In reviewing restorative justice practices to determine if they have an effect on inequitable discipline, the authors used quantitative data from over 400 students in 29 schools. They determined that teachers who use restorative practices with fidelity do contribute to a reduction in the equity gap.
Gregory, Anne, Clawson, Kathleen, Davis, Alycia, and Gerewitz, Jennifer. 2016. “The Promise of Restorative Practices to Transform Teacher-Student Relationships and Achieve Equity in School Discipline.” Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation 24, no. 4: 325-353.
In this article, Ford brings forward a frequently identified root cause of inequity in society and in school discipline, implicit bias. He acknowledges that all people, including educators, are raised in context of social situations and conditioning. Ford refers to methods for raising the issue of implicit bias with teachers, guiding them to introspection and leading them toward individual and systematic change.
Ford, James E. 2016. “The Root of Discipline Disparities.” Educational Leadership. 3:42-46.
Reinforcing the commonly held scholarly perspective that inequitable school discipline practices are not the result of poverty or higher rates or intensity of behaviors, the authors of this article review root causes of inequity and the complex changes required for remediation.
Welsh, Richard O., and Little, Shafiqua. 2018. “The School Discipline Dilemma: A Comprehensive Review of Disparities and Alternative Approaches.” Review of Educational Research 88 (5): 752-794.
This research study shows how African American students were seven times and Native American and Latino students were two times more likely to receive exclusionary discipline in the state of Wisconsin.
Bal, Aydin, Jennifer Betters-Bubon, and Rachel E. Fish. 2019. “A Multilevel Analysis of Statewide Disproportionality in Exclusionary Discipline and the Identification of Emotional Disturbance.” Education and Urban Society 51 (2): 247–268.
What causes high rates of suspensions, especially for students of color? Growing evidence points to racial bias. For instance, laboratory experiments find that teachers are more likely to knit together a series of misbehaviors as a pattern, to view a student who misbehaves as a troublemaker, and to punish them more severely, if the student is Black as compared with White.
Okonofua, J. A., Goyer, J. P., Lindsay, C. A., Haugabrook, J., & Walton, G. M. (2022). A Scalable Empathic-Mindset Intervention Reduces Group Disparities in School Suspensions. Sciences Advances, 8 (12), 1-10.
In this article, the authors propose that pervasive negative stereotypes about racially stigmatized children influence both teachers and students, undermining teacher–student relationships over time.
Okonofua, J. A., Walton, G. M., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2016). A Vicious Cycle: A Social–Psychological Account of Extreme Racial Disparities in School Discipline. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(3) 381–398.
The book focuses on the experiences of a group of Black male students that have been labeled by school officials as disciplinary problems. It is an important book for practitioners to read because it highlights how students experience schooling, the labels given to them, the expectations held about them and the discipline they receive in school.
Ferguson, A.A. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
This report examines compliance with federal laws designed to protect students of color with disabilities from discrimination, and whether the federal government’s enforcement of these laws adequately protects these students from discriminatory disciplinary actions and policies.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. 2019. Beyond Suspensions: Examining School Discipline Policies and Connections to the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Students of Color with Disabilities. Washington, DC: Author.
This report examines compliance with federal laws designed to protect students of color with disabilities from discrimination, and whether the federal government’s enforcement of these laws adequately protects these students from discriminatory disciplinary actions and policies.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. 2019. Beyond Suspensions: Examining School Discipline Policies and Connections to the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Students of Color with Disabilities. Washington, DC: Author.
There is increasing concern about rising discipline citations in K–12 schools and a lack of means to reduce them. A brief intervention aimed at encouraging an empathic mindset about discipline halved student suspension rates over an academic year. The authors found this intervention, an online exercise, can be delivered at near-zero marginal cost to large samples of teachers and students.
Okonofua, J. A., Panunesku, D., & Walton, G. M., (2016). Brief Intervention to Encourage Empathic Discipline Cuts Suspension Rates in Half among Adolescents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113 (19) 5221-5226.
