This study focused on the disciplining actions given to students of color after the
implementation of the zero tolerance (ZT) policy in Texas’ schools. Out-of-school
suspension and expulsion data were analyzed to depict trends and/or patterns across school
levels as well as gender and race/ethnicity. More specifically, the disciplinary action of
34,047 elementary, middle and high school students of color suspended out-of-school and
expelled in Texas’ public schools during the1999-2000 and 2002-2003 academic school
years were statistically analyzed then evaluated via specific tenets of critical race theory
(CRT). A critical policy analysis, as defined by the researcher, was discussed using the
results of the data analysis.
In addition, the predictive power of the variables school level, gender and
race/ethnicity on the disciplinary action given to students of color were analyzed during the
school terms under study. The most statistically significant finding of the study was the
influence of ethnicity on out-of-school suspension and expulsion rates of students of color in the State of Texas after the implementation of the policy known as ZT during the
selected school terms. Furthermore, of the students enrolled in public schools in Texas
during the 1999-2000 and 2002-2003 school years, African-American students comprised
14.3 and 14.4 percent of the population; yet, they received more than one-third of all
disciplining actions, second to European Americans who comprised 43 and 40 percent of
the enrolled population. When compared to other students of color, African-American
students received 53.6 and 53.9 percent of the out-of-school suspensions and 64.3 and 65.1
of the expulsions. Even though the data presented were aligned with previous research
studies, the view of disciplinary actions for students of color from a critical race theory
(CRT) lens highlights the deficiencies outlined via a critical policy analysis of the ZT
policy as it is used to fortify the safety of schools.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1484 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Sullivan, Earnestyne LaShonne |
| Contributors | Larke, Patricia |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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