An Alternative to Exclusionary Discipline
- Publisher:
- Routledge
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Childhood Education, 2021, 97, (5), pp. 72-76
- Issue Date:
- 2021-01-01
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00094056.2021.pdf | Published version | 20.08 MB |
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While admirable efforts have been made to resolve the disproportional use of exclusionary and punitive disciplinary practices in U.S. public schools,1 the mission has yet to be accomplished. Black and (to a somewhat lesser degree) Hispanic students still face significantly higher rates of punitive, exclusionary methods of discipline as compared to White students.
In response, many schools have embraced cultural competence or cultural humility training, helping their educators and administrators to embrace more informed views about Black and Brown students. These programs can heighten awareness of how systemic racism may contribute to the disproportionality and have actuated efforts to address it, including re-examination of disciplinary practices in general. Indeed, while Black and Brown students are clearly over-represented in statistics regarding the use of punitive and exclusionary discipline, such discipline is still most frequently applied to White students, for whom it is also counterproductive and unnecessary.
Researchers have been focused on the factors contributing to disproportionality for several decades. In a summary of this research, Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides and Natalie Zwerger2 identified the following factors:
Discipline policies and practices
Subjectivity of special education referral processes
Instructional practices that place Black students at a potential disadvantage
Unequal access to educational opportunities
Racial disparities in how school staff interact with parents and the quality of services and education they receive
Biased teacher perceptions of student capabilities based on race
Cultural mismatch between school staff, families, and students
Sociodemographics of a school and school system.
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