Assessing the Odds: Disproportional Discipline Practices and Implications for Educational Stakeholders

One frequently held assumption found within the school discipline literature suggests that students of color- particularly African American, male, low-income populations- are at an increased risk of receiving exclusionary discipline sanctions. Aside from race, gender, and socioeconomic status; however, less is known about other factors that increase the likelihood of a student being excluded from classroom instruction as a result of disciplinary action. These other factors are equally important in understanding disproportional trends found in school discipline. Subsequently, the purpose of this article is to systematically explore other explanations relative to the odds of a student being suspended or expelled from school. Based on the findings from this study, recommendations to various educational stakeholders were offered.