Fix School Discipline Toolkit for Educators | Page 63

RACIAL BIAS AND
DISCRIMINATION:
STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS
DISPROPORTIONALITY IN
DISCIPLINE HEAD-ON

Racial disparities in discipline are stark in California
with 3 times as many black students being
suspended as their white peers. Racial disparities
are even higher when analyzing suspensions for
subjectively defined offenses, such as willful defiance,
versus suspension for other more serious and less
subjective categories.56 This is cause for alarm
because studies on race and school discipline do
not support a conclusion that such disparities are
based on African American students having higher
rates of misbehavior, and do provide evidence
that they receive harsher punishments than
white students receive for the same behavior.57 In
implementing alternative discipline strategies, it is
equally important to mindfully assess the existence
and causes of such disproportionate disciplinary
treatment and use proactive strategies with any
alternative approach that address the issue head on.

What are some of the causes of disproportionate
treatment in discipline and how can they be
proactively addressed?
A myriad of overlapping factors cause
disproportionate treatment:

Implicit Racial Bias
Implicit prejudices are social preferences that exist
outside of conscious awareness or control. We are all
affected, in one way or another, by the society in which
we exist.
56 For offenses involving weapons, drugs and violence resulting in
injury, white students were suspended at a rate of 1.6 students per 100
white students and black students were suspended at a rate of 4.5 students per 100 black students. This is a gap of 2.9 suspensions. However,
when analyzing data for “willful defiance” (Cal. Ed. Code 48900(k)), white
students were suspended at a rate of 2.4 suspensions for 100 white
students, whereas black students were suspended at a far greater rate of
10.1 suspensions per 100 black students. This is a gap of 7.7 suspensions.
Dan Losen and Tia Elena Martinez, 2013
57 Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Skiba et al., 2002

Implicit prejudice is understood to reflect associations
between social categories (e.g. Black/White, old /
young) and evaluations (e.g. good/bad, smart/dumb)
Implicit bias means people are not aware of the
prejudices they have.
The vast majority of people with implicit bias hold no
explicit bias.
Conditions that encourage perpetuation of implicit
bias are akin to the conditions in which teachers and
administrations frequently operate, such as time
constraints, ambiguity, cognitive overload/ busyness,
and lack of attention being paid to tasks at hand
Social class, generational, and experiential
differences increase the divide and subsequent
misunderstanding between African American
students and their teachers and administrators, even
those with similar ethnic backgrounds.
Cultural conflicts exist between many African
American students’ culture and the dominant culture
of the schools they attend. For instance, many African
American students are accustomed to engaging in
multiple, varied tasks simultaneously when outside
of school. If a school’s instructional activities are
structured around working silently and on one activity
at a time, some African American students may be
perceived to be v