Inequality in School Discipline: Research and Practice to Reduce Disparities

This edited volume fills a critical void by providing the most current and authoritative information on what is known about disciplinary disparities. School exclusion-out-of-school suspension and expulsion in particular-remains a substantial component of discipline in our nation's schools, and those consequences continue to fall disproportionally on certain groups of learners. The negative consequences of frequent and inequitable use of school exclusion are substantial, including higher rates of academic failure, dropout, and contact with the juvenile justice system. As educators, policymakers, community leaders, and other youth-serving organizations begin the difficult work of creating more equitable school disciplinary systems, the need for effective disparity-reducing alternatives could not be more important. Drawing on the multi-year ground-breaking work of the Discipline Disparities Collaborative, the chapters in this book provide cutting edge knowledge supporting a new national imperative to eliminate race, gender, disability, and sexual orientation-based disciplinary disparities.

Russell J. Skiba is Professor in School Psychology and Director of the Equity Project at Indiana University, USA. He is among the most cited researchers in the nation on racial and ethnic disparities in school discipline. In addition to numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, he has consulted with numerous states and districts on school discipline, school violence, and reducing disparities.

Kavitha Mediratta is Chief Strategy Advisor for Equity Initiatives and Human Capital Development at The Atlantic Philanthropies. She is a national leader in reforming zero tolerance school discipline and improving educational systems. In addition to publications on those topics, she has authored numerous publications and book chapters on community organizing and grassroots activism for public education reform.

M. Karega Rausch is Adjunct Faculty member at Indiana University, USA. He has authored or co-authored more than twenty professional publications with an emphasis on racial/ethnic disproportionality in school discipline and special education. He is also a sought after speaker and expert in charter school accountability.