Understanding the Antecedents of the "School-to-Jail" Link: The Relationship Between Race and School Discipline
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Multi-level controlled observational study; graded by design analogy, not clinical CEBM.
What was done
The authors conducted a multi-level observational study examining whether African-American elementary school students are more likely to receive disciplinary infractions than children from other racial categories. The models controlled for individual-level factors (including student behavior), classroom-level factors, and school-level characteristics.
What was found
The abstract does not provide numerical data, effect sizes, or confidence intervals. It reports that African-American students received significantly more disciplinary infractions across several models, and that individual behavior, classroom factors, and school factors were insufficient to explain the disparity. School-level percentage of Black students was also positively related to overall discipline levels.
Why it matters
This study provides evidence that racial disparities in disciplinary infractions occur as early as elementary school and persist after controlling for student behavior, offering insight into early antecedents of the school-to-prison pipeline.
Limits
No sample sizes, response rates, effect estimates, or geographic settings are reported in the abstract. The observational design cannot rule out residual confounding, and the abstract text is truncated.
Cited by
- supports In K-12 education, boys are twice as likely to be suspended as girls on a behavior-adjusted basis, and Black boys are five times as likely.