In 2018, a ground-breaking analysis of federal education data clearly established that Black students are disproportionately disciplined in public schools.
Since then, researchers have documented the negative effects of this disparity—encouraging defiance; harming academic achievement, school climate, and mental health; and accelerating exposure to the juvenile justice system. In response, some schools have implemented new policies and practices designed to reduce racial disparities in punishment.
In a new systematic review, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, used current federal data to determine if these new practices are working. They found that Black students are still consistently punished more than their white peers.
The analysis used data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, to which schools report the number of students who receive in- and out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, corporal punishment (such as spanking), referrals to law enforcement, and school-related arrests. The research team analyzed data from the 2017–2018 and 2020–2021 school years, factoring in variables including gender, school level, and school poverty level.
Across all types of punishment, comparison groups, and student groups, the analysis demonstrated that Black students are overrepresented in punishment. For example, Black students were approximately 3.6 times more likely to be suspended out of school, 2.5 times more likely to be suspended in school, and 3.4 times more likely to be expelled compared to white students.
The study revealed some other surprising conclusions: For example, the largest disparities between Black students and white students occurred in wealthier schools. And in alternative schools—schools with different structures, approaches, or curriculum compared to mainstream schools—Black students were 15 times more likely to experience physical punishment compared to white students. (Physically punishing students is legal in 22 states.)
This research is important not only because it highlights inequality, but also because evidence clearly demonstrates that these punitive practices harm students. A 2022 systematic review found that punitive school discipline increases the risk of health problems, including depression, addiction, antisocial behavior, death by suicide, and other health problems. A large 2021 study found that suspensions and expulsions do not deter future problematic behavior and lead to poorer academic outcomes, including decreasing students’ likelihood of graduating.
“We now have decades of social science research documenting the educational and mental health harms of exposure to exclusionary discipline,” said Sean Darling-Hammond, assistant professor of community health sciences at the University of California-Berkeley and lead author of the study. “When students are disciplined, they behave worse. It creates a climate where students are feeling less safe and less connected, which doesn’t benefit anyone.
“The hardest part of this research is having to face the reality that Black youth are having a qualitatively different experience across the board,” he said. “Preschool students and elementary-school students are so developmentally vulnerable and are at a stage where the number-one thing that their nervous system needs is acceptance, inclusion, and love. So to see such stark disparities in exclusion and punishment at that stage is truly heart-wrenching.”
The new research provides a clear sign that new policies to promote equity aren’t working, said Sadé L. Lindsay, assistant professor of public policy and sociology at the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. Her research examines the intersection of criminal justice, punishment, racial inequality, and public policy.
“It is deeply concerning that Black students, after more than a decade of policy changes and heightened awareness about racial inequities in school disciplinary practices, still bear the disproportionate burden of school punishment,” she said. “These findings indicate a potentially troubling disconnect between designing and enacting policies to address harm versus adequately implementing and evaluating these policies to ensure they actually tackle the underlying issues.”
“What I’m seeing here confirms what research consistently shows about how we currently discipline and punish students,” Lindsay said. “These policies and practices simply aren’t effective. Instead of creating safer, more equitable learning environments, they reproduce and exacerbate racial disparities and feed the school-to-prison pipeline.”
Schools and educational leaders need to develop new approaches that support learning and student engagement for all students, including Black children, Lindsay said: “There’s a lot of work to be done to reduce racial inequities in school punishment, but I think it starts with bringing everyone to the table so that students, families, educators, and administrators can help inform policy solutions that promote safety without causing further harm down the line.”
The take-home message: Black students in U.S. public schools are consistently punished more than their white peers. These increased levels of punishment are associated with poorer academic outcomes and a wide range of physical and mental health problems.
