A QuantCrit-Guided Analysis of Suspension Overrepresentation Among Students with Intersectional identities Since the ESSA

Overrepresentation of students with dis/Abilities in exclusionary discipline such as suspensions remains a critical equity concern, particularly for those with intersecting marginalized racial and ethnic identities. Guided by Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit), national trends in suspension overrepresentation following implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) are examined in this study. Using the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), we conducted a repeated cross-sectional secondary descriptive analysis of in-school (ISS) and out-of-school suspensions (OSS) across three time points (i.e., 2017–18, 2020–21, 2021–22). Representation indices were calculated across 50 states to compare suspension exposure relative to enrollment for seven racial and ethnic groups of students with dis/Abilities. Findings indicate persistent and widespread overrepresentation, particularly for Black students with dis/Abilities. Although overrepresentation declined for most student groups during the 2020–21 school year, coinciding with pandemic-related disruptions to in-person schooling, patterns largely returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2021–22. Additional variation was observed across student groups, including temporary increases for White, sustained overrepresentation among Multiracial and Indigenous, and consistent underrepresentation of Asian students with dis/Abilities. Results suggest that ESSA accountability efforts have not produced sustained reductions in disciplinary exclusion. Implications for research, policy, and practice emphasize the need for transparent, disaggregated monitoring and systemic approaches that address institutional processes contributing to inequitable outcomes for students with intersectional identities.