Multilevel exploration of factors contributing to the overrepresentation of black students in office disciplinary referrals.

Abstract

Although there is increasing awareness of the overrepresentation of ethic minority students-particularly Black students-in disciplinary actions, the extant research has rarely empirically examined potential factors that may contribute to these disparities. The current study used a multilevel modeling approach to examine factors at the child (e.g., teacher-rated disruptive behavior problems) and classroom or teacher levels (e.g., teacher ethnicity, level of disruptive behavior in classroom) that may contribute to the overrepresentation of minority students in office disciplinary referrals (ODRs). Data come from 6,988 children in 381 classrooms at 21 elementary schools. The analyses indicated that even after controlling for the student's level of teacher-rated behavior problems, teacher ethnicity, and other classroom factors, Black students were significantly more likely than White students to receive ODRs. Results also suggested that ethnic match between students and their teachers did not reduce the risk for referrals among Black students.

Race, Exclusionary Discipline, and Connectedness to Adults in Secondary Schools

“…Finally, in an ethnographic study of an urban school Morris (2005) found that administrators perceived Black girls to be unladylike and viewed Latino and Black boys as threatening; such biases contributed to higher dress code infractions among students of color. Unfortunately, these findings are supported by a growing body of evidence which suggests that racial disparities persist after accounting for student behavior and a range of confounding variables like poverty, disability, previous academic achievement, teacher-rated behavior, and school composition (Anyon et al, 2014;Bradshaw et al, 2010;Skiba, Michael, Nardo & Peterson, 2002;Skiba et al, 2014).…”

“…The Relationship between Discipline Disparities and All Students' Connectedness Highly inequitable contexts, where racial discipline gaps are pronounced and visible to students, may contribute to lower connectedness to school adults among all students, not just youth of color or those who have been punished (Bradshaw et al, 2010;Gregory, Cornell & Fan, 2011;Morris, 2005;Vavrus & Cole, 2002). This hypothesis is supported by a small number of studies that have documented that students' perception of a hostile or unfair "racial climate" is associated with poorer outcomes for youth of all backgrounds (Bellmore et al, 2012;Debnam et al, 2013;Mattison & Aber, 2007).…”

“…Racial gaps in differential selection and processing are widest for low-level infractions and subjective categories of student misconduct, such as classroom disruption or defiance (Bradshaw et al, 2010;Skiba et al, 2002Skiba et al, , 2011Vavrus & Cole, 2002). Skiba et al's (2002) seminal study of discipline records from 19 middle schools found that Black students were less likely than White youth to be disciplined for objective misconduct like smoking and vandalism.…”

Examining the effectiveness of implementing Orton-Gillingham reading intervention on student engagement for elementary students with challenging behaviors.

“…For students with challenging behaviors or those identified as E/BD there is a disproportionate representation of African American males across the United States and in Kentucky (USDOE, 2014;Wagner, Kutash, Duchnowski, Epstein, & Sumi, 2005). This data is in alignment with Kaufman et al (2001), who found that African American with students with E/BD had a greater number of office discipline referrals than any other student ethnicity group (Skiba, Chung, Trachok, Baker, Sheya, & Hughes, 2014;Bradshaw, Mitchell, O'Brennan, & Leaf, 2010). African American students were also found to have the highest percentage of suspensions, expulsions, and retentions compared to other ethnicity groups (Aud, Fox, et al, 2010).…”

Racial Discipline Disproportionality in Montessori and Traditional Public Schools: A Comparative Study Using the Relative Rate Index

“…Although much of the literature on exclusionary discipline and disproportionality focuses on secondary-school settings (Bradshaw, Mitchell, O'Brennan, & Leaf, 2010), these phenomena have been observed at the elementary level as well. Shollenberger (2015) found that more Black boys were suspended prior to the fourth grade than any other demographic.…”