Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Exclusionary School Discipline: Implications for Administrators Leading Discipline Reform Efforts

Fenning, Pamela; Jenkins, Kisha

doi:10.1177/0192636518812699

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This seems consistent with the literature on introducing RP into schools. Research indicates that promoting restorative school climates takes time and gradual buy-in of stakeholders (Fronius et al 2016; Gregory & Evans, 2020; Mansfield et al, 2018). School personnel who participated in focus groups during the formative phase of our PD emphasized the incremental nature of RP adoption and implementation and gradual integration of RP into existing discipline systems (Vincent, McClure et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More and more schools are implementing restorative practices (RP) as an alternative to punitive discipline (Velez et al, 2020). Punitive discipline has been found ineffective in improving student behavior (Fronius et al, 2016;Skiba & Losen, 2016); associated with racial-ethnic disparities in exclusionary as well as nonexclusionary discipline (Fenning & Jenkins, 2018;Wegmann & Smith, 2019); and detrimental to students' academic achievement (Olley et al, 2010). A number of small-scale or correlational studies have associated RP with overall decreases in exclusionary discipline (Weber & Vereenooghe, 2020), decreases in racial-ethnic disparities in discipline (Gregory et al, 2016;Kline, 2016), and the potential to improve academic achievement through improving student-teacher and peer relationships fundamental to learning (Gomez et al, 2021;Lodi et al, 2021).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Blending Restorative Practices With Multitiered Support Systems in High Schools Before and During the COVID Pandemic: Successes, Challenges, and Adaptations

Vincent,

Girvan,

Inglish

et al. 2023

NASSP Bulletin

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We present outcomes from a study testing the effect of professional development (PD) focused on integrating restorative practices (RP) into multitiered student support systems on how high school staff, students, and parents perceive their school's discipline practices. A total of 16 high schools enrolled in the 2-year study during which COVID-related school closures and a switch to distance learning occurred. Eight schools assigned to the intervention condition received the PD and coaching during the first year and periodic booster trainings delivered remotely during the second year. Eight schools assigned to the control condition received the PD and coaching remotely during the second year. While results did not reach statistical significance, they were in the desired direction and suggested changes in staff perceptions favoring restorative discipline practices. Quantitative findings were supported by coaches’ fieldnotes which described facilitators and barriers to implementing RP during in-person as well as remote instruction. We offer recommendations for providing support to high school personnel and students as they move toward a nonpunitive approach to discipline that favors community-building over rule compliance in real and virtual learning environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Blending Restorative Practices With Multitiered Support Systems in High Schools Before and During the COVID Pandemic: Successes, Challenges, and Adaptations

Vincent,

Girvan,

Inglish

et al. 2023

NASSP Bulletin

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“…For some assistant principals who serve in urban, rural, or underresourced schools, it is possible to spend over 50% of the day handling discipline related incidents among students and teachers, and between students (Barnett et al, 2012; Glanz, 1994). Additionally, researchers have found that what makes disciplinary responsibilities challenging for assistant principals is the lack of experience implementing culturally responsive classroom management practices as a teacher, limited training on developing effective interpersonal relationships with teachers and students, ignorance regarding implicit biases toward students of color, and limited strategic conversations on how to reduce office referrals and classroom disruptions (Barnett et al, 2012; Fenning & Jenkins, 2018; Keesor, 2005; Lewis, 2019; Williams et al, 2020).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Assistant Principals’ Years of Experience Make a Difference in School Suspensions? A State-wide Analysis of North Carolina Assistant Principals

Williams

Davis

Richardson

et al. 2020

Journal of School Leadership

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School discipline disparities within the U.S. P-12 public schooling system have been a staple issue for over four decades. The enforcement of out-of-school suspensions, in particular by inexperienced teachers, have traditionally impacted Black and Latinx students more than White students. Yet teachers are not the final decision-makers regarding student discipline which rests primarily on the shoulders of assistant principals and principals. While researchers have clearly linked teacher experience to discipline disparities, more research is needed to fully explicate the tenure of assistant principals; who often are the final decision-makers when it pertains to suspending a student. Utilizing human capital theory, this study examines school discipline data and North Carolina personnel data from the 2015–2016 school year to determine if assistant principals’ years of experience in the current role, and their years of experience as teachers could predict out-of-school suspensions by gender and race. The findings suggest that Black males’ suspension could be predicted by assistant principals’ years of experience as a teacher; and Latinx females’ suspensions could be predicted by assistant principals’ longevity in their current position and in their roles as classroom teachers. Interestingly, the findings illuminate that assistant principals are relatively inexperienced within the state, with most having less than one-year worth of experience in these positions.

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“…Disproportionate discipline does not only occur as a result of systemic factors. School environments where the race and ethnicity of faculty does not represent a cross section of the student population has the potential to impact the decision making and disciplinary process of school administrators (Fenning & Jenkins, 2019). Additionally, the pedagogy of discipline is based on White-normed culture, which does not reflect the multiplicity of cultures present in any given school (Rombalski, 2020).…”

Section: Research Problem and Research Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of life experiences on the school disciplinary practices of suburban high school administrators

Donahue

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This narrative study examined how the life experiences of high school administrators impact how they conceptualize and understand school discipline. These experiences were then positioned within the current context of COVID-19 pandemic related school closures and protests associated with George Floyd's death which brought light to systemic racism prevalent in school codes of conduct to determine how these events changed their disciplinary practices.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight administrators from suburban schools in the New York metropolitan region that also had a minority student population of at least 10%.Transcripts were analyzed using in vivo and process coding to identify themes across the interviews. Three themes were identified: elements that lead to an initial understanding of school discipline, how these initial practices change over time, and the twin impact of COVID-19 and protests highlighting systemic racism causing a drastic change to how administrators respond to student misbehavior. These findings were then analyzed using Critical Race Theory and situated among the current literature. The first finding was centered on the understanding administrators use their personal experiences as both as student and teacher to establish their understanding of school discipline. The second finding uncovered an awareness that in order to address student behaviors, administrators develop stakeholder connections. Lastly, there was an awareness and discovery that codes of conduct in their respective schools contributed to disproportionate discipline. While some administrators had already been working to enact change, others were in the beginning stages of learning about this problem and were unsure of the next steps. Form these findings, recommendations for practice and research were proposed.

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Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Exclusionary School Discipline: Implications for Administrators Leading Discipline Reform Efforts

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

Blending Restorative Practices With Multitiered Support Systems in High Schools Before and During the COVID Pandemic: Successes, Challenges, and Adaptations

Blending Restorative Practices With Multitiered Support Systems in High Schools Before and During the COVID Pandemic: Successes, Challenges, and Adaptations

Can Assistant Principals’ Years of Experience Make a Difference in School Suspensions? A State-wide Analysis of North Carolina Assistant Principals

The impact of life experiences on the school disciplinary practices of suburban high school administrators

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