Exploring Racial Disparities in North Carolina School Discipline (2013)

Undergraduate: Calyssa Lawyer

Faculty Advisor: Daniel Gitterman
Department: Public Policy

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More than three million of America¿s students are suspended at least once each year and more than one-hundred thousand are expelled, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education¿s Office for Civil Rights. In addition, punitive school discipline disproportionately affects students of color and those with disabilities. This thesis applies the racial threat hypothesis to examine how race can influence the implementation of harsher school discipline. This study examines whether African-American students in North Carolina are overrepresented in school suspension data and punished more severely. This research also investigates the role of administrative discretion in school discipline. The study uses a mixed research methods design. Quantitative analysis of short term suspension data for all 115 school districts, and juvenile arrest rates for all 100 North Carolina counties, was conducted along with qualitative interviews of principals in the Durham and Wake County School districts to shed light on the research questions. The results concluded that African-American students are overrepresented in school suspension data in the majority of North Carolina districts; it also found that in the absence of outlined disciplinary sanctions for specific offenses, administrative discretion will be more pronounced.