END ZERO TOLERANCE

COMBATING THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE

Resources >> Issues >> Race

Race & Discipline

School-to-prison pipeline issues impacting students of color

Teacher-Student Interactions

Drivers of Disproportionality

Factsheets and Multimedia

Focus on Indigenous Students

General Trends

Black Students and Students with Disabilities Remain More Likely to Receive Out-of-school Suspensions, Despite Overall Declines, ChildTrends, 2019
Federal Data Shows Public Schools Nationwide Are a Hotbed of Racial Injustice, ACLU, 2018
Compared to Majority White Schools, Majority Black Schools Are More Likely to Have Security Staff, Child Trends, 2018
Discipline Disparities Grow for Students of Color, New Federal Data Show, Education Week, 2018
City School Safety Data Shows Handcuffs Used Disproportionately on Black and Latino Students, New York Civil Liberties Union, 2017
Policing the Schools: Minority Students More Likely to Be Suspended or Arrested, NBC News New York City, 2017.
Black Students More Likely to Be Arrested at School, Education Week, 2017
When California Schools Call Cops for Small Infractions it Disproportionately Hurts Minority Students, Civil Rights Study Finds, The Los Angeles Times, 2016

Teacher-Student Interactions

If Schools Don’t Overhaul Discipline, ‘Teachers Will Still Be Calling the Police on Our Black Students,’ The Hechinger Report, 2021

Black Students Receive Fewer Warnings from Teachers about Misbehavior, Illinois News, 2019
Teacher Voice: Breaking the School-to-Prison-Pipeline with 'Windows and Mirrors' for Black Boys, The Hechinger Report, 2019
Teacher Race and School Discipline, EducationNext, 2017
Does Exposure to Teachers of the Same Race Affect Discipline?, endzerotolerance.org, 2017
Stereotyping Across Intersections of Race and Age: Racial Stereotyping among White Adults Working with Children, PLOS One, 12, 2018
Substantial Racial Stereotyping toward Young Children of Color Found among White Adults Who Work with Them, Harvard School of Public Health, 12, 2018

Do Early Educators’ Implicit Biases Regarding Sex and Race Relate to Behavior Expectations and Recommendations of Preschool Expulsions and Suspensions?, A Research Study Brief, Yale Child Study Center, 2016

Drivers of Disproportionality

Unpacking the Drivers of Racial Disparities in School Suspension and Expulsion, Watson Institute of International &Public Affairs, Brown University, 2019
A Cigarette Only Changes Your Life if You Are Black, endzerotolerance.org, 2020
What Are the Sources of School Discipline Disparities by Student Race and Family Income?, Education Research Alliance for New Orleans, 2017

Reducing Racial Disparities in School Discipline Requires More than Eliminating "Zero Tolerance" Policies, Scholars Strategy Network, April 2016
Why Are We Criminalizing Black Students?, Education Week, 2017
Can We Fix the Race Problem in America’s School Discipline?, Rolling Stone, 2014
Why Do Racial Disparities in School Discipline Exist? The Role of Policies, Processes, People, and Places, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017
Student Surveillance, Racial Inequalities, and Implicit Racial Bias, University of Florida College of Law, 2017
Inequality at School: What’s Behind the Racial Disparity in Our Education System?, American Psychological Association, 2016
Schools, Black Children, and Corporal Punishment, Brookings, 2016
You Can’t Fix What You Don’t Look At: Acknowledging Race in Addressing Racial Discipline Disparities, The Equity Project at Indiana University, 2014

Major Reports

Ignored, Punished, and Underserved: Understanding and Addressing Disparities in Education Experiences and Outcomes for Black Children with Disabilities, Bellwether, 2022
Cops and No Counselors: How the Lack of Mental Health Staff is Harming Students, ACLU, 2019
11 Million Days Lost: Race, Discipline, and Safety at U.S. Public Schools, The Civil Rights Project at UCLA and the ACLU of Southern California, 2018
Do Black Students Misbehave More? Investigating the Differential Involvement Hypothesis and Out-of-school Suspensions, Journal of Educational Research, 2016
Are Black Kids Worse? Myths and Facts About Racial Differences in Behavior: A Summary of the Literature, The Equity Project at Indiana University, March 2014
Students, Security and Race. Low-income and minority students are much more likely to experience intense security conditions in their schools than other students, even when taking into account neighborhood crime, school crime, and school disorder, The University of Florida Law School, 2013

Estimating the Effect of State Zero Tolerance Laws on Exclusionary Discipline, Racial Discipline Gaps, and Student Behavior, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, American Educational Research Association, 2016
Racial Threat and Punitive School Discipline, Social Problems, 2010

Factsheets and Multimedia

Discipline Disparities: Myths and Facts, The Equity Project at Indiana University
Tackling Discrimination in America’s Schools, Trending Globally: Politics & Policy, 2019 (podcast)
Research Summary: Racial Disparities in School Discipline, School Diversity Notebook, 2019
Race, Discipline, and Safety at U.S. Public Schools, ACLU, 2018
Research on Disproportionality in Discipline, National Association of School Psychologists, podcast, 2018
Racial Disparities in School Discipline, WHYY RadioTimes, 2014, discussion of racial disproportionality in discipline rates, charter schools and discipline, and alternative approaches to improving school climate [Podcast]

Focus on Indigenous Students

Are Native Youth Being Pushed into Prison (Infographic), National Congress of American Indians
Native American Students Left Behind by South Dakota Education System, Argus Leader, 2019
Education Equity for All Students, Including Native Americans (Loleta, CA), ACLU of Northern California, resolution agreement
Tribal Members Urge School District to Provide Transparency Around Funding, ACLU of Northern California, 2019
Empty Desks: Discipline & Policing in Montana's Public Schools, ACLU of Montana, 2019
From School Boards to Suspension Boards: Suspensions and Expulsions of Native American Students in California Public Schools, Sacramento Native American Higher Education Collaborative and the Community College Equity Assessment Lab, 2019
Racial Disparities in the Equality State (Wyoming), Wyoming Community Foundation, 2019