Rethinking School-to-Prison Pathways: An Examination of Student Mobility Patterns for Students Placed in Detention Centers

• In Event: Roundtable Session 39
  In Roundtable Session: Social Policy Considerations for the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Abstract

The “school-to-prison” pipeline refers to school policies and practices that contribute to a students’ increased likelihood of entering a detention center. With the rise of exclusionary discipline practices such as zero tolerance policies, there is a parallel increase in student mobility towards alternative schools. This paper seeks to understand the influence of alternative schools on the school-to-prison pathway. Although these alternative schools were created to improve student outcomes, we find that alternative schools appear to funnel students into detention centers. Specifically, behavior schools and continuation schools act as a funneling mechanism into detention centers. Students in behavior schools have 68% higher odds of entering a detention center while students in continuation schools have 72% higher odds.

Authors

• Q. Tien Le, University of Southern California

• Tenice Hardaway, University of Southern California

• Richard Welsh, University of Georgia