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

Abstract

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.

Trauma-informed initial teacher education training: A necessary step in a system-wide response to addressing childhood trauma

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“…For policy and practice ideas, Australian schools and systems need look no further than the United States, where there has been considerable reform activity over the last decade. Strong limits have been placed on out-of-school suspension to prevent both overuse and inappropriate use due to decades of empirical evidence attesting to its harmful effects, particularly in young children for whom suspension is banned in a growing number of districts ( Graham et al, 2020 ). Importantly, discipline reform in many public-school systems, such as Chicago Public Schools, has been coupled with systemic inclusive school reform ( Graham et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Strong limits have been placed on out-of-school suspension to prevent both overuse and inappropriate use due to decades of empirical evidence attesting to its harmful effects, particularly in young children for whom suspension is banned in a growing number of districts ( Graham et al, 2020 ). Importantly, discipline reform in many public-school systems, such as Chicago Public Schools, has been coupled with systemic inclusive school reform ( Graham et al, 2022 ). Approximately one quarter of the largest school districts in the United States have now implemented schoolwide frameworks to deliver evidence-based prevention and intervention practices and programs, and have recorded improvements in school safety, and student connectedness and academic achievement as a result.…”

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