The article provides an overview of the issues surrounding racial and ethnic disproportionality in school suspensions. It is useful to practitioners that seek to complicate commonly held ideas about the effectiveness of school discipline practices.
Gregory, A., Skiba, R. J., and Noguera, P. A. “The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap: Two Sides of the Same Coin?” Educational Researcher, 39(1), 2010: 59-68.
This CDE-approved self-assessment tool provides three checklists that address 1) district and school resource issues; 2) system policy, procedure, and practice issues at district, school, and classroom levels; and 3) environmental factors, all designed to aid in efforts to identify possible root causes of disproportionality and to help districts develop hypotheses and action plans for more detailed explorations of racial disproportionality.
Losen, D.J., Annotated Checklist for Addressing Racial Disproportionality in Special Education. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (2008).
Assessing the Root Causes of Disparities in School Discipline is a U.S. Department of Education publication created with the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments. The document intends to help guide school communities as they work to create positive, equitable educational environments for all students.
Safe Supportive Learning. Addressing the Root Causes of Disparities in School Discipline: An Educator’s Action Planning Guide. 2015. Washington, D.C.
This groundbreaking book examines the root causes of persistent disproportionality, including systemic inequality, color blindness, deficit thinking, and poverty disciplining–all of which create barriers to success for marginalized students." The book includes:
An in-depth survey of race and racism in the American education system, its laws, and its policies, all of which perpetuate systemic inequality and harmful stereotypes
A practical framework for developing cross-cultural skills and dispositions that challenge our biases and promote educational equity
Concrete strategies for interrupting and replacing deficit-based thinking and prejudices
Powerful reflections based on survey data from over 4,000 educators, which vividly illustrate how our beliefs manifest in schools and in our treatment of students
Citation: Ferguson, Edward A. 2024 Desegregating Ourselves: Challenging the Biases That Perpetuate Inequities in Our Schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
This technical assistance manual is used for identifying root causes to assist educators seeking to understand disproportionality as an outcome of policies, practices, and beliefs.
Fergus, E., Ahram, R. Equity in Education—Addressing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education, Volume 1. Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, NYU Steinhardt, 2009.
Provides an overview of this New York University self-assessment tool.
Training Module 1: Overview of Metropolitan Center for Urban Education’s Disproportionality Workbooks
Training Module 2: Using the Data Analysis Workbook
Training Module 3: Knowing A Disproportionality Problem Based On Numbers
Training Module 4: Using the Equity in Education Workbook
Training Module 5: Discussing Culturally Responsive Education Beliefs
Training Module 6: Common Causes of Disproportionality in Special Education and Suspension
Edward Fergus, presenter (2010) State Performance Plan Technical Assistance Project, California Department of Education.
Describes a local change process, LEAD, which is grounded in cultural competence that addresses disproportionality in special education and other equity issues facing Indiana schools.
Shana Ritter and Russell J. Skiba (2006) Center for Evaluation and Education Policy.
The resource is a technical guide for understanding how disproportionality is calculated and what the benefits and drawbacks of each method are. It is useful to practitioners that seek to understand the mathematics and logic behind a numerical citation for disproportionality.
Methods for Assessing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education: A Technical Assistance Guide. (Westat). 2014.
This CDE-approved tool guides the examination of LEA practices once data suggest that serious and inappropriate disproportionate referral, identification, and placement of students who are culturally and linguistically diverse may be occurring. This rubric is ideal for mid to large size districts and supports their completion of a district-wide self-assessment and strategic planning process.
Kozleski, E., Zion, S. Preventing DISPROPORTIONALITY by Strengthening District Policies and Procedures — An Assessment and Strategic Planning Process. National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems, 2006.
Dr. Fergus describes the root cause analysis as essential process in addressing disproportionality. In this article he lists three common root causes that have emerged from his research and work with many local education agencies.
Fergus, Edward. 2022. Remedies for Disproportionality: It’s Time for a Root Cause Analysis. Catapult Learning, https://catapultlearning.com/2022/08/02/remedies-for-disproportionality-its-time-for-a-root-cause-analysis/ (accessed January 30, 2023).
