Early childhood predictors of elementary school suspension: An Australian record linkage study

Laurens, Kristin R.; Dean, Kimberlie; Whitten, Tyson; Tzoumakis, Stacy; Harris, Felicity; Waddy, Neale; Prendergast, Traci; Taiwo, Mary; Carr, Vaughan J.; Green, Melissa

doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2021.101343

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A related limitation pertains to the relative absence of background demographic information in the data obtained. While it was possible to include certain demographic information in the presented analyses (e.g., Indigenous status, school phase, region), there are many other variables which should be considered when investigating exclusionary discipline, such as socioeconomic status, school size, gender, disability, health and educational outcomes, and whether children are living in outof-home care (Hemphill et al, 2014;Laurens et al, 2021aLaurens et al, , 2021bNoltemeyer et al, 2015;Raffaele Mendez & Knoff, 2003;Sullivan et al, 2013;Welsh & Little, 2018). These factors have substantive and unique associations with school discipline outcomes, and they also interact and influence one another over time in complex ways.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland: is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform?

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Well-established evidence of the ill-effects of exclusionary school discipline, its disproportionate use on students of colour, and association with the “school-to-prison pipeline” has, in the last decade, led to systemic reforms in the United States, which are successfully reducing exclusion and improving outcomes. Few studies, however, have similarly investigated overrepresentation in Australia, with little attention to systemic reform as a result. In this study, we analysed suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation rates in Queensland (QLD) government schools between 2013 and 2019 and found Indigenous students were consistently overrepresented. Suspension incidents proportionate to enrolments increased for all students, but this increase was faster for Indigenous than non-Indigenous students and driven primarily by steep rises in short suspensions during primary school (Preparatory-6). Exclusions increased—again disproportionately—for Indigenous students, chiefly in secondary school (7–12). During 2019, Physical Misconduct had the highest incident rate for both groups; however, Indigenous students were most overrepresented in suspensions for Disruptive/Disengaged behaviours. Further, while Indigenous students were overrepresented in all QLD regions, one region’s Indigenous suspension rate was higher than all others despite no difference in the distribution of Indigenous/non-Indigenous enrolments across regions. The scale and nature of Indigenous overrepresentation in exclusionary discipline incidents in QLD indicate clear need for further research to secure political commitment to systemic inclusive school reform, as well as to produce high-quality evidence capable of guiding that reform.

show abstract

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland: is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform?

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The search identified five studies that found instability or repeated involvement with the CPS exacerbated the risk of poorer educational outcomes (Armfield et al, 2020; Fernandez, 2019; Laurens et al, 2021; Snow et al, 2020; Tilbury, 2010). Looking specifically at children in out‐of‐home care, Tilbury (2010) provided descriptive statistics of administrative data from 39 children collated by a non‐government agency in Australia that arranged out‐of‐home placements and related support services for children in state care.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They demonstrated that children with any type of involvement with the CPS were more likely to be chronically truant and less likely to have acceptable absences. Similarly, a sample of 34,855 Australian children from the New South Wales Child Development Study (NSW‐CDS) using linked education, health, child protection and justice records found that experience with the CPS was an unique predictor of school suspensions, even when controlling for other factors of social disadvantage (Laurens et al, 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying factors for poorer educational outcomes that may be exacerbated by COVID‐19: A systematic review focussing on at‐risk school children and adolescents

Coles

Johnstone

Pattinson

et al. 2022

Aust J Social Issues

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Suspensions in QLD state schools, 2016–2020: overrepresentation, intersectionality and disproportionate risk

Graham,

Killingly,

Alexander

et al. 2023

Aust. Educ. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Overrepresentation in exclusionary school discipline is extensively documented for certain groups of students, particularly students of colour and those with disability, yet while these groups may overlap, policies that aim to address disproportionality tend to consider equity factors in isolation. The majority of research on overrepresentation, intersectionality and disproportionate risk has been conducted in the United States, yet there has been limited research within an Australian context despite reports of the overrepresentation of students in priority equity groups: students with a disability, Indigenous students and those living in out-of-home care. To disentangle the intersectionalities between these three priority equity groups, we created seven independent groups in which one or more of these factors was present. We then compare each of these seven groups to one referent group (not Indigenous, no disability, not in care) to examine trends in Queensland state school suspensions from 2016 to 2020. Findings show that students in the seven groups were issued suspensions at rates disproportionate to enrolments, in contrast to the referent group, with the risk of suspension increasing with greater intersectionality. Further analyses highlight disability as a common underlying factor, both in terms of increasing risk of suspension and in its repeated use, particularly for students recorded as receiving adjustments in the Social-Emotional category. These findings underscore the need for more nuanced reform and support strategies that can better account for the intersectionalities between groups.

show abstract

Early childhood predictors of elementary school suspension: An Australian record linkage study

Cited by 4 publications

References 52 publications

Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland: is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform?

Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland: is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform?

Identifying factors for poorer educational outcomes that may be exacerbated by COVID‐19: A systematic review focussing on at‐risk school children and adolescents

Suspensions in QLD state schools, 2016–2020: overrepresentation, intersectionality and disproportionate risk

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About