“Uses of History” in Research on Racialized Exclusionary School Discipline

Responding to calls to more deeply engage history in research concerning educational inequalities, the purpose of this study was to understand if and how research on racialized exclusionary school discipline makes use of the past. Drawing on a “uses of history” framework, we analyzed research studies on racialized exclusionary school discipline published between 2000 and 2022. Findings indicated that approximately 60% of articles used history and did so primarily reflective of an “informing” function utilizing select historical periods and events to frame studies of contemporary racialized school discipline. Commonly referenced periods included the 1990s specific to zero tolerance policies, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of Black youth. Articles tended to overlook relevant aspects of earlier 19 th and 20 th century histories. In addition to using history to inform, we also found that articles used history to build “explanatory bridges” that often made tacit, causal arguments connecting historical racial discrimination to that of the present. In contrast, 40% of articles were ahistorical, treating today’s trends as a contemporary issue. Overall, findings indicated that research increasingly recognizes the history of racialized exclusionary school discipline, though the typical timelines omit certain historical periods of relevance, and the uses of history themselves are often limited, with opportunities for more complex analytic use. The “uses of history” within these studies as well as examples of erroneous use, raise further questions as to how non-historians can and ought to engage the history of education in education research. We conclude by discussing contributions to research and suggestions for future applications.