, 2012; Hanushek et al., 2004; Min, 2022), and contributes to students prematurely leaving school altogether (Gasper et al., 2012; Rumberger & Larson, 1998; South et al., 2007; Stamp et al., 2022). Thus, we seek to expand push out phenomena, to better understand how school discipline practices, among other school characteristics, may be pushing students out to another school.

Methods

Our study emerged from a research-practice partnership (RPP) involving public and charter school leaders, university deans, and researchers across the St. Louis region to address student mobility as a shared problem of practice. We analyzed fifteen years of publicly available student- and school-level data across five counties. Using random effects panel regression models, we estimated the relationship between discipline (in- and out-of-school suspension) and within-year mobility. We then employed survival models to examine how this relationship evolves over time.

Results

Our random effect panel regression analyses demonstrate discipline significantly increased the odds of within-year mobility during the following school year (64%, in-school suspension; 77% out-of-school). Effects were substantially larger in St. Louis City. Results also demonstrate Black students, students with IEPs, and students qualifying for free lunch experienced disproportionate rates of mobility. Attending a school with higher rates of suspensions was also associated with increased odds of mobility, even after accounting for individual suspensions. In line with previous research (Author et al., 2023), this finding represents the collateral effects of attending a high suspending school. Our survival analysis revealed cumulative effects for both in-school suspension, with 82% of in-school suspended students and 78% of out-of-school suspended students in 9th grade remaining in their school of origin by 12th grade.

Conclusion 

Our findings expand the concept of pushout to include student mobility as a potential step toward leaving the education system altogether. Both in-school and out-of-school suspensions significantly increase the likelihood of within-year mobility, underscoring the need to move away from exclusionary practices. Policy-makers should instead consider restorative justice approaches that keep students connected to their school and peers while addressing harm and rebuilding relationships (Gonzalez, 2012).

Our results also identified student-level characteristics predictive of within-year mobility that can inform targeted supports. As a result, our RPP is working to support a pilot at one of its partner school networks, which aims to provide support directly for families dealing with housing instability. Additionally we are co-developing a tailored school belonging intervention for students that have recently transferred. We are currently collecting data on St. Louis’s recent general basic income experiment (GBI) to determine if providing money to families may help decrease rates of mobility. 

Authors

• Margaret K Powers, Washington University in St. Louis
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Somalis Chy, Washington University in St. Louis
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Jason Jabbari, Washington University in St. Louis
  Presenting Author

• Yung Chun, Washington University in St. Louis
  Non-Presenting Co-Author