The relative contribution of subjective office referrals to racial disproportionality in school discipline.

Abstract

To improve our understanding of where to target interventions, the study examined the extent to which school discipline disproportionality between African American and White students was attributable to racial disparities in teachers' discretionary versus nondiscretionary decisions. The sample consisted of office discipline referral (ODR) records for 1,154,686 students enrolled in 1,824 U.S. schools. Analyses compared the relative contributions of disproportionality in ODRs for subjectively and objectively defined behaviors to overall disproportionality, controlling for relevant school characteristics. Results showed that disproportionality in subjective ODRs explained the vast majority of variance in total disproportionality. These findings suggest that providing educators with strategies to neutralize the effects of implicit bias, which is known to influence discretionary decisions and interpretations of ambiguous behaviors, may be a promising avenue for achieving equity in school discipline. (PsycINFO Database Record

The School Discipline Dilemma: A Comprehensive Review of Disparities and Alternative Approaches

“…Studies typically measure behavior in three ways: (a) the type of infraction committed (e.g., attendance, disruption, fighting, drug possession), (b) the frequency of misbehavior (e.g., first offense or repeated offenses), and (c) the disciplinary outcomes (e.g., suspensions and expulsions). Several studies have data on the reasons for referral and can pinpoint the behaviors that lead to disciplinary outcomes (Anyon et al, 2014; Girvan, Gion, McIntosh, & Smolkowski, 2017; Huang & Cornell, 2017; Peguero & Shekarkhar, 2011; Rocque & Paternoster, 2011; Smolkowski, Girvan, McIntosh, Nese, & Horner, 2016; Skiba et al, 2002; Skiba et al, 2011; Skiba, Chung, et al, 2014). Some studies link behavior type and frequency to disciplinary outcomes (Huang & Cornell, 2017; Skiba et al, 2011; Skiba, Chung, et al, 2014), and others focus on the behaviors and infractions that initiate the discipline process (ODRs) (Girvan et al, 2017; Rocque & Paternoster, 2011; Smolkowski et al, 2016).…”

“…Recent studies have reinforced these findings (Anyon et al, 2014;Girvan et al, 2017;Huang & Cornell, 2017; Rocque and Paternoster 2011; Peguero & Shekarkhar, 2011;Skiba et al, 2011). For example, Rocque and Paternoster (2011) used school-level data from 45 elementary schools, logistics regression, and negative binomial regression to examine (a) if students received ODRs for misconduct and (b) the number of times students were referred to the office, and they found a significant difference in the likelihood of Black students receiving ODRs and disciplinary action but insisted that discipline disparities were not explained by differences in behavior.…”

School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Telecoaching in a Rural District

“…Furthermore, reliance on ODRs as an indicator of discipline is not without concerns. For decades, results from research have found that students of color have been overrepresented in school discipline data (e.g., Girvan, Gion, McIntosh, & Smolkowski, 2017; Skiba, Horner, Chung, Rausch, May, & Tobin, 2011; Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002). Recently, Girvan et al.…”

Parental Involvement and the Black–White Discipline Gap: The Role of Parental Social and Cultural Capital in American Schools

“…They use teacher-reported measures of behavior, which still are based on a teacher’s subjective interpretation of a student. Teacher judgments are very likely unconsciously and unintentionally influenced by racial bias (Gilliam, Maupin, Reyes, Accavitti, & Shic, 2016; Girvan, Gion, McIntosh, & Smolkowski, 2016), which limits the validity of Wright et al’s analysis.…”