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Abstract

This study used merged data from three national surveys to address questions about security measures in American high schools, suspension rates, and student misbehavior. First, the study identified the characteristics of schools that implemented the most extreme security measures and those with the highest levels of discipline. Second, the study used data on individual students to examine misbehavior and race and gender disparities in suspensions not attributable to misbehavior. The main findings were: (1) In-school suspensions serve a ‘gateway’ function with regard to out-of-school suspensions. They may provide a time and place to address behavior problems before they escalate or disproportionate out-of-school suspensions before they occur; (2) Out-of-school suspensions were more frequent among schools in higher-crime neighborhoods. Thus students suspended may be relegated to an environment not conducive to positive educational or social outcomes; (3) African-American students and Hispanic/Latino students were suspended at higher rates than were non-Hispanic whites, differences in most cases not attributable to different levels of misbehavior; (4) Overall, males were more likely to be suspended than were females, an effect above and beyond that explained by differences in behavior. There was little or no difference in the suspension rates of black males and females, however; (5) High degrees of school security were associated with increased suspension rates and increased black – white disparities in total suspensions. At the same time, most black students were enrolled in schools with high degrees of security; (6) Black males were suspended at higher and higher rates as school size increased.

All of these have implications for school policy and practice. These are discussed in the paper together with limitations of the investigation.

Key Take Away Points

  • In-school suspensions serve a ‘gateway’ function with regard to out-of-school suspensions. They may provide a time and place to address behavior problems before they escalate or disproportionate out-of-school suspensions before they occur;
  • Out-of-school suspensions were more frequent among schools in higher-crime neighborhoods. Thus students may be relegated to an environment not conducive to positive educational or social outcomes;
  • African-American students and Hispanic/Latino students were suspended at higher rates than were non-Hispanic whites, differences in most cases not attributable to different levels of misbehavior;
  • Overall, males were more likely to be suspended than were females, an effect above and beyond that explained by differences in behavior. There was little or no difference in the suspension rates of black males and females, however;
  • High degrees of school security were associated with increased suspension rates and increased black – white disparities in total suspensions. At the same time, most black students were enrolled in schools with high degrees of security;

Author Biography

Dr. Jeremy D. Finn is SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School of Education at State University of New York at Buffalo. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Measurement, Evaluation and Statistical Analysis (MESA) from The University of Chicago. He has taught at Stanford University and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and held fellowships at Educational Testing Service, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in Stockholm. Finn was lead evaluator for Project STAR, a four-year statewide randomized experiment to study the effects of class-size reduction in the elementary grades (K-3), and continues to analyze STAR data for long-term impacts. He has written extensively on academic resilience among students at risk, student engagement and dropping out, and the relationship of class size to learning and behavior. His most recent research has been on student misbehavior and discipline. Publications include “The Educational Sequelae of High School Misbehavior” (Journal of Educational Research), “School characteristics related to student engagement” (Journal of Negro Education, with K Voelkl), and the presentation “Misbehavior, Punishment, and Security Measures in High School” (with T. Servoss) at the UCLA Civil Rights Project conference, December 2012, on which this paper is based.

Dr. Timothy J. Servoss received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Quantitative Methods at the University at Buffalo. He is Associate Professor of Psychology at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York where he teaches basic and advanced courses in statistical methods. His research interests span a variety of topics related to educational equity including student misbehavior and school security. Among his contributions is the development and refinement of school security scale based on multiple individual security measures. This has been used in several forms with results reported in “School security, student, victimization, and perceptions of safety” (Mid-South Educational Research Association, 2013), and “School security: For whom and with what results?” (Leadership and Policy in the Schools, 2014), and in the present paper.

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Conference on Closing the School Discipline Gap: Research to Practice, organized by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the Civil Rights Project at UCLA: Washington, DC: The Gallup Center, January 10, 2013. Work on the paper was supported in part by a grant from the Spencer Foundation entitled High School Regulatory Environment, Student Perceptions, and Dropping Out.

Reprinted by permission of the Publisher. From Daniel Losen. Closing the School Discipline Gap: Equitable Remedies for Excessive Exclusion. New York: Teachers College Press. Copyright © 2015 by Teachers College, Columbia University. All rights reserved.

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