Black students, and Black males specifically, have been shown to have substantially higher rates of office disciplinary referrals (ODRs) and exclusionary ODRs than their White and Latinx peers. The current study explored the student (race, gender, poverty status) and school-level variables (grade-level served, enrollment size, student body composition, and teacher demographics) that contributed to these disparities.
The results of the OLS multiple regression revealed that although Black students and Black male students were referred to the office and excluded from school at higher rates than their counterparts in middle and high school, greater disparities existed between Black male students and White male and female students and between Black male students and Latina students in elementary schools. In elementary school, the percentages of White teachers in schools predicted disparities between Black males and White females and between Black males and Latinas. Other student-level predictors included the concentrations of Black students in elementary and high school and the concentrations of poor students in middle and high school.
Read the full report here.