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New Book Examines Inequality in School Discipline

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Inequality in School Discipline: Research and Practice to Reduce Disparities. Editors: Russell J. Skiba, Kavitha Mediratta and M. Karega Rausch. Learn more >

Inequality in School Discipline fills a critical void by providing the most current and authoritative information on what is known about disciplinary disparities. School exclusion—out-of-school suspension and expulsion in particular—remains a substantial component of discipline in our nation’s schools, and those consequences continue to fall disproportionally on certain groups of learners.


  • Explores discipline disparities in American schools using the most up-to-date research available
  • Presents a comprehensive framework for defining and implementing interventions to improve equity and fairness in the application of school discipline
  • Includes work from the top scholars in discipline reform

The negative consequences of frequent and inequitable use of school exclusion are substantial, including higher rates of academic failure, dropout, and contact with the juvenile justice system.

As educators, policymakers, community leaders, and other youth-serving organizations begin the difficult work of creating more equitable school disciplinary systems, the need for effective disparity-reducing alternatives could not be more important.

Drawing on the multi-year ground-breaking work of the Discipline Disparities Collaborative, the chapters in this book provide cutting edge knowledge supporting a new national imperative to eliminate race, gender, disability, and sexual orientation-based disciplinary disparities.

About the Editors

Russell J. Skiba is Professor in School Psychology and Director of the Equity Project at Indiana University, USA. He is among the most cited researchers in the nation on racial and ethnic disparities in school discipline. In addition to numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, he has consulted with numerous states and districts on school discipline, school violence, and reducing disparities.

Kavitha Mediratta is Chief Strategy Advisor for Equity Initiatives and Human Capital Development at The Atlantic Philanthropies. She is a national leader in reforming zero tolerance school discipline and improving educational systems. In addition to publications on those topics, she has authored numerous publications and book chapters on community organizing and grassroots activism for public education reform.

M. Karega Rausch is Adjunct Faculty member at Indiana University, USA. He has authored or co-authored more than twenty professional publications with an emphasis on racial/ethnic disproportionality in school discipline and special education. He is also a sought after speaker and expert in charter school accountability.

Read the Introduction

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Table of Contents

Section I.  Discipline Disparities: A Research-to-Practice Collaborative

Introduction
Kavitha Mediratta and M. Karega Rausch

Chapter 1  What Do We Know about Discipline Disparities? New and Emerging Research
Russell Skiba, Mariella Arredondo, Chrystal Gray, and M. Karega Rausch

Chapter 2  How Educators Can Eradicate Disparities in School Discipline
Anne Gregory, James Bell, and Micha Pollock

Section II.  Understanding and Addressing Disparities: What We Are Learning and What We Can Do

Chapter 3  Sexual Orientation-Based Disparities in School and Juvenile Justice Discipline Practices: Attending to Contributing Factors and Evidence of Bias
Paul Poteat, Jillian Scheer, and Eddie S.K. Chong

Chapter 4  Does Teacher-Student Racial/Ethnic Congruence Predict Black Students’ Discipline Risk?
Jamilia Blake, Danielle Smith, Miner Marchbanks, Allison Seibert, and Eun Sook Kim

Chapter 5  Reducing Racial Disparities in School Discipline: Structured Decision-making in the Classroom
Aishatu Yusuf, Angela Irvine, and James Bell

Chapter 6  School-wide Positive and Restorative Discipline (SWPRD): Integrating School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and Restorative Discipline
Claudia Vincent, John Inglish, Erik Girvan, Jeffrey Sprague, and Timothy McCabe

Chapter 7  Ecologies of School Discipline for Queer Youth: What Listening to Queer Youth Teaches Us About Transforming School Discipline
Boyd Bellinger, Nicole Darcangelo, Stacey Horn, Erica Meiners, and Sarah Schriber

Chapter 8  The Potential of Restorative Approaches to Discipline for Narrowing Racial and Gender Disparities
Anne Gregory and Kathleen Clawson

Chapter 9  Intersectional Inquiries with LGBTQ and Gender Nonconforming Youth of Color: Participatory Research on Discipline Disparities at the Race/Sexuality/Gender Nexus
Jennifer Chmielewski, Kimberly Belmonte, Brett Stoudt, and Michelle Fine

Chapter 10  Research and Training to Mitigate the Effects of Implicit Stereotypes and Masculinity Threat on Authority Figures’ Interactions with Adolescents and Minorities
Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Phillip Atiba Goff, and Jack Glaser

Chapter 11  Discipline Disparities for LGBTQ Youth: Challenges That Perpetuate Disparities and Strategies to Overcome Them
Shannon Snapp and Stephen Russell

Chapter 12   From Punitive to Restorative: One School’s Journey to Transform Its Culture and Discipline Practices to Reduce Disparities
Marieka Schotland, Harriet MacLean, Karen Junker, and Jean Phinney

Section III. Conclusions and Implications

Chapter 13  Eliminating Excessive and Disparate School Discipline: A Review of Research and Policy Reform
Dan Losen and Leticia Smith-Evans

Conclusion  Moving Towards Equity in School Discipline
Russell Skiba


The Discipline Disparities Collaborative is an Atlantic grantee.

Related Resources

Issues:

Children & Youth, School Discipline Reform

Global Impact:

United States

Tags:

racial equity