Racial Disparity in Discipline Contributes To Drop-Out Problem

By Martha R. Bireda, Ph.D.

The recent report labeling many American high schools as “dropout factories” is troubling indeed.  According to Johns Hopkins University researchers, of one in 10 high schools across the nation, no more than 60 percent of students who start as freshmen receive a diploma four years later (Balfanz and Legters, 2004). Not surprisingly, schools in large cities, high-poverty rural areas, and those with high proportions of minority students are most represented as “dropout factories”. As we react and rush to find solutions to the dropout problem, the way that discipline is meted out cannot be overlooked as a possible cause.   A common reason that students give for dropping out is that they had been suspended or expelled. The excessive and often unwarranted suspensions and expulsions of minority students, especially African American males must be examined if we are seriously seeking solutions to the dropout problem.

National studies (The Advancement Project, 2000; the Civil Rights  Project 2000), found that: Black and Latino students were more likely to be referred for disciplinary action; to be disciplined for minor conduct; and to receive punishments disproportionate to their conduct. In addition, zero tolerance policies are more likely to exist in predominately Black and Latino school districts.  It appears that Black students, especially males, fare worse than any other group in our schools when it comes to discipline issues. Black students, though they make up only 17 percent of the enrollment nationally, are 32 percent of the out-of-school suspensions and Black males are disciplined more often and more severely than any other group( The Office of Civil Rights, 2001; The Advancement Project, 2000; the Civil Rights Project, 2000).

Efforts to stem the tide of increasing dropout rates fly in the face of racial disparities in discipline. Evidence shows that students who are repeatedly suspended from school suffer academically and are more likely to drop-out (Dupper, 1997). African American and Hispanic students, in many cases already performing poorly become trapped in a suspension-failure cycle that almost certainly guarantees their non-completion. These students, already behind academically, are punished by being deprived of instruction while suspended. This denial of much needed instruction predisposed African American and Hispanic students to further academic underachievement.  As a result, the students who need school most are pushed away (Noguera, 2003; Fultz, 2002).

According to Deridder (1990), suspension places all of the blame on the student, with the school rarely evaluating whether it has served all of the emotional or academic needs of the student.  Eliminating Racial Profiling In School Discipline: Cultures In Conflict is one of the first books that addresses the school-related factors that contribute to the racial disparities in discipline that ultimately lead to large numbers of African American and Hispanic students dropping out.

In Eliminating Racial Profiling In School Discipline: Cultures In Conflict, I examine the two school-related factors in particular that contribute to disparities in discipline.  The first factor is lack of knowledge, understanding, and sensitivity to the culture of African American and Hispanic students.  The second school-related factor that negatively affects African American students, especially male students, is the set of faulty assumptions and negative expectations for the academic performance and behavior of African American students.

A lack of understanding regarding the culture, especially a lack of sensitivity to the communication styles of African American students, i.e., eye contact, distance, physical contact etc., can create physical tension between the teacher and student and lead to discipline problems. This lack of understanding and sensitivity is significant in escalating incidents between teacher and student.

Although the lack of knowledge and understanding the culture of African American male students places them at risk of disciplinary actions, the problems that they experience in the school setting are equally the result of faulty assumptions and erroneous beliefs based upon historical myths and stereotypes. These myths and stereotypes generate fear and the need to exercise absolute control in the minds of many teachers, especially non-African American female teachers, and create a vicious cycle from which African American male students in particular cannot escape.

In Eliminating Racial Profiling In School Discipline: Cultures In Conflict, I discuss the ten consequences i.e., unrealistic expectations, faulty assumptions, “behavior tracking”, leading behaviors, etc, that result from cultural conflicts and stereotyping in the classroom. Eliminating school-related factors that place African American and Hispanic students at greater risk for disciplinary referrals and sanctions requires that fundamental and significant changes occur in the school culture and environment. Two types of changes on two different levels must take place: changes related to culturally responsive and culturally responsible actions must occur at both the institutional and individual level.

I offer suggestions and provide steps for administrators to change the school climate and for teachers to develop effective communication and relationships with students. Any efforts to reduce the dropout problem must necessarily involve addressing the issue of racial disparity in discipline. This book provides a guide for addressing this issue and to creating a culturally sensitive and responsive school environment, which will ensure student retention.

Martha R. Bireda, Ph.D. is an educational consultant who specializes in racial disparity in discipline and achievement gap issues. She conducts workshops for school administrators related to the topics.