Reducing racial disparities in
discipline through
transformative action for
equity
ANNE G R E G O R Y, PH.D.
A NNE G R EG@R UTGER S.E DU
R U TG ER S UNIVER SI TY
NJ PR INCIPA LS A ND S U P E R VI SOR S A S S O CI ATI ON
Workshop in 7 parts
• Part 1: Overview of national issues in school discipline. We will discuss contributors to
school discipline disparities
• Part 2: African American male students talk about their experiences
• Part 3: Change is possible: Introducing on-line teacher professional development
modules, Creating Opportunities through Relationships (COR)
• Part 4: Data-based decision-making, needs assessment, and readiness for change
• Part 5 Change is possible: Teacher coaching and strengthening instruction as
prevention
• Part 6: Introduction to Restorative Justice and Restorative Practice
• Part 7: Policy reform: Syracuse District Student Code of Conduct Character and Support
and Getting starting, building momentum, and anticipating obstacles
Part 1: The urgency
Racial Disparities in Secondary School Suspension Rates*
30
25
Asian/PI
20
American Indian
15
10
White
5
Latino
0
1972-73
2009-10
Source: Data from the U.S. Department of Education’s 2009-10 Civil Rights Data Collection
Figure from Losen, D. & Martinez, T. (2013) Out of School & Off Track: The overuse of Suspensions in American Middle and
High Schools.
* Based on non-duplicated student counts.
Racial Disparities in Secondary School Suspension Rates*
30
24.3%
25
20
Asian/PI
American Indian
15
10
White
11.8%
Latino
Black
5
0
1972-73
2009-10
Source: Data from the U.S. Department of Education’s 2009-10 Civil Rights Data Collection
Figure from Losen, D. & Martinez, T. (2013) Out of School & Off Track: The overuse of Suspensions in American Middle and
High Schools.
* Based on non-duplicated student counts.
Alternative explanations
• Really about lags in achievement?
• Disproportionate representation in special education?
• Higher poverty rates?
A statewide longitudinal study
• Rigorously examined the link between
race and discipline.
• Isolate the effects of race controlling for
83 risk factors.
• (Multivariate methodologies make it
possible to isolate the effect of a single
factor, while holding the remainder of
the factors statistically constant.)
Accounting for 83 different variables and compared to otherwise identical White and
Latino students…African American students had a 31 percent higher likelihood of a
school discretionary discipline action
35%
30%
25%
20%
White
15%
Black
Hispanic
10%
5%
0%
Chance of Discipline Action
Breaking School Rules report
.
8
Other groups to be concerned about…
GENDER
Male students
Across a K-12 sample, males received 3 times more referrals for behavior and
22% more referrals for attendance than females (Kaufman et al., 2010).
Black females
In 2009, the average national suspension rate for Black females was 13%; 5%
higher than the national average for all students and comparable to the
suspension rate of Latino males (Losen & Martinez, 2013).
Other groups to be concerned about…
Latino students
Latino 10th graders were twice as likely as White students to be issued an outof-school suspension. Findings accounted for student- and teacher-reported
misbehavior (Finn & Servoss, 2013).
LGBT youth and gender non-conforming youth
LGB girls experienced about twice as many arrests and convictions as other
girls who had engaged in similar transgressions. They also were expelled at
higher rates (Himmelstein & Bruckner, 2011).
The urgency
For many students, the snowball starts rolling in elementary school
Small paper cuts of negative interactions with school
staff…
• Can snowball!
• Lower school bonding
• Affiliate with other peers who are less bonded.
• Internalized sense that “I am the bad kid” or I hang with
the “bad kids.”
• Develop a race-based sense of “us” and “them” – school is
for “them” not “us.”
Suspension and college coursework
Percentage any college
0.7
0.6
0.66
0.5
0.55
0.53
0.4
Never Suspended
0.3
0.2
Suspended 10+ days
0.23
0.1
0.2
0.24
0
White boys
Black boys
Latino boys
Shollenberger, T. L (2015). Racial disparities in school suspension and subsequent outcomes: Evidence from the
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. In D. J. Losen (Ed.) Closing the Discipline Gap.
