Disproportionate rates of behavioral problem reporting and consequences for African American males have occurred for decades. With the consequences surrounding problem behaviors typically removing the student from the classroom, whether to the principal's office or for an in-school or out-of-school suspension, time spent in the classroom for…

African American and Latinx students are disproportionality impacted by punitive discipline models including suspensions, detention, and expulsions. This disproportionality removes students from the education setting creating adverse social emotional, academic, and economic outcomes. Students who are suspended and expelled are more likely to have…

Topic: School-to-Prison Pipeline and the School Policing of African American Students. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to explore the lived experience of teachers of African American pupils who are at risk of being moved into the School-to-Prison Pipeline. African American students are being dismissed from public school…

In this study, we identified the specific discipline decision situations (i.e., vulnerable decision points [VDPs]) that contribute most to racial discipline disparities from a sample of 2020 schools across the United States. We also examined how much VDPs contributed to overall discipline disparities and the extent which there was similarity among…

Disproportionate discipline, also known as the discipline gap, is the result of the frequent occurrence of punitive or exclusionary discipline measures. It represents a flaw in the educational system that negatively disrupts the African American student population more than any other demographic. This form of punishment removes students from the…

Richard O. Welsh takes on the school discipline crisis in "Suspended Futures," delineating the persistent racial disparities in how educators perceive and respond to the behavior of students. Welsh offers a framework for disrupting and dismantling a disciplinary system that disproportionately disadvantages students of Black, Latinx, and…

The school discipline literature has expanded rapidly in recent decades, yet the conceptualization and measurement of school discipline patterns remains overlooked. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analytic framework to examine school discipline patterns that encompasses school-level metrics that capture the prevalence and disparity in…

Behavior-specific praise (BSP) is one of the simplest classroom management strategies to implement and considered an evidence-based practice. Unfortunately, teachers underuse BSP and deliver more reprimands to students in their classrooms. Secondary students receive the highest rates of reprimands and exclusionary discipline (i.e., office…

The overrepresentation of Black/African American students receiving exclusionary discipline in K-12 schools in the United States is a persistent problem that harms Black/African American students' academic outcomes, contributes to social emotional challenges, increases the likelihood of student dropouts, and fuels the school-to-prison pipeline.…

Exclusionary discipline in schools has disproportionately impacted Black students for decades. In 1975, just 21 years after the federally mandated desegregation of schools, the disparities in school discipline were documented as a nationwide problem. In the report of 2,862 school districts, Black students were being suspended at two to three times…

There are large differences in expulsions and suspensions on the basis of race starting in preschool and divergent explanations for their cause. The current study explores how developmental methodology can shed light on this vexing issue. We leverage two measures: (1) childcare provider complaints about children's behavior and their recommended…

A disproportionate number of Black students with disabilities experience exclusionary discipline practices (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in K-12 public schools. This disparity persists, regardless of the severity of identified problem behavior, the school's average socio-economic status, or the type of public school attended. Given that…

Exclusionary discipline is used in public schools across the United States. Schools are using suspension and expulsion to punish students for wrongdoing. Removing students from their learning environment has proved detrimental. Moreover, there are racial disparities among the students being subjected to exclusionary discipline. There are…

Ample scientific research has documented that exclusionary discipline practices are both ineffective for reducing unwanted behaviors and harmful to the long-term social and academic outcomes of students. Further, exclusionary discipline practices are especially harmful given their disproportionate use with students of color, students with…

The school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) describes in shorthand the problematic relationship between some students' school experiences and their subsequent incarceration. One summer, in response to vocal concerned parents, a suburban school board adopted a zero-tolerance policy for smoking and vaping. Through the combined effects of the zero-tolerance…