High suspension rate fails to improve school performance in study

AUSTIN, Texas (MCT) — The days of being sent to the principal or getting a note home have given way to a disciplinary system in which almost 60 percent of high school students are suspended or expelled at some point, a comprehensive review of Texas students shows.

The new study by the Council of State Governments alarms state leaders, who question whether so many teens should be swept into the disciplinary system, whether for hours or days.

The analysis, unique in that it followed almost 1 million students over six years from grades 7 through 12, found that zero-tolerance factors didn’t necessarily improve schools. Researchers instead found schools that suspended and expelled students at high rates did no better on test scores, graduation rates and other performance measures than other schools with similar student bodies.

In addition, the study found that black students — even considering socio-economic and dozens of other variables, including how many minority teachers worked at a particular campus — were far more likely to be disciplined than otherwise identical white or Hispanic students.

In the six years of the study, 75 percent of black students were subjected to disciplinary action, compared to 65 percent of Hispanics and 47 percent of whites.