A Student Saved is NOT a Dollar Earned: A Meta-Analysis of School Disparities in Discipline Practice Toward Black Children

Abstract

Exclusionary school discipline practices continue to play a key explanatory role in racially disproportionate outcomes in the justice system. Three decades of research substantiate the disproportionality of discipline practices and the negative effects on Black students. However, a meta-analysis of this phenomenon and its moderators remains absent but is warranted based on its practical and empirical import. Thus, this meta-analysis synthesized the research on school discipline disproportionality between Black and White students by aggregating odds ratios across studies. An exhaustive search of the literature and rigorous screening process produced a final pool of 29 studies representing 51 independent effect sizes. Based on the test for homogeneity we concluded that their was significant heterogeneity, Q(50) = 20115.40, p <0.001. Thus, a random effects analytic model was employed. After testing and adjusting for publication bias, the overall mean estimated odds ratio was 2.58, p <.001. Thus, the odds of being disciplined if Black are more than 2 and half times the odds of being disciplined if White. The subsequent moderator analysis results suggest that grade level and gender were not significant moderators of the disproportionality. Rather the results explicitly indicate that the ill-effects of school discipline are "equally" disproportionate toward Black male and female students across all K-12 grade levels. Results also indicate that statistically

Cumulative Racial and Ethnic Disparities Along the School-to-Prison Pipeline

“…Not only are people of color overrepresented in the criminal justice system (Carson 2020; U.S. Office of Justice Programs 2021), but Black and-to a lesser extent-Latinx students disproportionately experience suspension and expulsion compared to White students (U.S. Department of Education 2019). Multivariate analyses of the characteristics and conditions associated with exclusionary school punishment corroborate that minority students are likelier to be disciplined net of other influences (e.g., Anyon et al 2014;Gregory and Weinstein 2008;Ksinan et al 2019;Lehmann and Meldrum 2021;Mittleman 2018;Mowen and Brent 2016;Peguero and Shekarkhar 2011;Rocque and Paternoster 2011;Skiba et al 2011;2014;Young, Young, and Butler 2018). Corporal punishment also has been used more frequently for students of color (McClure and May 2014), and minority youth are less likely than their White peers to receive restorative disciplinary outcomes such as conferencing, mediation circles, and restitution (Ramey 2016;Skiba et al 2016;Skiba and Rausch 2006).…”

School Discrimination, Discipline Inequities, and Adjustment Among Black Adolescent Girls and Boys: An Intersectionality‐Informed Approach

“…For example, nationally, suspension rates are among the highest for both Black boys and girls (Epstein, Black, & Gonzalez, 2017;Onyeka-Crawford et al, 2017;Schott Foundation, 2010;Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002). A meta-analysis by Young and Butler (2018) exploring school disparities in discipline practices found that the odds of Black students being disciplined were 2.5 times higher than White students. Notably, rates of disproportionate discipline action did not significantly differ among Black boys and girls compared with White students (Young & Butler, 2018).…”

“…A meta-analysis by Young and Butler (2018) exploring school disparities in discipline practices found that the odds of Black students being disciplined were 2.5 times higher than White students. Notably, rates of disproportionate discipline action did not significantly differ among Black boys and girls compared with White students (Young & Butler, 2018). However, much of school discipline literature has focused on Black boys (Bryan, 2020).…”

“…Recent scholarship has contributed greatly to our understanding of disproportionate school discipline policies and discrimination at the intersection of race and gender for Black youth and has provided a more comprehensive illustration of the ways, in which Black girls are impacted (Butler- Barnes & Inniss-Thompson, 2020;Hines-Datiri & Carter Andrews, 2020;Leath et al, 2021;Mims & Williams, 2020;Morris & Perry, 2017;Young & Butler, 2018). For instance, Morris and Perry (2017) analysis of disciplinary infractions of a Midwestern school district found that across middle schools and high schools, Black boys were two times as likely to receive a disciplinary referral compared with White boys, while Black girls were three times as likely to receive a disciplinary referral compared with White girls.…”

“…Although descriptive data have emphasized broader racial inequities in the school experiences of Black adolescents (Anyon et al, 2014;Gray, Hope, & Byrd, 2020;Young & Butler, 2018), there remains a need to understand how these systemic forces (i.e., discrimination; inequitable disciplinary practices) contribute to later academic and psychological adjustment. Building upon previous studies, our investigation extends the existing literature in three key ways: (1) taking into account both disciplinary infractions and adolescents' perceptions of school disciplinary inequities; (2) leveraging a longitudinal design to examine how systems of oppression in school settings, as manifested by Black adolescents' daily interactions, influence adjustment; and (3) examining adjustment across several domains (i.e., educational aspirations; academic persistence; school satisfaction; depressive symptoms).…”