Statewide sample of 9th graders followed over time:
Each additional suspension further decreased a student’s odds
of graduating high school by 20% (
High School Graduation
Accounting for poverty,
special ed status, course
failures, and attendance
High School Drop Out
(Balfanz, Byrnes, & Fox, 2015).
School to prison pipeline
• To what extent is school discipline an indicator of risk for juvenile
justice involvement, particularly for students who cycle through the
disciplinary system?
Frequently disciplined students and juvenile justice contact
35.0%
30.0%
No prior discipline
25.0%
Frequent discipline
(11+ times)
20.0%
17.5%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
5.5%
0.0%
Justice contact
Breaking School Rules, Texas report
Accounting for 83 different risk variables…
“A student who had been disciplined
more than 11 times faced a nearly
one in five chance (17.3 %) of a
.
juvenile justice
contact” p. 71.
17
Suspension and confinement in correctional facilities
Percent confined by
mid to late 20’s
0.4
0.35
0.38
0.35
0.3
0.32
0.25
Never Suspended
0.2
Suspended 10+ days
0.15
0.1
0.09
0.05
0
0.07
0.04
White males
Black males
Latino males
Shollenberger, T. L (2015). Racial disparities in school suspension and subsequent outcomes: Evidence from the
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. In D. J. Losen (Ed.) Closing the Discipline Gap.
• “The indications and effectiveness of exclusionary discipline policies
that demand automatic or rigorous application are increasingly
questionable...
• Periodic scrutiny of policies should be placed not only on the need for a
better understanding of the educational, emotional, and social impact
of out-of-school suspension and expulsion on the individual student but
also on the greater societal costs of such rigid policies.”
• Feb, 2013
US DOJ Office of Civil Rights holding schools
legally accountable through “disparate impact”
• U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights ("OCR")
investigates civil rights violations
• Violations of the U.S. Department of Education's regulations interpreting Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
• Civil right complaints are being filed related to how school discipline
practices have disparate impact on some racial groups.
• Proving intention is unnecessary for the plaintiff to win in a disparate
impact case.
Framework for today’s workshop from:
How educators can eradicate disparities in school discipline
• Preventing discipline disparities:
• Offer supportive relationships,
• Academic rigor,
• Culturally relevant and responsive teaching,
• Bias-free classrooms and respectful school environments
• Intervening when conflict occurs:
• Problem-solve,
• Engage youth and families,
• Reintegrate students after conflict.
See handout: Gregory, Bell, Pollock, (2014)
Intervention Brief at
http://rtpcollaborative.indiana.edu/briefing-papers/
Questions thus far?
Part 2: African
American Male Student
Perspectives
Framework for today’s workshop from:
How educators can eradicate disparities in school discipline
• Preventing discipline disparities:
• Offer supportive relationships,
• Academic rigor,
• Culturally relevant and responsive teaching,
• Bias-free classrooms and respectful school environments
• Intervening when conflict occurs:
• Problem-solve,
• Engage youth and families,
• Reintegrate students after conflict.
See handout: Gregory, Bell, Pollock, (2014)
Intervention Brief at
http://rtpcollaborative.indiana.edu/briefing-papers/
Free Teacher Professional Development:
Creating Opportunities through Relationships (COR)
Developed at the University of Virginia and supported by Atlantic Philanthropies
(to be distributed in March, 2016)
COR Module 2
• Recognizing and Understanding Our Own Lenses
• http://www.castllearning.org/
• annegreg@rci.rutgers.edu
• Excerpt from a clip released by ColorLines
Pair up to discuss
• Think of an incident during childhood/adolescence when you
felt misjudged or unfairly treated based on an aspect of your
identity (e.g. gender, race, religion, ability, sexuality):
• How did this interaction/incident affect your feelings toward the
other party?
