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Understanding the black–white school discipline gap

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  • Kinsler, Josh

Abstract

At state and national levels, black students are more likely to be suspended from school, and conditional on misbehavior, receive stiffer penalties when compared with white students. Racial bias is often cited as a primary contributor to these gaps. Using infraction data from North Carolina, I investigate gaps in punishment within and across schools, and explore how student–teacher and student–principal race interactions affect discipline. I find a significant statewide gap in discipline that is largely generated by cross-school variation in punishment. In addition, there is little evidence that black students are treated differentially according to teacher or principal race.

Suggested Citation

  • Kinsler, Josh, 2011. "Understanding the black–white school discipline gap," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1370-1383.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:30:y:2011:i:6:p:1370-1383
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.07.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Sonja C. Kassenboehmer & Trinh Le & Duncan McVicar & Rong Zhang, 2015. "Is there an educational penalty for being suspended from school?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 376-395, August.
    2. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    3. Stephen B. Billings & Jonah Rockoff, 2014. "School Segregation, Educational Attainment, and Crime: Evidence from the End of Busing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(1), pages 435-476.
    4. Huang, Francis L. & Cornell, Dewey G., 2017. "Student attitudes and behaviors as explanations for the Black-White suspension gap," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 298-308.
    5. Jayanti Owens & Sara McLanahan, 2018. "Unpacking the Drivers of Racial Disparities in School Suspension and Expulsion," Working Papers wp18-04-ff, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    6. Cuellar, Alison Evans & Markowitz, Sara, 2015. "School suspension and the school-to-prison pipeline," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 98-106.
    7. Bekkerman, Anton & Gilpin, Gregory A., 2014. "Can equitable punishment be mandated? Estimating impacts of sentencing guidelines on disciplinary disparities," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 51-61.
    8. German Ben-Hayun, Shiran & Perry-Hazan, Lotem, 2023. "In the same boat: Parents’ and teachers’ role in protecting elementary school students’ online rights," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Out of school suspension; Racial bias;

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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