Black girls are more likely to be suspended or expelled through exclusionary discipline than their female counterparts, but continue to be overlooked and understudied. This article presents a case for using critical race feminism and figured worlds as theoretical frameworks for examining the effects of zero tolerance policies on Black girls. We use these frameworks to explore how adults’ implementation of disciplinary policies not only affects the racial and gender identity development of Black girls, but perpetuates anti-Black discipline and represents behavioral responses to White femininity that may not align with Black girls’ femininity and identification with school.

Courtney and Dennis, two African American male students at McDowell High, were arrested at school for throwing water balloons during senior prank week. The principal assigned two police officers to the magnet school to oversee the implementation of a new discipline protocol. However, several members of the school staff were illinformed about the policy, and the use of security officers in disciplining students. This case considers the punitive consequences two Black male students encountered at an urban high school by examining how an administrator, teachers, and two police officers observed, interpreted, and instituted a discipline protocol on the front lines. ContextIt was the last week of school at McDowell High School. McDowell is an innovative science and technology magnet school that offers college preparatory courses for Grades 9 to 12. The school is located in Perry, California, within a diverse urban community near several 4-year colleges and universities. Nicknamed "Technology Valley," Perry has been a hub for computer engineers and various start-up companies. McDowell has been portrayed as one of the premier college preparatory institutions in the state due to its high rates of college acceptance, and corporate donor sponsorships

There is limited research that explores the dropout and re-enrollment experiences of girls of color in urban schools despite these students having higher rates of early school withdrawal than their racial counterparts. Girls of color that dropout often have to navigate racial and gender stereotypes within a larger heteronormative system of oppression that challenges their identity as young women. Drawing from Role-Identity and Social Stress Theory, this qualitative study examined the intersection of race, gender, and space in structuring how female students of color negotiated their status as former “dropouts” to returners. Their narratives illustrate how dropout stigmas of girls of color are mediated by the context in which they experienced racial microstressors, and how they negotiated parent relationships in their pursuit of a high school diploma.