• How did this interaction/incident affect your behavior?
• What could have prevented the incident in the first place?
Part 3: More about the
Creating Opportunities
through Relationships (COR)
program
Teacher Professional Development:
Creating Opportunities through Relationships (COR)
Developed at the University of Virginia and supported by Atlantic Philanthropies: Public release of free PD in
March, 2016
Five interactive on-line modules
• Module 1: The Power of Relationships
• Module 2: Recognizing and Understanding Our Own Lenses
Practical Strategies for Increasing Awareness
• Module 3: Interactions that Promote Safety and Happiness
• Module 4: Interactions that Promote Feeling Capable and Valued
• Module 5: Interactions that Promote Engagement in Learning
Feedback from teachers thus far
• “I literally completed a few modules on the weekend and on
Monday I felt my teaching had changed. The modules
asked me to think about a few students and my
relationships. I went back on Monday and worked on those
relationships in a different way.”
• On-line interface:
• “You have to be honest with your baggage. It was nice
having a quiet moment to reflect individually.”
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More teacher feedback
• “With all the Common Core and standardized testing it’s easy to lose
sight of the human connection.”
• “Made me stop and think about providing a little more flexibility to
make sure there is ample time for the kids to investigate and explore the
things that most interest them, matter to them and motivate them.”
• “Made me realize that sometimes even with our best intentions we do
micromanage the kids...reminded me that they can do it, and we should
expect them to try and give them that responsibility.”
Part 4: Data-based
decision making and
readiness for change
Uploaded resource
There are strategies for reducing exclusionary discipline, but they are
often implemented in a manner that does not reduce discipline disparities.
Although schools and districts are attempting to address disparities,
their work may focus on only symptoms and symbols rather than the
underlying causes. This guide is designed to help you systematically
examine the underlying causes of exclusionary discipline and disparities
in a manner that goes beyond symptoms and drives more toward
meaningful action and systemic change.
(Osher, Fisher, Amos, Katz, Dwyer, Duffey, & Colombi, 2015, p. 7)
Digging into the Data
First: Ask the question
Questions to ask (pg. 37):
• Are students being subjected to differential treatment based on race/ethnicity or other
characteristics? For example, a school may find that Black Latino, and American
Indian students are suspended at a much higher rate than their White peers—
sometimes at double the rate.
• Are policies neutral on their face (e.g., rules are the same for all) and administered in
an evenhanded manner but have a disparate impact such as a disproportionate and
unjustified effect on students of a particular race? For example, a school may find
American Indian students who must travel farther to school than their peers are
suspended at higher rates.
• What are the demographic characteristics of disciplined students and what is their
representation in the school population? For example, a school may find 20% of
secondary school students with disabilities were suspended in a single school year,
compared with fewer than 10% of their peers without disabilities.
• Which student demographic groups are at the greatest risk for disciplinary action? For
example, a district may find LGBTQ youth are up to three times more likely to
experience harsh disciplinary treatment than their heterosexual counterparts.
• Do different subgroups of students receive different consequences or interventions for
the same offense? For example, a school may find students of color are suspended
for talking back while their counterparts are not.
Digging into the Data
• Imagine you ask: What are the demographic characteristics of
disciplined students and what is their representation in the school
population?
• Imagine you find:
A) Suspension rates were disproportionately high for Black
males, who make up only 15% of the student population but
account for 30% of suspensions.
B) The majority of suspensions were issued for defiance,
disruption, and insubordination
C) Additionally, in-school suspensions were used for shorter
time periods for White males and all females than for Black and
Latino males.
Getting at the roots
• Formulate hypotheses
• What do you think accounts for that?
Getting at the roots
• Consider alternate hypotheses
• Look at list on pg. 45-47
• Do the disparity patterns you see potentially have
their basis in any of the following issues?
• Rank: 0-2
• 0=not a significant contributing factor
• 1=a contributing factor
• 2=a primary contributing factor
Getting at the Roots
• Which of these expanded your perspectives on
possible contributors to the disparity you found in
the data?
