Racial Disproportionality in Out-of-School Suspensions: Findings and Implications From Four Studies (Race & School Suspensions Series)

Race & School Suspensions Series
Written by Wendy Haight, PhD, Gamble-Skogmo Chair

In this blog post, I will first summarize the findings of several studies my colleagues (Professor Priscilla Gibson and Dr. Misa Kayama) and I have conducted on racial disproportionality in out-of-school suspensions in the Twin Cities metro area, and then consider some implications for addressing this complex, intransigent problem.

Our first study drew on data from 30 caregivers with lower incomes of Black children who were suspended. Studies 2-4 drew on data from a study of 31 Black youth with suspensions, 28 of their caregivers, and 19 educators. Data from all four studies were obtained through in-depth, individual, audiotaped interviews during which participants were invited to relate their experiences and perspectives of suspensions. Our hope was that by viewing the problem of suspensions from the multiple perspectives of caregivers, youths, and educators we might find clues to how families and schools can work together effectively to reduce Black youths’ suspensions.

Study 1. Caregivers’ perspectives of their children’s suspensions

Caregivers generally valued their children’s school success, recognized when their children had misbehaved, and supported educators’ imposition of appropriate consequences. Suspensions, however, were rarely viewed as appropriate consequences. On the contrary, caregivers produced emotionally laden moral narratives characterizing their children’s suspensions as unjust, harmful to children, negligent in helping children with underlying problems such as bullying, undermining caregivers’ racial socialization, and racially problematic. Suspensions also contributed to families’ distrust and withdrawal from participation in their schools (Gibson & Haight, 2013).

Study 2. The role of race in suspensions

Consistent with caregiver perspectives in our first study, most youths, caregivers and educators viewed racial bias and cultural differences as responsible for the disproportionate suspension of Black youths. Many highlighted educators’ negative attitudes toward Black students. Youths and caregivers argued that Black students are treated more harshly than White students and targeted as disciplinary problems. Their perspectives suggest that racial bias results in a school culture that criminalizes and pathologizes Black students and families (Gibson, Wilson, Haight, Kayama & Marshall, 2014).

Study 3. The use of criminal justice language in narratives of out-of-school suspensions

Caregivers expressed concerns about the impact of suspensions on the criminalization of Black youth and the school-to-prison pipeline. Indeed, 59 of 78 participants spontaneously used a total of 51 different criminal justice and legal terms 474 times in their personal narratives of suspensions. Language is a powerful socialization tool. Participants used criminal justice language in a variety of ways. For example, educators used terms such as “misdemeanor” and “offense” to justify punitive responses to youths’ misbehaviors. Caregivers used criminal justice terms to resist punitive actions, for example, disputing the legality of punitive sanctions. By using criminal justice language, a strong and consistent message is sent to youths about the connection between their misbehaviors at school and the criminal justice system. These socialization messages are communicated to youth at during a critical period of self- and social-identity development. Indeed, youths spoke through the perspective of the criminal defendant using terms such as “crime,” “self-defense,” and “prisoner” to describe their behaviors and experiences of suspensions (Kayama, Haight, Gibson & Wilson, 2015).

Study 4. An ecological systems inquiry into suspensions from the perspectives of Black youth who were suspended, their caregivers and educators

Participants described the interaction of micro-, meso- and macro-system characteristics in the suspension of Black boys. Educators, youths and caregivers concurred that youths need caring relationships with educators and that suspensions are harmful to educator–youth relationships. Caregivers emphasized the negative impact of suspensions on family–school relationships, and the need for socialization that provides moral, spiritual and general guidance to youth. Caregivers and youths underscored the need for intervention to improve educators’ sensitivity to youths. Educators described a variety of macro system constraints to implementing better alternatives to suspensions including a culturally diverse student population and relatively homogeneous staff (Haight et al., 2014).

Building family-school partnerships

Clearly, addressing the complex issue of racial disproportionalities in harsh, exclusionary school discipline will require intervention at multiple levels: the broader cultural and policy contexts that provide inadequate support for public schools and promote “zero-tolerance” policies, the harsh institutional contexts of too many schools, the inadequate cultural understanding of some educators, and peer groups and individual students reacting to years of unfair and harsh treatment.

Participants in our study also identified as one area of concern what Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1995) characterized as children’s family-school “mesosystem.” A youth’s family-school mesosystem encompasses the relationships between his/her educators and family. For example, a youth’s grandmother initiates contact with her grandson’s favorite teacher forming a family-school mesosystem to support his educational success. When youths are struggling with social and behavioral issues in school, these mesosystems, too often, have failed to develop, are negative or become disengaged.

One intervention strategy would involve engaging families and educators as partners working together to support Black youths with suspensions. Such an intervention would be relationship-based, and culturally sensitive to diverse family structures and communication styles.

Focus on relationships. A central component of a family-school partnership would be the development of mutually respectful, collaborative working relationships between Black families and educators. Programs successfully educating Black children such as the Harlem Children’s Zone (http://hcz.org) have engaged caregivers and community members as adult partners. Yet interventions facilitating positive family-school “partnerships” for children struggling with behavior often are didactic and top-down, with educators prescribing activities for caregivers, as opposed to building relationships and engaging them as adult partners in addressing issues of mutual concern. An underlying assumption of many programs seems to be that the problem lies with children and caregivers, and the solution with educators. Such a stance is especially problematic when family-school relationships are intertwined with issues of power and race; and unlikely to succeed when Black family members and educators mistrust and even disrespect one another. Thus, one intervention goal would be to enhance relationships between educators and families by: a) empowering family members by providing them with support for regular communication with youths’ teachers, b) engaging teachers, youths and caregivers in resolving challenges that emerge before they become crises, c) encouraging youths to use their favorite teachers as resources and teachers to serve as those supports.

Diverse family structures. Another important component of a family-school partnership would be to recognize culturally-distinct family structures. African American families are diverse, but certain values and behavioral patterns that strengthen this group are rooted in a history of slavery, segregation, and continuing racism and oppression. These may include an extended family orientation, reciprocity among family members, respect for elders, and cooperation and collective responsibility in child–rearing. “Family” may be defined not only as biological kin such as grandmothers who assume caregiving roles with their grandchildren, but as “fictive kin;” that is, individuals who assume kin-like relationships of mutuality and support such as the “other mothers” and “community mothers” who assisted children and caregivers during the Civil Rights protests. Thus, a second goal of a family-school partnership would be to engage family elders (actual or fictive) in helping caregivers and youths to enhance their relationships with educators.

Diverse communication styles. Another important component of a family-school partnership would be the recognition of culturally-preferred modes of communication. Oral narrative is highly valued and avidly practiced in African American communities, not least because it supports the development of a belief system characterized by hope and integrity in the face of oppression. According to Gates (1989),“The values we cherish and wish to preserve, the behavior we wish to censure . . . the aspirations and goals that we most dearly prize, all of these things are encoded in stories . . . stories that, in effect, we live by and through (p. 17).” Thus, a third goal of a family-school partnership would be to encourage communication with families using speech genres associated with the home and community (narrative), rather than the school (formal, authoritative reporting) to encourage full participation by family members including elders.

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