Dive Brief:
- A new report from the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA breaks down elementary and secondary suspension data by student subpopulations, highlighting particular demographics that are being disciplined more than others.
- The study found that, in the 2011-12 school year, 10.1% of secondary students and 2.6% of elementary students were suspended. However, when breaking down the data, 23.2% of black secondary students were suspended, compared to only 6.7% of white secondary students. For secondary students with disabilities, that number was 18.1%.
- The data comes just over a year after the U.S. Department of Education issued a school suspension guidance, which not only aimed to decrease the national suspension rate but hold schools legally responsible for their discipline track records.
Dive Insight:
The report also breaks down data by state and district, labeling any secondary district as "high-suspending" if 25% or more of any racial demographic is suspended. Schools were deemed "low-suspending" if that number was no more than 10%. A reported 24% of the nation's secondary schools were considered "high suspending," while 38% were considered "low suspending."
The data found that students who are in more than one minority group (i.e. black and disabled) had some of the highest suspension rates.