One Story
Smiled & played a lot of soccer & basketball & never got sent to office, then got suspended
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
…By
th
12
Grade
C average, high, drunk, got arrested, didn’t graduate from high school
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
The Problem
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
Growing Disproportionality
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
The Target
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
Will I be a ‘Statistic’?
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
The Cause
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
Racial Bias at Work
Institutional Bias
Ladson-Billings, Skiba
Teacher Bias
Ladson-Billings, Picower, Gay
Cultural Mismatch
Monroe
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
The Three D’s of Disproportionality
DISRUPTION
Any behavior deemed to have ill intent
DEFIANCE
Not following teacher expectations or requests
DISRESPECT
Any interaction with teacher deemed to have ill intent
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
The Impact
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
Over Suspended
Lose Instruction
Poor performance, low graduation rate
Get Labeled
Targeted more frequently for discipline
Stereotyped & Criminalized
Dismissed as incompatible with learning environment
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
School to Prison Pipeline
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
The Shift
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
What Has Been Working?
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
The Purpose
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
Research Questions

The purpose of this study is to explain the contributing factors to
disproportionately high suspension rates of black males in schools by
examining classroom teachers with effective, low-referring discipline
practices.

What are the features of discipline strategies and practices that mitigate
disruption and office discipline referrals among black male students?

Are there beliefs and assumptions (personal values) that effective teachers
have about their students and their behavior that challenges race neutrality
or the colorblind myth?

How do those beliefs support effective discipline strategies & practices?
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
Alternative Responses to the 3 D’s
Classroom: Teacher Bias
Look at interactions
Find effective practices
Offer solutions
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
Theoretical Framework
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
Critical Race
Racism & Bias
It’s systemic
Centrality of Whiteness (Ladson-Billings, Picower, Solorzano)
Based on Race
Challenge to Dominant Ideology (Yosso, Bonilla-Silva)
Happens automatically
Racism by default (Crenshaw)
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
The Method
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
Case Study
Urban Teachers
Intensity sample
Observations
Interviews
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
The Findings
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
Countering the 3 D’s with the 3 C’s
The Three Commitments
Courageous Commitment “If they fail, I failed.”
reduces institutional bias
Emotional Commitment “Don’t take it personally.”
addresses cultural mismatch
Commitment to Equity“Teaching for a purpose.”
attends to teacher bias and institutional bias
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheopayne@lincolnchildcenter.org 510-846-5402
Closing
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
Will I be a ‘Statistic’?
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
Contact
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW
macheop@gmail.com
510-846-5402
THE DATA: http://ocrdata.ed.gov/
Macheo Payne, Ed.D., MSW. macheop@gmail.com 510-846-5402
Educational Lynching:
Solutions to Disproportionately High
Suspension Rate of Black Males
Macheo Payne, San Francisco State University
Table of Contents

Purpose and Intent

Statement of Problem

Theoretical Frame: CRT In Education

Review of Research: Key Findings

Gaps or Tensions

Research Questions

Proposed Research Design
Purpose & Intent of Study
 The
purpose of this study is to address disproportionately high rates
of suspension of black males in schools by examining the classroom
practices of effective (low referring) teachers.

The intent of this study is to move from analyzing the problem to
identifying solutions to the black male discipline gap by focusing on the
teacher’s role in the reduction of office discipline referrals, a starting point
for suspensions.
Statement of the Problem
Black
male students are suspended from school at a rate 2 to 3 times more than
White male students nationwide (UCLA Civil Rights Project, 2010).
The
discipline gap is linked to low academic achievement, low graduation rates, high
dropout/pushout rates and the school-to-prison pipeline (Noguera, 2003; CDF, 2008,
Nicholson-Crotty, 2009).
This trend has existed for 35 years and is getting worse (CDF, 1975;Skiba, Michael,
Nardo & Peterson, 2002).

This
is a race-based issue, an equity issue, and a civil rights issue (UCLA Civil Rights
Project, 2010).
This
suspension disparity begins with teacher out-of-class referrals (Furgeson, 2010).
Statement of the Problem
There
is a wide body of evidence examining this
problem but recent data shows the problem
growing (US Dept. of Ed, 2012).
Current
intervention policies are race-neutral and
aimed at student behavior when they should be
race-based and aimed at the institution (Payne,
2010).
Critical Race Theory in Education
 Race
based privilege & bias is normal (commonplace) and
still ever present in American schools. By default, the laws, policies, and
practices continue to benefit and privilege “whiteness.”
 With
roots in critical theory, legal studies, feminist studies, CRT looks
beyond the symptoms of a broken Educational system and points to the very
roots of injustice: systemic injustice based on white supremacist ideology in
America.
Review of Research: “The 3 D’s”
Disruption-
Any passive
or overt
behavior that
is off task
may be
disruptive.
Defiance-
Any passive
or overt
failure to
comply to
adult rules or
authority.
Disrespect-
Any overt
challenge to
adult rules or
authority.
Review of Research: Key Themes
•
Teacher BiasHidden
stereotypes
compel adults to
have different
expectations and
treat black
students
differently
•
Institutional
BiasInequality is
reproduced
regardless of
individuals in the
institution or
assumed
institutional
intolerance of
racism
•
Cultural
MismatchBlack students
culture is
pathologized and
viewed as
incompatible
with the
educational
setting
Gaps or Tensions in the Research

Research acknowledges race as a descriptor but lacks an analytical treatment
of race and race bias as a fundamental feature of school suspension by default

There are no studies that use CRT to explain disproportionate discipline for
black males

Studies that offer interventions or solutions, fail to offer race-based strategies
aimed at the institution. Instead they are race-neutral and take the ‘restrictive
view’ approach

There are no studies that examine effective solutions in the classroom,
regarding disproportionate suspension of black males
Research Questions
1.
What are the features of effective discipline strategies and
practices that mitigate disruption and office discipline
referrals among black male students?
2.
What are common beliefs and assumptions (personal values)
about racial bias that effective teachers have about their
black male students and their behavior?
a. How do those beliefs support effective discipline
strategies & practices?
Proposed Research Design

METHODOLOGY- Multiple case study design

SELECTION: Identify 5 low referring teachers through principal & parent/community
nomination

DATA COLLECTION: Observe classroom discipline practices, follow-up interviews of
teachers

ANALYSIS: Identify effective practices for minimizing office discipline referrals

ANALYSIS: Identify effective practices & underlying values and beliefs that inform
effective practices

REPRESENTATION: Cross study representation of common themes