Disparities in the use of school discipline by race, gender, and sexual orientation have been well-documented and continue to place large numbers of students at risk for short- and long-term negative outcomes. (Carter et.al, 2014)
The MSAN Disproportionality in School Discipline Working Group has worked over the past several years to identify resources and best practices for eliminating racial disproportionality in school discipline.
We have broken our work into four main areas:
Discipline Disproportionality Overview
- US Department of Education Information on School Climate and Discipline
- “You Can’t Fix What You Don’t Look At: Acknowledging Race in Addressing Racial Discipline Disparities” (PDF – 2014)
by Prudence Carter, Russell Skiba, Mariella Arredondo, & Mica Pollock - The Diversity Responsive Principal Tool (PDF)
Diversity Responsive Principal Tool is used with permission of Learning for Justice, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. - Diversity Responsive Schools (PDF)
by Willis D. Hawly and Rebecca Wolf - The School Discipline Consensus Report
The School Discipline Consensus Report presents a comprehensive set of consensus-based and field-driven recommendations to improve conditions for learning for all students and educators, better support students with behavioral needs, improve police-schools partnerships, and keep students out of the juvenile justice system for minor offenses.
by Emily Morgan, Nina Salomon, Martha Plotkin, and Rebecca Cohen
Culturally Responsive Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS)
- PBIS Recommendations for Addressing Discipline Disparity
Center on PBIS. Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports. www.pbis.org - PBIS World
PBIS world is a free website that provides educators with a comprehensive library of supports, interventions, and data tracking tools organized within the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) tiered framework. - PBIS.org
The Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is grounded in the values of comprehensive prevention, based on human-centered science, and implemented through collaborative partnerships, centered in equity, to improve social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes.
Alternatives to Suspension
- Instead of Suspension (PDF – 2015)
from Duke University - Equitable Discipline Through Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PDF – 2013)
prepared for Loudoun County Public Schools by Hanover Research - Alternatives to Suspection
from the Minnesota Department of Education - Alternatives to Suspensions and Expulsion Toolkit
from the Michigan Department of Education
Restorative Justice/Restorative Practices
- Restorative Practices: Fostering Healthy Relationships & Promoting Positive Discipline in Schools—A Guide for Educators
from the Schott Foundation - International Institute for Restorative Practices
- Whole-School Change: Cultivating School Communities that Thrive
Whole-School Change (formerly SaferSanerSchools) is a program that cultivates stronger relationships between students and staff to create a more positive school climate and communities that thrive. - Restorative Justice in US Schools: a Research Review (PDF – 2016)
from the WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center (JPRC) - Resources from Edutopia