• Which of these do you think your staff and
colleagues are ready to consider and address?
Getting at the Roots
• Further investigation
• Collect and review qualitative data
• Decide on a root cause
• Present data to community and colleagues
Create an Action Plan
• Share your findings with the community in a
manner that enhances the community’s
readiness to address disparities.
• Develop a sustainable action plan that
addresses the root causes of disparities.
• Implement your action plan.
An additional resource for finding discipline data:
Office of Civil Rights Data Collection
• http://ocrdata.ed.gov/DistrictSchoolSearch#schoolSearch
• The web tool allows users to access data on suspensions and see
disparities at the school level.
• Users can see data disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, &/or
disability status. The data is available at the elementary and
secondary levels.
Questions thus far?
Part 5: The promise of
coaching for teachers
The My Teaching Partner-Secondary (MTP-S) professional development program
• Sustained over the whole school year
• Focused on teachers’ interactions with students as viewed through regular
video-recorded instruction
• Rigorous – based on research/theory and the Classroom Assessment
Scoring System (CLASS)
• Developed at the Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL)
University of Virginia (Pianta, R., Allen, J., Hafen, C., Mikami, A., Gregory, A.)
Classroom Assessment & Scoring System- Secondary (CLASS-S)
Emotional
Support
Classroom
Organization
Positive Climate
Teacher Sensitivity
Regard for Adolescent
Perspectives
Behavior
Management
Productivity
Negative Climate
Student Outcomes
Student Engagement
Instructional Support
Instructional Learning
Format
Content Understanding
Analysis & Problem Solving
Quality of Feedback
Classroom Assessment & Scoring System- Secondary (CLASS-S)
Emotional
Support
Classroom
Organization
Positive Climate
Teacher Sensitivity
Regard for Adolescent
Perspectives
Behavior
Management
Productivity
Negative Climate
Student Outcomes
Student Engagement
Instructional Support
Instructional Learning
Format
Content Understanding
Analysis & Problem Solving
Quality of Feedback
Overview of MTP™ Cycle
Prior positive findings of MTP-S
Prior evidence for the positive impact of MTP-S
• Increased student performance on standardized tests (held across racial groups).
• Increased student engagement and positive peer interactions in MTP-S classrooms
(Allen, Pianta, Gregory, Mikami, Lun, 2011; Gregory, Allen, Mikami, Hafen & Pianta, 2012; Mikami, Gregory, Allen, Pianta, & Lun, 2011)
Recent study: Randomized controlled trial
- 5 middle and high schools; 82 teachers (one focal classroom each
- 979 participating students (59% African American, 30% White, 8% Hispanic, and 3% Asian)
- Rigorous controls in analyses (e.g., student SES, prior achievement)
% students receiving one or more office discipline referrals
16.0%
14.0%
13.7%
African
American
12.0%
10.0%
All Others
8.0%
6.0%
5.1%
6.0%
5.8%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
Control Teachers
Intervention Teachers
Gregory, A., Allen, J., Mikami, A., Hafen, C., & Pianta, R. (2015). The promise of a teacher professional
development program in reducing racial disparity in classroom exclusionary discipline. In D. J. Losen (Ed.).
Closing the discipline gap: Equitable remedies for excessive exclusion (pp. 166-179). New York: Teachers College Press.
Reducing racial disparities
•Reduce:
• Implicit bias
•Microaggressions
• Low expectations
•Cultural mismatch
•Minimal access to high quality
instruction
More “distal”
factors
More Proximal
Factors
• Increase access to: High quality
instruction and positive
interactions between teachers
and African American students
• Reduce Punitive disciplinary
responses to African American
student behavior
• Lower their rates of exclusion
from instruction
• Increase their academic
engagement and trust in the
teacher
Outcomes
Questions and Discussion
Would it be feasible to integrate core elements of
MTP-S into your teacher supports/mentoring?
