Students of color, particularly African Americans, are suspended at much higher rates than their peers, resulting in diminished educational and employment opportunities. This descriptive study examines suspension and expulsion records for the state of Indiana for an entire school year, focusing on racial and ethnic categories. In addition, the project will administer a survey—the Disciplinary Practices Scale—designed to elicit perspectives on school discipline, to principals of urban and suburban K-12 Indiana schools. The researchers will identify the extent to which disparities school practices and administrator attitudes make a contribution to racial/ethnic disparities in school discipline, above and beyond the contribution made by individual student behavior.
Are school policies and practices associated with racial disparities in suspension and expulsion rates?
