Ethnic Discipline Gap: Unseen Dimensions of Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline

Abstract

Research on the school discipline gap reveals growing awareness of the disproportionate impact on students of color; however, dynamics of the racial discipline gap remain underanalyzed. This article uses risk ratios to descriptively establish if ethnic disproportionality in school discipline is present among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) subgroups. We find that when AAPI data are disaggregated, significant variations in discipline patterns emerge. Pacific Islanders are nearly twice as likely as their White peers to be disciplined when separated from Asian Americans, and all Pacific Islander subgroups are at equal or higher risk for discipline. We also find a discipline gap between ethnic subgroups. Our findings affirm the need to further refine the analyses of race and school discipline.

Promise for Whom? “Free-College” Programs and Enrollments by Race and Gender Classifications at Public, 2-Year Colleges

“…Likewise, the categories of race and ethnicity in IPEDS are limited, especially by constraining the options for racial/ethnic identity and by not disaggregating categories further. This aggregation hamstrings our ability to examine heterogeneity within racial categories, even though previous research reveals the meaningful variability within racial/ethnic categories in education (e.g., Nguyen et al, 2019; Teranishi & Nguyen, 2012). Last, these data do not allow us to examine the group of American Indian or Alaska Native students since the sample was too small to obtain meaningful estimates (i.e., the mean for each group in the treated and comparison groups ranged from three to five students).…”

Making Visible the Invisible: Multistudy Investigation of Disproportionate Special Education Identification of U.S. Asian American and Pacific Islander Students

“…For PI students, the elevated relative risks observed-albeit counter to earlier special education research-are consistent with some findings in the medical literature of populations still residing in the Pacific Islands (e.g., Sanders et al, 2015) and may support the notion of differential susceptibility to specific conditions. The roots of potential susceptibility are debatable, however, given the broad range of historical and continued marginalization experienced by PIs under multiple social systems and institutional forces (Nguyen et al, 2019;Poon et al, 2016) contributing to disparities in both public health (Stafford, 2010) and education (Teranishi et al, 2016). Consideration of the nature of disproportionality is controversial given the potential relations to proximal and distal biases that may be especially difficult to isolate via quantitative analyses, but state patterns indicate the need to consider the intersection of health differences and disparities with special education disparities.…”

“…Indeed, the movement for data disaggregation has been called one of the most important civil rights issues for U.S. AAPI communities (Teranishi et al, 2016). Many reports describe AAPIs as one of the most successful groups in the United States, with average educational attainment and income surpassing their White counterparts (e.g., PRC, 2017), but this perspective is criticized for oversimplifying AAPI experiences and outcomes in the United States (Nguyen et al, 2019). Instead, reliance on a general AAPI aggregate can produce "overgeneralized findings" (Pang et al, 2011, p. 384) such that "many educators have a monolithic view of AAPI students as being high achievers who have little need for educational services" (Pang et al, 2011, p. 378).…”

“…Broadly, AAPIs' experiences in the United States continue to be characterized by racism and social, economic, and educational disparities, with distinct sociohistorical factors shaping the experiences of specific ethnic groups (Ng et al, 2007;Nguyen et al, 2019). Research frequently ignores the complex dynamics related to the experiences of individuals and groups of AAPI descent in the United States (for discussion, see Pang et al, 2011) as well as to continued ramifications of U.S. policies influencing child development (e.g., federal policies affecting immigrants and refugees; Kiang et al, 2016).…”

“…Potential disparities are often masked when AAPI students are treated as a homogenous group. For example, even basic disaggregation into Asian and PI groups reveals noteworthy inequity in the application of exclusionary discipline, a significant threat to students' academic and social well-being, where PI students are twice as likely as Whites to be suspended or expelled (Nguyen et al, 2019). Although often constrained by power, researchers nonetheless too routinely overlook the diversity of this group, which may, in turn, hinder acknowledgement and disruption of systemic inequities that constrain educational opportunities for AAPI students, including within the realm of special education.…”