Exploring How State Education Policies in the Use of School Punishment and Special Education Affect Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities: A Multilevel and Longitudinal Study

• In Event: Exclusionary School Discipline: Impacts and Alternative Policy Options

Abstract

Over the past quarter-century, the number of American schoolchildren being suspended or receiving suspensions or expulsions more than doubled. At the same time, the use of behavioral individual education plans (IEPs) increased at a similarly fast pace. Furthermore, rates of punishment increased faster for minority children than for White children, while rates of special education increased faster for White children than non-White children. As scholars and policymakers grasp to understand these trends, the role of policy remains unclear. Although state policies set forth uniform standards for districts and schools, there is reason to believe that they can either ameliorate or exacerbate social inequalities in school punishment and special education. In this paper, I use several waves of data on school punishment and special education use to explore two important questions: First (1), how do state-level accountability, discipline, and disability policies influence the use of school punishment and special education in grades K-12? Second (2), do state education policies exacerbate or ameliorate racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in the use of punishment and/or special education?

Author

• David M Ramey, Penn State University