• Video-based,
• Sustained,
• Non-Evaluative,
• Observational Framework
Part 6: The promise of
restorative approaches
to discipline
From “deporting and disciplining” to “resolving and educating”
• Preventing discipline disparities:
• Offer supportive relationships,
• Academic rigor,
• Culturally relevant and responsive teaching,
• Bias-free classrooms and respectful school environments
• Intervening when conflict occurs:
• Problem-solve,
• Engage youth and families,
• Reintegrate students after conflict.
See handout: Gregory, Bell, Pollock, (2014)
Intervention Brief at
http://rtpcollaborative.indiana.edu/briefing-papers/
RESTORATIVE APPROACHES to discipline
Summary:
• Focuses on relationships
• Gives voice to the person harmed and
the person who caused the harm
• Engages collaborative problemsolving
• Dialogue-based decision-making
process
• An agreed upon plan leads to actions
aimed at repairing the harm done.
Schiff, M. (2013). Dignity, disparity and desistance: Effective restorative justice strategies to plug the “school-to-prison pipeline.” In Center for Civil Rights
Remedies National Conference. Closing the School to Research Gap: Research to Remedies Conference. Washington, DC.
RESTORATIVE APPROACHES- DEFINITIONS
Restorative Justice – A theory of justice that emphasizes
repairing the harm.
Restorative practices – A framework for a broad range of
restorative justice approaches that proactively build a school
community based on cooperation, mutual understanding, trust
and respect.
From: DIGNITY IN SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN
MODEL CODEWEBINAR V: RESTORATIVE JUSTICE,
http://www.dignityinschools.org/files/ModelCode_Webinar_RestorativeJustice.pdf
Fairfax County
Public Schoolsr
SFUSD Restorative Practices
Multiple Tiered System of Supports
Restorative Practices Continuum from
the International Institute of Restorative Practices (IIRP)
Formal
Conference
Small Impromptu
Conference
Affective
statements
Brief comments
about how others
were impacted by
the person’s
behavior.
Affective
Questions
Affective Questions;
ask who was affected,
how they were
affected, etc.
Occur when a few
people meet
briefly to address
and resolve a
problem.
Circles
More formal RP
that allows
everyone to have
some say in what
should happen as a
result of the
wrongdoing.
Adapted from Costello, B. , Wachtel, J. & Wachtel, T. (2010). Restorative circles in schools building
community and enhancing learning.
Brings together
offenders, victims
and communities
of support to
repair harm and
promote healing.
Foster reflection through a series of “restorative questions”
• Questions to ask the disputant:
• What happened? What were you thinking about at the time? What have your
thoughts been since?
• Who has been affected by what you did? In what way have they been affected?
• What do you think you need to do to make things right?
• Questions to ask those harmed or affected by the incident:
• What did you think when you realized what had happened?
• How has this affected you and others? What has been the hardest thing for you?
• What do you think needs to happen to make things right?
From Costello, B., Wachtel, J. & Wachtel, T. (2010).
Restorative circles in schools building community and enhancing learning.
RJ in Oakland, CA
Questions for video clips
• As you view the video clips:
• Side 1- Write down two things students might learn from the
circle process.
• Side 2- Write down two things adults or school staff might
learn from the circle process.
• Also, consider:
• What would you foresee being the benefit(s) of using these
circles in your current setting?
Community-building
and Re-entry circles
Restorative Justice Student Facilitators: Tier One. Community Building Circle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdKhcQrLD1w
00 to 6.15 minutes
• Restorative Welcome and Re-entry
Circle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJ2GPiptvc
00. to 6.07 minutes
Social and Emotional Learning for
STAFF AND STUDENTS
• Self-awareness: Students’ ability to accurately recognize their own emotions/thoughts and how their
emotions/thoughts influence their behavior.
• Self-management: Students’ ability to regulate their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively
in different situations.
• Social awareness: Students’ ability for perspective taking and empathy with others of diverse cultures
and backgrounds in their family, school, and community.
