Abstract
Although prior research has linked school-based punishment to a series of negative consequences, little is known about how being punished in school predicts future school-based punishment. To address this, the current study examines the extent to which being suspended in 9th grade predicts subsequent suspensions within the same school. Using stereotype congruence theory as a framework, we examine differences by race (black versus white) and household income. The data are drawn from three cohorts of four-wave annual administrative data from a large urban school district in the Midwestern USA (N = 11,006). Findings indicate that being suspended in 9th grade is associated with higher odds of subsequent suspension and a greater number of subsequent suspensions, but not a greater number of days per suspension. Black students suspended in 9th grade were particularly likely to experience more subsequent suspensions. Further, these racial differences are not driven by household income measures. These findings indicate that racially disparate school punishment practices have cascading effects for black students.
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Data Availability
The data used for this study have been provided by a school district under the agreement that they will remain confidential and not shared with anyone aside from the approved researchers.
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Stata syntax used in this study is available upon request.
Change history
15 June 2021
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-021-09336-1
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Funding
This project was supported by National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice under Award No. 2016-CK-BX-0017. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.
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BWF conceived of the study, conducted the data analysis, and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. SAW assisted with data analysis and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. AMW assisted with data analysis and contributed to the writing of the manuscript.
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This study was approved by the University of Louisville IRB under application number 16.0419.
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Fisher, B.W., Wiley, S.A. & McGlynn-Wright, A. Suspended Again: The Racialized Consequences of a 9th Grade Suspension on Future Suspension Patterns. Race Soc Probl 14, 254–267 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-021-09332-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-021-09332-5