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Racial disproportionality in exclusionary discipline measures among public school students has been well-established for African American youth in the United States. The research literature has included limited and inconsistent research findings providing information on the representation patterns among Hispanic students in school discipline. Previous studies on Hispanic representation in school discipline have established a need for data to be analyzed at the state level. Using a large dataset acquired from the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights - Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) for the 2013-2014 school year, this paper examines if Hispanic students are disproportionally represented in exclusionary discipline measures for the five states with the highest percentage of Hispanics within the population. Using ratio calculations for proportion and risk ratios, we determined risk and describe the extent of disproportionality for in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, and expulsion among Hispanic students compared to their White, non-Hispanic peers.This paper also examines differences in racial/ethnic disparities by gender. The results of this study indicate that significant disproportionality exists for Hispanic students to some degree for various exclusionary discipline categories in every state analyzed. The analysis also indicated Hispanic females are at a higher risk of receiving suspension compared to White, non-Hispanic females and Hispanic males compared to White, non-Hispanic males. To increase understanding of school disciplinary patterns for Hispanic students, including the results of this investigation, future research should examine office discipline referrals, and analyze discipline data from the district and school levels in order to determine if and to what extent additional school and community factors affect the discipline gap.

Students across the country experience negative effects due to losses in classroom instruction time caused by exclusionary discipline. In Mississippi, 11.8% of students received 1 or more in-school suspensions and 9.7% of students received 1 or more out-of-school suspensions during the 2013-14 school year. This study sought to determine effective classroom management strategies for addressing discipline infractions, identify professional development needs of teachers and administrators focused on effective classroom management strategies, describe the role of the principal in promoting professional management strategies and reducing discipline infractions, and determine recommendations for related school policies. Mississippi public school districts serving students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grades. All school districts were located in rural areas across the state. Participants in the study included 3 administrators and 5 teachers. All participants had 6 or more years of experience. The research design selected for the study was a qualitative approach. Phenomenological research was conducted to analyze participants’ experiences relating to classroom management, discipline, administration, and policy. Participants were interviewed about their experiences and opinions regarding classroom management strategies, professional development, the role of the principal, and policy recommendations all relating to reducing discipline infractions and increasing student achievement. The data were analyzed to determine emergent themes among the participants in response to the research questions and to provide recommendations for professional development and policy changes. Common themes were identified through the participants’ interviews. The findings showed that participants believed positive reinforcement, academic supports, behavior supports, relationships, planning, and teaching expectations and consequences were the most effective classroom management strategies. Participants identified behavior supports, seating, grouping, PBIS, classroom management plans, teaching children from poverty, classroom relationships, teaching expectations, student engagement, planning, and providing feedback as professional development needs. Participants described the role of the administrator as supporting teachers, maintaining consistency and fairness, establishing relationships with teachers and students, and maintaining a presence in classrooms. Policy recommendations included increased consistency, stronger parental involvement policies, adjustments to non-violent offenses, classroom management professional development for new teachers, including teachers in administrative processes, policies based upon grade levels, and more detailed PBIS policies.

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Within the last few decades, zero tolerance policies and exclusionary discipline have become the standard way in which schools manage student behavior. These policies, namely suspension and expulsion have been shown to have negative impacts on the lives of students who are punished with them. Educationally, the removal of students from the classroom hurts their chances of achieving academic success. Furthermore, these policies have been linked with an increase in the presence of law enforcement on school campuses, which results in the arrest of students, burdening them with expensive and serious legal battles. This research examines whether nonwhite students are more likely to be sanctioned by this form of discipline. A nationally representative sample of middle and high school students is used to estimate four logistic regression models, with exclusionary discipline as the dependent variable and race as the primary independent variable. The analysis shows that nonwhite students are more likely to suspended or expelled than white students – even when student behavior is the same. This research adds to the existing body of research on exclusionary discipline and provides a nationally generalizable study to support the claim the nonwhite students are at an increased risk to be sanctioned by zero tolerance policies.

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This study used a phenomenological design to discover how middle school teachers in northern California perceived the effectiveness of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in improving school climate and lowering office discipline referrals. PBIS is a school-wide initiative implemented in schools across the United States as an approach for addressing discipline and promoting a positive school climate. The researcher examined teacher perceptions on effectiveness of PBIS at the middle school level. The district implemented PBIS to align with district initiatives to lower exclusionary discipline practices (office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions) for students, with an emphasis on African American males, students with disabilities, and foster youth. The study used transformative learning theory and teacher self-efficacy to guide the research. The overarching research question explored was: What are middle school teachers’ perceptions about the effectiveness of PBIS? Data were collected from individual semi-structured open-ended interviews; concern statements; and examination of the trends of suspension, expulsion, and office discipline referrals pre-PBIS and post-PBIS. Data analysis revealed that all participants used positive terms to describe their school’s climate. Participants also experienced shared benefits and barriers when discussing PBIS in their school settings. The results of this study support PBIS in middle schools and addressed barriers. The results could be used to guide the decision-making process of those responsible for PBIS at the local school district level as well as at the individual school and classroom levels.

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