and
http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=2b97c788-27fe-4c5f-9057-ee8fbc2d7085
Schools suspend minority students at much higher rates than their peers, sometimes starting from preschool.
The Civil Rights Data Collection, a national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, surveyed over 50 million students at more than 95,000 schools and found that while suspensions decreased by almost 20 percentage points between the 2011-12 and 2013-14 school years, gaps between the suspension rates of different groups of students remained, according to results released late Monday.
The survey included 1,439,188 preschool students enrolled in 28,783 schools. Of those, 6,743 preschool students or .47 percent were suspended out of school once or more than once. While black girls represent 20 percent of preschool enrollment, 54 percent of preschool girls suspended once or more were black. And black preschool children overall were 3.6 times as likely to be suspended as young white children.
The results don't “paint a very good picture,” said Liz King, senior policy analyst and director of education policy at the Leadership for Civil and Human Rights.
Across all grades, 2.8 million students were suspended once or more than once. Black students were nearly four times as likely to be suspended and almost twice as likely to be expelled as white students. Students with disabilities were also twice as likely to be suspended as general education students.
The disparity “tears at the moral fabric of the nation,” said Secretary of Education John King. “We will not compromise away the civil right of all students to an excellent education.”
The findings come amid a major nationwide debate over school discipline and just what statistics like these mean.
School districts across the country have reexamined the way they chastise students for misbehaving, in part because of previous civil rights survey results.
Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, states must review schools' disciplinary statistics to reduce an “overuse of suspension.”
The disparities invite further investigation, said Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education responsible of the Office for Civil Rights. “Data by itself is not a reason to think there's intentional discrimination, but they are a reason to ask further questions,” she said.
Jason Okonofua, a social psychologist at Stanford University, found in his studies that the disparities stem from problems in the relationships between teachers and students. Minority students, he found, expect to be the victim of bias — which leads them to be less cooperative. On the other hand, he said, if a teacher feels disrespected, and as if the student is a troublemaker, the student will get punished more severely, causing the cycle to continue.
Okonofua asked 190 teachers to review information about a student misbehaving. He presented a scenario in which a student interrupted class by walking around. For some teachers, the scenario involved a boy named Jake, and for others, it involved a boy named Darnell, a name more often used among African-Americans. The teachers opted to discipline either boy almost the same way.
But when presented with another scenario — this time, Jake/Darnell fell asleep in class — some teachers punished Darnell more harshly.
The federal survey also tracked access to high-level courses and found that half of high schools don't offer calculus and more than one-quarter don't offer chemistry. While 56 percent of schools with low minority populations offered calculus, one-third of those with high black and Latino populations did.
“Right now we're talking a good game about college and career readiness, but not all students attend schools that offer courses that are necessary for college readiness,” said Daria Hall, interim vice president for government affairs and communications at the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based education advocacy group. “You look across all of this information, and it becomes very clear why we have gaps in achievement.”
The Civil Rights Data Collection, a national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, surveyed over 50 million students at more than 95,000 schools and found that while suspensions decreased by almost 20 percentage points between the 2011-12 and 2013-14 school years, gaps between the suspension rates of different groups of students remained, according to results released late Monday.
The survey included 1,439,188 preschool students enrolled in 28,783 schools. Of those, 6,743 preschool students or .47 percent were suspended out of school once or more than once. While black girls represent 20 percent of preschool enrollment, 54 percent of preschool girls suspended once or more were black. And black preschool children overall were 3.6 times as likely to be suspended as young white children.
The results don't “paint a very good picture,” said Liz King, senior policy analyst and director of education policy at the Leadership for Civil and Human Rights.
Across all grades, 2.8 million students were suspended once or more than once. Black students were nearly four times as likely to be suspended and almost twice as likely to be expelled as white students. Students with disabilities were also twice as likely to be suspended as general education students.
The disparity “tears at the moral fabric of the nation,” said Secretary of Education John King. “We will not compromise away the civil right of all students to an excellent education.”
The findings come amid a major nationwide debate over school discipline and just what statistics like these mean.
School districts across the country have reexamined the way they chastise students for misbehaving, in part because of previous civil rights survey results.
Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, states must review schools' disciplinary statistics to reduce an “overuse of suspension.”
The disparities invite further investigation, said Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education responsible of the Office for Civil Rights. “Data by itself is not a reason to think there's intentional discrimination, but they are a reason to ask further questions,” she said.
Jason Okonofua, a social psychologist at Stanford University, found in his studies that the disparities stem from problems in the relationships between teachers and students. Minority students, he found, expect to be the victim of bias — which leads them to be less cooperative. On the other hand, he said, if a teacher feels disrespected, and as if the student is a troublemaker, the student will get punished more severely, causing the cycle to continue.
Okonofua asked 190 teachers to review information about a student misbehaving. He presented a scenario in which a student interrupted class by walking around. For some teachers, the scenario involved a boy named Jake, and for others, it involved a boy named Darnell, a name more often used among African-Americans. The teachers opted to discipline either boy almost the same way.
But when presented with another scenario — this time, Jake/Darnell fell asleep in class — some teachers punished Darnell more harshly.
The federal survey also tracked access to high-level courses and found that half of high schools don't offer calculus and more than one-quarter don't offer chemistry. While 56 percent of schools with low minority populations offered calculus, one-third of those with high black and Latino populations did.
“Right now we're talking a good game about college and career readiness, but not all students attend schools that offer courses that are necessary for college readiness,” said Daria Hall, interim vice president for government affairs and communications at the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based education advocacy group. “You look across all of this information, and it becomes very clear why we have gaps in achievement.”
