Date Approved
8-5-2024
Graduate Degree Type
Project
Degree Name
Education-School Counseling (M.Ed.)
Degree Program
Education Leadership & Counseling
First Advisor
Sherie Klee, Ph.D.
Academic Year
2023/2024
Abstract
Racial disparity in exclusionary discipline rates in K-12 schools in the United States is a problem that was first written about in the 1970s. Unfortunately, it remains a problem nearly fifty years later and one that has not been addressed by school districts and schools. Schools have implemented programs such as restorative justice to address this disparity, but research shows that these programs center Whiteness. Disparity either does not improve with these programs or even increases. School staff’s cross-cultural differences from their students and staff’s implicit bias and subjectivity in the discipline process contribute to the disparity. Therefore, it is important to address the disparity where it begins: with school staff’s perception of student behaviors and their responses to it. This project focuses on educating school staff on the disparity and their role in it. The project offers them supportive techniques to use in classrooms rather than referring students to administration for behaviors that do not require administrative intervention. Finally, the project includes a behavior referral tool that may be used to collect data that can be easily disaggregated and analyzed to address the disparities in the specific areas in which they occur.
ScholarWorks Citation
Crisostomo, Cara, "Racial Disproportionality in Exclusionary Discipline Rates in the United States" (2024). Culminating Experience Projects. 479.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/gradprojects/479
