Race debate should include school discipline: Column

The deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have prompted Americans once again to debate the impact of stereotypes and racial bias in our country. Discussions have ranged from the historical roots of racism to police brutality, but one element has been missing: our failure to confront the role of stereotypes and race in driving discriminatory discipline in our schools.

According to the latest federal data, black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three-and-a-half times greater than white students. On average, 5% of white students are suspended compared to 16% of black students. Black girls are suspended at a higher rate (12%) than girls of any other race. And even among the youngest children, 48% of preschool students who have received more than one suspension are black even though blacks make up just 18% of preschool enrollment.

The data also consistently tell us that differences in punishment for black students are not due to poverty or to their misbehaving at higher rates. Indeed, black students are punished more harshly for the same offense as their white peers, particularly for subjective offenses such as noncompliance or disrespect.

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Why does this happen? Part of it flows from the introduction of "zero tolerance" discipline policies and the assignment of police officers to patrol school buildings. The heavy presence of police is particularly problematic when federal data show that 95% of all suspensions are for non-violent misbehavior.

Another key factor, however, is the lack of discussions about race, discipline and disparities involving educators and community members. Conversations about any racial disparity, whether it be in policing or school discipline, can be difficult. Many educators are reluctant to discuss how they discipline their black students, fearing their comments will be misinterpreted and that they will be labeled racist.

But a growing body of research on implicit bias suggests the attitudes of nearly all Americans are shaped by deeply ingrained racial biases, whether we are conscious of them or not. Failing to discuss racial disparities because it can be awkward will not make those disparities disappear.

For three years, a group known as the Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative, consisting of 26 experts from the social science, education and legal fields, has studied and analyzed discipline disparities in our schools. The group has just published its fourth research paper and the conclusion is straight-forward: Our nation cannot address discipline disparities within its public schools until educators are willing to directly address the issues of race, disadvantage and stereotype that are bound up in those disparities.

Earlier work by the group found that schools have the power to change their rates of exclusion and build more effective and supportive school climates, but the issue of race has to be acknowledged and confronted. To do that schools and school systems can engage in a series of steps:

First, examine disciplinary data for patterns of discipline and suspension by race, gender, age, reason for suspension and the educators involved.

Second, use the data to inform school and district discussions among principals, teachers and community members about why certain students, especially students of color, are being suspended and expelled at a higher rate. This type of honest conversation may not be easy, but it is necessary today.

Finally, conversations must lead to action and the embrace of new disciplinary approaches that minimize suspensions. For example, restorative justice programs encourage students to take responsibility and heal conflict, thereby creating a safer and more positive environment for everyone in the school building.

Other alternatives include school wide positive behavior programs, improved classroom behavior management, collaborative problem-solving, and social/emotional learning and improved teacher-student relationships.

The recent deaths of Brown and Garner may have again pushed racial issues to the forefront of our national consciousness, but we also must bring those conversations into the school building, starting reflective conversations on why race increases risks for school suspension and expulsion, literally starting in pre-kindergarten.

All Americans — including those entrusted with educating our children — are at risk of being affected by stereotypes and implicit bias. Until we are willing to acknowledge and confront this systemic racism, our students of color may be denied the right to an education and the opportunity to live the American dream.

Leticia Smith-Evans is the director of the Education Practice of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Russell Skiba is a professor in the School Psychology Program at Indiana University and the director of The Equity Project at Indiana University.Both are members of the Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative.

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