Learning From Success to Disrupt Disparities: Exploring Inclusive Disciplinary Districts in the United States

Racial inequality in school discipline is an important topic in education. Using nationwide data, this study identifies and examines “Inclusive Disciplinary Districts” (IDDs) in the United States. We use data from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) that provides district-level data for the years 2011 to 2012, 2013 to 2014, 2015 to 2016, and 2017 to 2018. The results indicate that suspension rates for Black students, the geographic region, student composition, and economic and social characteristics of IDDs differ from those of High Disciplinary Districts (HDDs) and Median Disciplinary Districts (MDDs). The South has a disproportionately lower share of IDDs and higher share of HDDs. IDDs tend to serve a lower proportion of low-income and Black students than HDDs. Income, racial income inequality, poverty and unemployment rates, crime rates, education levels, the proportion of single-mother households and the proportion of Black residents vary significantly across the neighborhoods of IDDs, MDDs, and HDDs. Differences between IDDs and HDDs are similar even when the sample of districts is limited to predominantly Black districts, predominantly Latinx districts, or predominantly low-income districts. There is notable variation in disciplinary outcomes across regions in the U.S and the findings raise concerns about school discipline policies and practices in the South.