Districts should track rates of lost instruction from suspensions and conduct recurring public reviews of discipline disparities¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

For local policymakers, the report recommends that districts track the frequency and rates of lost instruction from out-of-school suspensions and use the data to inform local discipline policy. It advises school boards to "conduct a public review and discussion of discipline disparities at least twice each year at school board meetings," and, where suspensions are frequent and disparities wide, to develop an action plan with specific goals informed by affected community members. It also recommends central-office review of lengthy suspensions.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Disaggregated discipline data including days of lost instruction, referrals to law enforcement, and school-related arrests reported annually

Constraints¶

• Recommended even in the absence of federal or state policy changes; the report notes evaluation of progress should reduce both use and duration of suspensions and prioritize prevention of misconduct

Target Learners¶

• K-12 public school students in districts with high or disparate suspension rates

Target Learning Goals¶

• Equitable access to instructional time and reduced disparate impact of exclusionary discipline

Claims¶

• Students in alternative schools experience extraordinarily high lost-instruction rates, with Black boys losing 235 days per 100 enrolled [+W]
• Secondary students lose instruction due to out-of-school suspensions at more than five times the rate of elementary students (37 vs. 7 days per 100 enrolled) [+W]
• In many large districts, secondary students lost more than a year of instruction per 100 enrolled, up to 416 days in Grand Rapids, MI [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Six-part state and local policy strategy for reducing exclusionary discipline and suspension gaps
• Restorative-justice-aligned discipline policies to reduce exclusionary discipline disparities
• Identify and address the root causes of discipline disparities in schools flagged as disproportionate

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Losen, D. J., & Martinez, P. (2020). Lost opportunities: How disparate school discipline continues to drive differences in the opportunity to learn. Learning Policy Institute; Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the Civil Rights Project, UCLA. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED608537