Students with disabilities are suspended at more than twice the rate of students without disabilities, and Black students with disabilities face the highest risk at 19%¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2027: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In 2017–18, 9% of students with disabilities were suspended compared to 4% of students without disabilities; 19% of Black students with disabilities were suspended. → Leung-Gagné 2022

Evidence¶

Leung-Gagné 2022¶

Leung-Gagné, M., McCombs, J., Scott, C., & Losen, D. J. (2022). Pushed out: Trends and disparities in out-of-school suspension. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/235.277

q2 · i? · associational · r2

CRDC analysis disaggregating suspension rates by disability status and race (Figure 3). The report states "almost 1 out of 11 students with disabilities (9%) were suspended" and that Black students with disabilities consistently have the highest risk, at nearly 1 in 5 (19%).

"In 2017–18, almost 1 out of 11 students with disabilities (9%) were suspended, compared to 4% for students without disabilities."

Studies bearing on this claim¶

Are learners with disabilities excluded from school by discipline more often than their peers? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 5 narrower claims that bear on it: 6 distinct studies (3 associational, 2 review, 1 qualitative), q2, 0 of 6 with an effect size coded. One row per study, codes as each entry records them; no effect is averaged and no verdict is drawn. Built by scripts/synthesize_claim.py from eval/synthesis/; a row that looks wrong is fixed on the claim it comes from.

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Learning Disabilities and Developmental Differences — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Black students are suspended at the highest rate of any racial group, at 12% in 2017–18, with persistent disparities across all years analyzed — related
• Black students and students with disabilities in Maryland were suspended and expelled at more than twice the rates of other students — a broader claim this one bears on
• Intersecting identities compound suspension risk: 0.1% of Asian girls without special education services in elementary schools were suspended versus 27% of Black boys with disabilities in secondary schools — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Youth with an IEP experience bullying and suspension at higher rates and are less engaged in school and social activities than peers, though most youth with and without an IEP feel positive about school — related
• For the same types of infractions, Black students and students with disabilities were significantly more likely to receive out-of-school suspensions than other subgroups — related
• Students with low prior test scores and students with disabilities were suspended at substantially higher rates than their peers in CPS — related
• Students in alternative schools experience extraordinarily high lost-instruction rates, with Black boys losing 235 days per 100 enrolled — related
• Racial differences in suspension rates reflect policies and adult biases, not differences in behavior — related
• Students experiencing homelessness change schools at triple the rate of other students and are twice as likely to receive an out-of-school suspension — related
• Students with disabilities are overrepresented in school discipline: 16 percent of enrollment but 25–28 percent of suspensions and expulsions — related