• Relationship skills: Students’ ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships
with diverse individuals and groups.
• Responsible decision-making: Students’ ability to make constructive and respectful choices about
personal behavior and social interactions.
• Cultural responsiveness: Skills, beliefs, and attitudes that facilitate cross-cultural interactions.
• * The core five social emotional learning competencies as identified by the Collaborative for
Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2013). See: http://www.casel.org
Oakland Unified School District
% suspended one or more times
Suspension rates by student race/ethnicity
30
25
20
Black
15
Latino
10
White
5
0
2011-12
2012-2013
Jain, S., Bassey, H, Brown, M. A., & Kalra, P. (2014). Restorative Justice in Oakland Schools. Implementation and Impacts.
Fidelity of
implementation
matters!
A teacher recently explained:
“…So many initiatives came our way. So it’s hard to
know what to prioritize…once you leave a training
you get in your classroom and there’s so much that
they expect from you.
…We have a training and maybe that next week
teachers will go in and use those circles. Then it gets
lost...”
(Korth, 2015)
Post training excitement!
100%
92%
92%
90%
90%
84%
86%
80%
70%
60%
50%
Disagree
40%
Agree
30%
16%
20%
10%
8%
8%
10%
14%
0%
Admin. Support Org. Resources
for RP
for RP
(N = 50)
RP Fit with
Schools
RP Usefulness Likely to Use RP
w/Students
Elements
Most feeling prepared…
90%
80%
The training really helped me learn RP
79%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
21%
20%
10%
0%
(N = 77)
Strongly/Somewhat disagree Strongly/Somewhat agree
BUT….a year later close to half of respondents reported that
they had not facilitated any circles throughout the school
year
8% 2%
none
one
44%
two to ten
31%
eleven to thirty
one hundred
15%
Part 7: Sample policy
reform
Part I
•Read problem behavior one at a time.
•Write down, how would you expect
yourself or teachers in your school to
respond?
Part II
•Look at suggested interventions
•Are there any that you think may be more
effective than the typical response?
•Any suggestions surprise you?
•Do you have any general reactions to the
code?
Concluding our seven part workshop
• Part 1: Overview of national issues in school discipline. We will discuss
contributors to school discipline disparities
• Part 2: African American male students talk about their experiences
• Part 3: Change is possible: Introducing on-line teacher professional
development modules, Creating Opportunities through Relationships (COR)
• Part 4: Data-based decision-making, needs assessment, and readiness for
change
• Part 5 Change is possible: Teacher coaching and strengthening instruction as
prevention
• Part 6: Introduction to Restorative Justice and Restorative Practice
• Part 7: Policy reform: Syracuse District Student Code of Conduct Character
and Support and Getting starting, building momentum, and anticipating
obstacles
Framework for today’s workshop from:
How educators can eradicate disparities in school discipline
• Preventing discipline disparities:
• Offer supportive relationships,
• Academic rigor,
• Culturally relevant and responsive teaching,
• Bias-free classrooms and respectful school environments
• Intervening when conflict occurs:
• Problem-solve,
• Engage youth and families,
• Reintegrate students after conflict.
See handout: Gregory, Bell, Pollock, (2014)
Intervention Brief at
http://rtpcollaborative.indiana.edu/briefing-papers/
Online Resources for Restorative Practices
Introducing Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtdoWo1D3sY
Restorative Justice Student Facilitators: Tier One. Community Building Circle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdKhcQrLD1w
Restorative Justice Helps At Risk Kids in West Oakland NBC Bay
Area: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSObF8hW5DY
Restorative Welcome and Re-entry Circle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJ2GPiptvc
Restorative Justice Circle: http://vimeo.com/37746907
From Hostility to Harmony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQWNyS4QSao
International Institute of Restorative Practices http://www.safersanerschools.org/
Other resources: Council of State Governments
Other resources:
African American young men commenting on
their experience of school and race
• http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/05/life_cycles_of_inequity_a_colorlines_series_
on_black_men.html
• Produced by ColorLines