Study: Minority students far more likely suspended
Schools suspend minority students at much higher rates than their peers, sometimes starting from preschool.
The Civil Rights Data Collection, a national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, surveyed over 50 million students at more than 95,000 schools and found that while suspensions decreased by almost 20 percentage points between the 2011-12 and 2013-14 school years, gaps between the suspension rates of different groups of students remained, according to results released late Monday.
The survey included 1,439,188 preschool students enrolled in 28,783 schools. Of those, 6,743 preschool students or .47 percent were suspended out of school once or more than once. While black girls represent 20 percent of preschool enrollment, 54 percent of preschool girls suspended once or more were black. And black preschool children overall were 3.6 times as likely to be suspended as young white children.
The results don't “paint a very good picture,” said Liz King, senior policy analyst and director of education policy at the Leadership for Civil and Human Rights.
Across all grades, 2.8 million students were suspended once or more than once. Black students were nearly four times as likely to be suspended and almost twice as likely to be expelled as white students. Students with disabilities were also twice as likely to be suspended as general education students.
The disparity “tears at the moral fabric of the nation,” said Secretary of Education John King. “We will not compromise away the civil right of all students to an excellent education.”
The findings come amid a major nationwide debate over school discipline and just what statistics like these mean.
School districts across the country have reexamined the way they chastise students for misbehaving, in part because of previous civil rights survey results.
Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, states must review schools' disciplinary statistics to reduce an “overuse of suspension.”
The disparities invite further investigation, said Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education responsible of the Office for Civil Rights. “Data by itself is not a reason to think there's intentional discrimination, but they are a reason to ask further questions,” she said.
Jason Okonofua, a social psychologist at Stanford University, found in his studies that the disparities stem from problems in the relationships between teachers and students. Minority students, he found, expect to be the victim of bias — which leads them to be less cooperative. On the other hand, he said, if a teacher feels disrespected, and as if the student is a troublemaker, the student will get punished more severely, causing the cycle to continue.
Okonofua asked 190 teachers to review information about a student misbehaving. He presented a scenario in which a student interrupted class by walking around. For some teachers, the scenario involved a boy named Jake, and for others, it involved a boy named Darnell, a name more often used among African-Americans. The teachers opted to discipline either boy almost the same way.
But when presented with another scenario — this time, Jake/Darnell fell asleep in class — some teachers punished Darnell more harshly.
The federal survey also tracked access to high-level courses and found that half of high schools don't offer calculus and more than one-quarter don't offer chemistry. While 56 percent of schools with low minority populations offered calculus, one-third of those with high black and Latino populations did.
“Right now we're talking a good game about college and career readiness, but not all students attend schools that offer courses that are necessary for college readiness,” said Daria Hall, interim vice president for government affairs and communications at the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based education advocacy group. “You look across all of this information, and it becomes very clear why we have gaps in achievement.”
- See more at:
http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=2b97c788-27fe-4c5f-9057-ee8fbc2d7085#sthash.LWuIMSiG.dpufThe Civil Rights Data Collection, a national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, surveyed over 50 million students at more than 95,000 schools and found that while suspensions decreased by almost 20 percentage points between the 2011-12 and 2013-14 school years, gaps between the suspension rates of different groups of students remained, according to results released late Monday.
The survey included 1,439,188 preschool students enrolled in 28,783 schools. Of those, 6,743 preschool students or .47 percent were suspended out of school once or more than once. While black girls represent 20 percent of preschool enrollment, 54 percent of preschool girls suspended once or more were black. And black preschool children overall were 3.6 times as likely to be suspended as young white children.
The results don't “paint a very good picture,” said Liz King, senior policy analyst and director of education policy at the Leadership for Civil and Human Rights.
Across all grades, 2.8 million students were suspended once or more than once. Black students were nearly four times as likely to be suspended and almost twice as likely to be expelled as white students. Students with disabilities were also twice as likely to be suspended as general education students.
The disparity “tears at the moral fabric of the nation,” said Secretary of Education John King. “We will not compromise away the civil right of all students to an excellent education.”
The findings come amid a major nationwide debate over school discipline and just what statistics like these mean.
School districts across the country have reexamined the way they chastise students for misbehaving, in part because of previous civil rights survey results.
Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, states must review schools' disciplinary statistics to reduce an “overuse of suspension.”
The disparities invite further investigation, said Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education responsible of the Office for Civil Rights. “Data by itself is not a reason to think there's intentional discrimination, but they are a reason to ask further questions,” she said.
Jason Okonofua, a social psychologist at Stanford University, found in his studies that the disparities stem from problems in the relationships between teachers and students. Minority students, he found, expect to be the victim of bias — which leads them to be less cooperative. On the other hand, he said, if a teacher feels disrespected, and as if the student is a troublemaker, the student will get punished more severely, causing the cycle to continue.
Okonofua asked 190 teachers to review information about a student misbehaving. He presented a scenario in which a student interrupted class by walking around. For some teachers, the scenario involved a boy named Jake, and for others, it involved a boy named Darnell, a name more often used among African-Americans. The teachers opted to discipline either boy almost the same way.
But when presented with another scenario — this time, Jake/Darnell fell asleep in class — some teachers punished Darnell more harshly.
The federal survey also tracked access to high-level courses and found that half of high schools don't offer calculus and more than one-quarter don't offer chemistry. While 56 percent of schools with low minority populations offered calculus, one-third of those with high black and Latino populations did.
“Right now we're talking a good game about college and career readiness, but not all students attend schools that offer courses that are necessary for college readiness,” said Daria Hall, interim vice president for government affairs and communications at the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based education advocacy group. “You look across all of this information, and it becomes very clear why we have gaps in achievement.”
No comments:
Post a Comment