<p> According to the disciplinary section of State of Ohio Department of Education’s annual Ohio State Report Card (OSRC), African-American students have continuously led the student population in exclusions (suspensions and expulsions), particularly regarding ambiguous, subjective offenses. The disproportionate exclusion of these students has been an obstacle to receiving valuable education time, and opportunities to learn to navigate and thrive within the educational system. The over-exclusion of these students has also created a population of youth with decreased psychological, emotional, and community supports. The purpose of this study was to examine trends of school disciplinary exclusions following a state-wide change in the behavioral system used to discipline students (shifting from Zero Tolerance policies [ZT] to Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports [PBIS]). A cross-sequential study design was used to evaluate secondary data from the OSRC. Implementing PBIS produced a trend of lowered exclusions for African-American students, but no statistically significant differences were found. Statistically significant differences were discovered when examining the rates of the overall (total) exclusions and objective exclusions for Caucasian students. A trend of lowered rates, but no statistically significant differences were found for students with additional risk factors (disability status, male sex, low Socioeconomic Status [SES] and poor academic performance) for exclusion. A correlation analysis identified that both African-American and Caucasian students who were identified as low SES tended to be associated with more risk factors; thus, a stronger likelihood of being excluded.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10933443 |
| Date | 23 September 2018 |
| Creators | Igah, Flora E. |
| Publisher | Union Institute and University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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