The Effect of Racial Threat on Exclusionary School Discipline

• In Event: 1284 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 05. Race/Ethnicity in Educational Contexts

Abstract

Research consistently shows a high level of racial disparity in public school discipline whereby white students receive fewer and less severe disciplinary actions than their black classmates. This disparity is particularly concerning in the realm of exclusionary school discipline, whereby students are removed from the classroom to serve suspensions and expulsions. Meanwhile, the racial threat hypothesis offers one possible explanation, proposing that various forms of social control may operate as a form of defensive response by the dominant racial group when faced by an increasing minority population. This study expands on current racial threat literature by examining the ways racial threat operates in the context of school discipline. Specifically, multilevel analysis of national school discipline data contributes to the existing discourse by 1) conducting the first analysis to account for variation at the state and district level in examining the relationship between the proportion of black students in the school and the rates of exclusionary discipline, and 2) comparing the effect of racial threat on exclusionary discipline rates for black and white students. Findings show that racial threat, or an increased proportion of black students, corresponds with increased rates of exclusionary discipline for both black and white students. Although the effect is significant for both racial groups, the effect is stronger for black students, suggesting that racial threat is at least partly to blame for persisting racial inequality in school discipline.

Author

• Sarah McGill Davis, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill