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School disciplined reimagined: centering Black students in discipline policies

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School disciplined reimagined: centering Black students in discipline policies

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School Disciplined Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies
by
Krystle Reneé Andrews

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

May 2022

© Copyright by Krystle Reneé Andrews 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Krystle Reneé Andrews certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Briana Hinga
Cathy Krop
Dr. David Cash, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv
Abstract
This study aimed to explore successful discipline practices that schools can implement to provide
a counternarrative to the disproportionate discipline practices of Black students. Participants
were from a large, urban Northern California school district and consisted of elementary school
principals and Black parents of Black students in grades four through six. A convergent parallel
mixed-methods design, using critical race theory as a framework, was used to address the
following questions: What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in
student discipline? What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline
practices for Black students? What do Black parents of Black students say about school
discipline practices and how do those practices impact their children? Data collection included
document analysis, surveys, and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that school
sites would be better equipped at addressing the disproportionate discipline practices for Black
students if there was a systemic approach to discipline that supports alternatives to suspensions.
Findings also revealed that social-emotional support for students was important to principal
participants, and mandated, ongoing anti-racist training is needed to address the implicit bias
held by staff.
Keywords: school discipline, disproportionate discipline, anti-Blackness, Black students,
implicit bias, critical race theory.

v
Dedication
To my students, past, present, and future, this is for you. I vow to make you the center of my
decision-making creating safe and nurturing learning environments that allow you to thrive.
When you know better, you do better.

To my mom, you are loving, strong, dedicated, and a PHENOMENAL WOMAN. Your forever
baby girl loves you. I am grateful for all that you have done that has helped me become the
woman I am today.

To my sister-friends, Veronica and Maritza. We started as classmates, became friends, and are
now sisters. I could not have made it through this process without your love, support, and
prayers. I am excited about what is in store for each of us as we conclude this doctoral journey.

To those whose footsteps I walk beside: Dr. Smith-Simmons, Dr. Versher, Dr. Pease, and Dr.
Stockdale. You all are such an inspiration, fearless on your journey, and full of Black Girl
Magic. I appreciate your support and guidance during this process.

To my friend, Africa. I cherish our friendship. Your kindness, humility, beautiful spirit, and the
light that you shine on others make your light shine brighter. I am grateful for your assistance
with my study.

To the DAA, you know who you are. The support and encouragement we give to one another is
priceless. I am grateful to work alongside you as we work to dismantle inequities that harm our
students.

vi
To Dr. Simms and Dr. Mackey. Two amazing, powerful, BIPOC women, who are unapologetic
in their walk to dismantle racial inequities. I have learned so much from you.

To Dr. Hinga, your class may have been the best experience I had in this program. I was forced
to examine my positionality and peel back my layers, exposing a newly empowered and
unapologetic school leader. I am forever grateful to have been blessed by your class.

vii
Acknowledgments
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion,
some compassion, some humor, and some style.
—Maya Angelou
I have been an educator for 16 years, and while I have known my purpose for many
years, I only recently began walking in my purpose. I am beyond surviving; I am now thriving in
my purpose, as I work to disrupt systems of oppression that harm our students. I am an infant in
my journey, and I look forward to what my future holds.

viii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................... vii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xii
List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xiii
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 2
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 4
Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 5
Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 6
Limitation and Delimitations .............................................................................................. 6
Definition of Terms............................................................................................................. 7
Organization of the Study ................................................................................................... 8
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature .......................................................................................... 9
Historical Context of Inequities in Education ..................................................................... 9
Zero Tolerance and Exclusionary Discipline .................................................................... 11
California Education Code and School Suspensions ........................................................ 14
Racial Disparities and School Discipline .......................................................................... 19
Black Parent Perspective and Involvement....................................................................... 25
Culturally Responsive Practices ....................................................................................... 28
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 30
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 31
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................... 32

ix
Sample and Population ..................................................................................................... 35
Instrumentation ................................................................................................................. 37
Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 38
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 40
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 40
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 41
Results for Research Question 1 ....................................................................................... 44
Discussion for Research Question 1 ................................................................................. 57
Results for Research Question 2 ....................................................................................... 58
Discussion for Research Question 2 ................................................................................. 69
Results for Research Question 3 ....................................................................................... 70
Discussion for Research Question 3 ................................................................................. 77
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 77
Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................. 80
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................... 80
Findings............................................................................................................................. 82
Research Question 1 ......................................................................................................... 82
Research Question 2 ......................................................................................................... 85
Research Question 3 ......................................................................................................... 86
Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 88
Implications for Practice ................................................................................................... 89
Future Research ................................................................................................................ 92
The Researcher.................................................................................................................. 93
Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 94
References ..................................................................................................................................... 96

x
Appendix A: Consent Form ........................................................................................................ 108
Appendix B: Principal Survey Protocol ...................................................................................... 110
Appendix C: Survey Protocol ..................................................................................................... 111
Appendix D: Principal Survey ................................................................................................... 112
Appendix E: Parent Survey ........................................................................................................ 116
Appendix F: Interview Protocol.................................................................................................. 119
Appendix G: Principal Interview ................................................................................................ 121
Appendix H: Parent Interview .................................................................................................... 123

xi
List of Tables
Table 1: Participant Demographics: Principal 43
Table 2: Participant Demographics: Black Parents 43
Table 3: Black Parent Input Is Valued 72
Table 4: Response to Black Students Being Targeted 74
Table 5: Parent Survey Participants 75
Table 6: Principal Survey Participants 75
Table 7: In My Opinion, Black Students Are Respected by Teachers 76
Table 8: Implications for Practice 89

xii
List of Figures

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework 33
Figure 2: Teacher Implicit Bias Plays a Part in How Black Students Are Treated
at My School
49
Figure 3: Teachers at My School Treat Black Student Fairly Regardless of Race,
Ethnicity or Culture
50
Figure 4: My Implicit Bias Has Played a Part in How I Have Disciplined Black
Students
61
Figure 5: If a Non-Black Student Commits the Same Infraction as a Black
Student, the Consequences Are the Same
62

xiii
List of Abbreviations
AB Assembly Bill
BIPOC Black, Indigenous and People of Color
EC California Education Code
PBIS Positive Interventions and Supports
SB Senate Bill
1

Chapter One: Overview of the Study
There is a cultural mismatch in the United States educational system, as schooling was
not created for Black bodies, as evidenced by the United States' past, dating back to European
colonization, the genocide of Indigenous peoples, and the enslavement of Africans. This land is
your land, and this land is my land does not hold true if you are Black or a person of color. When
it comes to educational equity, the historical context of education must be analyzed to understand
the existence of disparities for Black students (Carter et al., 2007). Public schools were
established for wealthy, White males (Anderson, 1988; Love, 2019). During slavery, it was
illegal for enslaved people to learn how to read and write (Anderson, 1988; Ladson-Billings,
2006). Formerly enslaved people fought to make universal public schooling a constitutional
right, which would not occur until the late 1800s, and was later dismantled by White plantation
owners (Anderson, 1988).
Racial segregation was legalized with the U.S Supreme court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896) “separate but equal.” It was not until the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of
Education (1954) when Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was overturned, the decision ruled that
segregated schools were “inherently unequal” (Kauper, 1954; Orfield & Frankenberg, 2014).
Even after the court’s decision, some schools remained segregated while others took their time in
desegregating schools (Orfield & Frankenberg, 2014). Kauper (1954) argues that public schools
would continue to be segregated because it was a societal norm, even though racial segregation
was a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Sixty years after Brown v.
Board of Education (1954) and over 100 years after Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), racial inequities
in education continue to exist, as evidenced in school suspension rates for Black students.

2
Across the country, Black students are handed harsher consequences for minor, non-
violent offenses compared to their non-Black peers. Morris and Perry (2016) argue that
exclusionary discipline, such as suspension and expulsion, has replaced milder actions such as
detention or a loss of privilege. These policies disproportionately affect BIPOC students,
specifically Black students.
Background of the Problem
Dumas (2018) contends that racial justice in education must center the lived experiences
of Black people, however, Black suffering has not been of importance in developing culturally
responsive policies in education. Dumas explains,
It may alleviate or mitigate some suffering for some Black students in some educational
spaces, but the vast majority of Black children and their families will still continue to
experience suffering, even as educators and policy makers and the broader public
celebrate successes in this or that racial justice initiative. (Dumas, 2018, p. 30)
While centering the lived experiences of Black students in educational policies may not resolve
the racial inquities in education, it can be a starting point, creating better outcomes for Black
students. It is time to reimagine and rebuild our educational system, centering Black students as
our educational system was built on a White supremacist framework and has yet to change to be
more inclusive and representative of the diverse backgrounds of this nation (Givens, 2016; Love,
2019; Monroe, 2005; Tosolt, 2020).
With the availability of social media, people can get a first-hand look at how Black
students are treated in schools. A viral video depicted a Black female student being assaulted by
a White police officer (Annamma et al., 2019). The video showed an officer grabbing her while
still seated, flipping her and the desk over. She was then dragged across the room. A Texas high

3
school student made the news because his hairstyle violated the dress code (Griffith, 2020). The
Black student wore dreadlocks, also known as locks, and was suspended for refusing to cut them
and was told he could not participate in his graduation (Griffith, 2020). In September 2019, a
lawsuit was filed against a California school district alleging discriminatory practices against
Black students with disabilities (Morrar, 2019). The lawsuit claimed that the district used
exclusionary practices and excessive discipline and failed to provide appropriate
accommodations and modifications for three Black students with disabilities (Morrar, 2019). The
lawsuit also highlighted that one of the students received the most suspensions in his school,
perpetuating the disproportionality of suspensions for Black students and students with
disabilities (Morrar, 2019). Racial bias has been attributed to Black students receiving harsher
consequences for mild, non-violent behaviors (Dumas, 2018; Skiba et al., 2014a, 2014b).
Black girls are suspended at a rate six times higher than their White peers and it is
attributed to racist and sexual stereotypes, not behavior (Love, 2019), and Black males face the
most disproportionality in school discipline (Carter et al., 2017). America’s schools racially
punish Black students (Love, 2019), resulting in disproportionate suspension rates (United States
Government Accountability Office, 2018). However, there is no supporting evidence from
studies on behavior, race, and discipline that prove Black students misbehave more than other
groups (American Psychological Association, 2008; Skiba et al., 2002).
The latest data from The National Center for Education Statistics (2019a) reported out-of-
school suspension data for students enrolled in public school during the 2013–2014 school year.
There were 2.6 million (5.3%) students suspended overall; 13.7% were Black, 6.7% American
Indian/Alaska Native, 4.5% Latinx and Pacific Islander, 3.4% White, and 1.1% Asian (National

4
Center for Education Statistics 2019a). The trend shows that Black students are
disproportionately suspended at greater rates than any other subgroup.
California Education Code 48900 outlines the behaviors that can warrant a suspension
from public and charter schools. Section 48900k describes willful defiance suspensions, stating
that students who disrupt “school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of
supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in their
duties” may be suspended (California Legislative Information, 2020). Black students in
kindergarten through third grade were being suspended at alarming rates for defiant behavior,
which prompted Assembly Bill (AB) 420, banning willful defiance suspensions for kindergarten
through third grade and expulsion for students through 12th grade. AB 420 was revised, and
Senate Bill (SB) 419 was passed and went into effect on July 1, 2020, extending the elimination
of willful defiance suspensions to include students in fourth and fifth grades and banning
suspensions for students in sixth through eighth grade for 5 years: July 1, 2020, until July 1,
2024. However, students can still be suspended for other code violations, some specific to fourth
through 12th-grade students (California Compilation of School Discipline Laws and Regulations,
2019). Given the recent passing of SB 419, it is still too early to know its impact on school
suspension rates.
Statement of the Problem
The California School Dashboard reports data for all public schools in California. For the
2019 school year, over 6 million students were enrolled in public schools, of which 3.4% were
suspended at least once (California School Dashboard, n.d.-a). Of the 3 million Latinx students,
only 3.5% were suspended at least once. There were over 1 million White students with 2.9% of
the suspensions. Asian students had a 1% suspension rate, with over 580,000 students enrolled.

5
Black students had an enrollment of over 350,000, with the highest suspension rate at 8.8%
(California School Dashboard, n.d.-a). For the 2020 school year, a year with school closures in
March 2020 due to the pandemic, 6.8% of Black students were suspended (DataQuest, n.d.-a).
The data present disproportionate percentages in school suspensions for Black students, showing
a need to understand what schools can do to develop culturally responsive practices that account
for anti-Blackness in school discipline practices.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this convergent parallel mixed-methods study was to explore successful
discipline practices that can be implemented at a school to provide a counternarrative to the
disproportionate discipline practices of Black students. This study focused on elementary school
site administrators’ approaches to student discipline and parental perception of school discipline
practices and policies. A document analysis, along with surveys and semi-structured interviews
were conducted to gain insight into how schools can take steps to revise current discipline
policies to be more culturally relevant.
Critical race theory (CRT) framed this study. Developed in the 1970s, CRT originated
from the legal realm, stemming from critical legal studies and radical feminism (Ladson-Billings,
1998; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). The underlying tenet of CRT asserts that racism is not
aberrant, but a normal facet of society (Capper, 2015; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Ladson-
Billings, 1998). CRT is a tool used to deconstruct oppressive structures, reconstruct human
agency, and construct equity and social justice (Ladson-Billings, 1998). Storytelling is an
important component of CRT. Storytelling highlights how one has experienced oppression,
however, one must be cautious not to exclude the main ideas of a person’s story and ensure that
the explicit details and context is reported (Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-Billings, 2005). It was

6
important to include the principals' voices, to hear their lived experiences around addressing
disproportionate discipline practices, and the Black parent voice. Hearing about the specific
experiences around student discipline, that Black parents have encountered, can allow school site
administrators to use their experiences to revise current school policies.
Research Questions
1. What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student
discipline?
2. What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for
Black students?
3. What do Black parents of Black students say about school discipline practices and
how those practices impact their children?
Significance of the Study
In a report conducted by Wood, et. al. (2018), four school districts, all located in the same
Northern California county, had four of the top 20 suspension rates for Black males in the state
during the 2017 school year. The report listed specific recommendations to reduce the number of
suspensions for Black males. In 2019, a follow-up report was released detailing the
disproportionate suspension rates of Black students in one of the previously identified school
districts, stating that the district relied too much on suspensions (Wood et al., 2020). This study
aimed to build upon the two reports and identify specific strategies that schools in the Northern
California school district could implement to support culturally relevant discipline practices.
Limitation and Delimitations
This study was conducted in a Northern California public school district using a small
sample size. As such, the findings will not be generalizable to the population. However, the study

7
may offer suggestions to support other school districts with similar demographics and
disproportionate suspension rates. There were practical constraints to the sample size in enlisting
participants and their accessibility (Johnson & Christensen, 2017). Due to the COVID-19
pandemic, interviews had to be conducted via Zoom, potentially limiting access to participants.
Participants would need access to a device that would allow Zoom to be downloaded. In
addition, participants would need access to the internet to run the Zoom.
Definition of Terms
• Anti-Blackness is the positioning of Black bodies as inhuman, disposable, and
inherently problematic (Warren & Coles, 2020).
• Black is a person who is of African descent.
• Disproportionate discipline is the overrepresentation of a group in discipline
percentages.
• Exclusionary discipline excludes students from the typical learning environment,
usually suspensions and expulsions (Barnes & Inniss-Thompson, 2020; Skiba et al.,
2014b).
• Implicit bias is a “deep-seated attitudes that operate outside conscious awareness–that
can be in direct conflict with a person’s stated beliefs and values” (Carter et al., 2017,
p. 215)
• Inequity refers to injustices or being unfair (Merriam-Webster, n.d.).
• Latinx is a gender-neutral term referring to anyone who is of Latin descent.
• School-to-prison pipeline (STPP) is “a construct used to describe policies and
practices, especially concerning school discipline, in the public schools and juvenile
justice system that decrease the probability of school success for children and youth,

8
and increase the probability of negative life outcomes, particularly through
involvement in the juvenile justice system” (Skiba et al., 2014b, p. 546).
• Voice refers to the stories from people of color that illustrate, with experiential
knowledge, that racism is ingrained into society (Ladson-Billings, 1998).
• White supremacy culture is the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, habits, and actions that center
on Whiteness and are perceived to be superior to the ideas of people of color (Jones &
Okun, 1999).
• Zero tolerance was adopted in the 1990s for schools from the law enforcement policy,
zero tolerance had predetermined consequences, most severe and punitive, and
applied regardless of the context (American Psychological Association, 2008).
Organization of the Study
This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the study.
Chapter 2 presents a review of the literature. Chapter 3 explains the study’s methodology: the
sample, collection tools, and data analysis. Chapter 4 will present the study’s results, and Chapter
5 will discuss the research findings and implications for future research.

9
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
Sixty years after Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and over 100 years after Plessy v.
Ferguson (1896), racial inequities in education continue to exist. The institution of education
was built on a White supremacist framework, catering to anti-Blackness, while working to
disempower Black and Brown bodies (Love, 2019). Evidence can be found in the inequitable
discipline practices that have been documented throughout the years on state and national public-
school databases showing the disproportionate number of school suspensions for Black students.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2019), Black students enrolled in
public schools had the most out-of-school suspensions during the 2014 school year. The
California School Dashboard, California’s public-school accountability system, displays similar
data at the state level (California School Dashboard, n.d.-a). Black students represent the fourth
largest student demographic (California School Dashboard, n.d.-c), and suspension data reflects
a disproportionate number of out-of-school suspensions. For the 2020 school year (DataQuest,
n.d.-a), 2019 school year (California School Dashboard, n.d.-a), and the 2018 school year, Black
students had the highest suspensions (California School Dashboard, n.d.-b), This literature
review will examine the historical context of inequalities to understand anti-Blackness in
education, explain how past and current policies support the continued inequities, explore the
perspectives of Black parents and Black students on school discipline, and present strategies to
support culturally relevant discipline practices.
Historical Context of Inequities in Education
To understand why disparities for Black students exist today, one must look at the origins
of inequities, beginning with the genocide of Indigenous people and the enslavement of Africans
(Carter et al., 2017). Colonizers forced their way of living on Indigenous people, the beginning

10
of White supremacy culture in the United States (Carter et al., 2017). Enslaved Black people
were not counted as a whole person. Instead, they were three-fifths of a person solely to
determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives and how much people would pay
in taxes.
During slavery, it was illegal for enslaved people to learn to read and write (Anderson,
1988; Ladson-Billings, 2006). Enslaved people would secretly gather, risking their lives for an
education. After the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, formerly enslaved people in the
south developed their educational system while pushing for universal public education, laying
the foundation for the current educational system (Anderson, 1988). Anderson (1988) explained
how freed slaves banded together to develop schools and established committees to oversee the
schools. Originally, private schools educated the youth. Former slaves created free schools with
free meal programs for those who could not afford to send their children to school (Anderson,
1988). In the mid-1800s, southern states provided education for Black and White students
(Anderson, 1988). Freed slaves fought to make universal public schooling a constitutional right,
which would not occur until the late 1800s (Anderson, 1988). During this time, another battle
occurred, White plantation owners saw a decline in labor and believed schooling was
unnecessary for Black people (Anderson, 1988). The plantation workers fought to dismantle the
educational opportunities freed slaves created (Anderson, 1988). Industrial schools emerged and
provided education to Black children, who were expected to work in the fields (Anderson, 1988).
Racial tensions continued in the south, giving rise to the Jim Crow era. Racial segregation
was legalized with the U.S Supreme court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Orfield and
Frankenberg (2014) argue that former slave states applied segregation in every aspect of life, and
schools were pervasively unequal. After the court’s ruling, cases continued to be filed, alleging

11
separate was not equal and that Black students did not have the same access as White students,
especially in higher education (Orfield & Frankenberg, 2014). School segregation ended with the
court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), however, after the court’s decision, some
schools remained segregated while others took their time in desegregating schools (Orfield &
Frankenberg, 2014). While schools worked on integration, racial discrimination was still present
(Bell, 1980). Rothstein (2018) asserts that in the 1900s, as Black families migrated around the
United States, cities began to adopt zoning laws. Racial zoning led to the decline of integrated
communities, thus segregating communities and schools.
These segregated neighborhoods are still present today, and some have evolved into low-
income neighborhoods, producing urban schools. With the decline in school funding, leading to a
lack of resources, inequities continue for Black students. White supremacy culture has been
woven into the fabric of the United States and is in the foundation of the educational system
(Johnson, 2020).
Zero Tolerance and Exclusionary Discipline
Zero tolerance policies were originally enacted to address the war on drugs and later
found their place in schools as a safety measure against violence (American Psychological
Association, 2008; Heitzeg, 2014). Zero tolerance refers to student discipline practices that are
severe and punitive, regardless of the reason for the behavior, and can include suspension,
expulsion, or an arrest (Heitzeg, 2014; National Clearinghouse on Supportive Discipline, 2014).
Policies such as the Gun-Free School Act of 1994 and The Safe Schools Act of 1994 were
implemented to keep schools and students safe. However, these zero tolerance policies lead to
racial profiling, over-identification of students in special education, higher discipline and dropout
rates, and low college admissions that impacted Black students (Harris, 2005). In addition, easy

12
access to law enforcement equaled increases in student arrests. The school-to-prison pipeline is a
consequence of such policies. (Heitzeg, 2014).
The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 (GFSA) required schools that received federal
funding to have policies addressing (a) expulsion for students who brought guns or weapons on
campus and (b) for schools to report violations to law enforcement (Heitzeg, 2014). The Safe
Schools Act of 1994 allowed for police presence in schools to keep students safe from drugs and
violence (Heitzeg, 2014). Zero tolerance policies increased student interactions with the police.
Some districts had their police departments (Heitzeg, 2014), and the policies increased the
profiling of students (American Psychological Association, 2008; Heitzeg, 2014).
Ewing (2000) argues that removing disruptive students served as a model for others and
would stop students from displaying similar behaviors. Many of the disciplinary practices that
are utilized mirror the justice system's use of exclusion to control behavior (Noguerra, 2003).
However, Skiba et al. (2014) contend that suspension does not change behavior, instead,
suspension increases the dropout rate and the likelihood of future contact with law enforcement.
The zero tolerance policies unfairly targeted low-income communities with Black students,
resulting in exclusionary practices to address the behaviors (Monroe, 2005). Removing the bad
students does not equate to a better, safer learning environment, as Ewing (2000) claimed.
Noguera (2003) visited a school in Oakland, California, whose attempts to raise student test
scores by removing students with disruptive behaviors, backfired. The disruptive students were
removed and placed into an isolated class. Removing the disruptive behaviors from the classes
gave rise to new students causing disruptions. Noguera engaged the staff in a discussion about
what teachers, who did not have minimal disruptions, were doing. Teachers who kept their

13
students intellectually engaged were less likely to have disruptive learning environments
(Noguera, 2003).
Zero tolerance policies aimed to keep weapons and drugs out of schools to provide a
safer learning environment. However, these policies and the disciplinary actions that go along
with them have expanded to include nonviolent behaviors, defiance, and habitual profanity (Fries
& DeMitchell, 2007), thus continuing the cycle of disproportionate discipline practices for Black
students. The American Psychological Association established a task force to analyze data over
20 years to determine the effectiveness of zero tolerance (American Psychological Association,
2008). The findings revealed the following,
• No evidence of increased violence in schools
• No evidence that zero tolerance increased the consistency of school discipline
• Zero tolerance decreased the overall feeling of having a positive school climate and
culture
• Zero tolerance policies were not a deterrent to students, preventing future suspensions
• Mixed and inclusive data on parents supporting the policies and students feeling safer
• Black students and students with disabilities are disproportionately affected by zero
tolerance policies
• Zero tolerance policies do not support the developmental level of children
• Increased students’ likelihood with the juvenile justice system
• Zero tolerance policies “may create, enhance or accelerate negative mental health
outcomes” (p. 856).
• Other strategies and interventions are more successful at increasing safety on campus
(American Psychological Association, 2008).

14
There are federal laws to protect students’ rights to ensure all students receive a quality
education. Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in public schools
because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (U.S. Department of Education, 2015).
Data and research have shown that Black students have been unfairly targeted in the educational
system, despite laws prohibiting discrimination. The challenge is parents understanding their
rights, and for those that do, the alternative challenge can be proving discrimination (U.S.
Department of Education, 2015). Students also have the constitutional right to be treated fairly,
and if their rights are to be deprived, they are to be done according to the due process of the law
(Kim & DeMitchell, 2007). The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reauthorized the
Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.); ESSA’s Title 1-
Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged states that all children are to have a
fair, equitable and high-quality education (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). To hold schools
accountable, ESSA requires states to report student achievement data and school climate data on
all subgroups; school climate data includes suspensions and expulsions. Districts also must
report what interventions will be implemented to support student discipline. Combined with Title
IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ESSA should protect students from discriminatory practices
that lead to greater numbers of exclusionary discipline practices for Black students, but the data
shows otherwise.
California Education Code and School Suspensions
The California Education Code (EC) outlines laws and regulations for K-12 public and
charter schools. Concerning out-of-school suspensions, the California Compilation of School
Discipline Laws and Regulations (2019) EC 48900 states:
A pupil shall not be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion unless the

15
superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is
enrolled determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined according to any of
subdivisions (a) to (r). (p.16)
EC 48900 has the same language for in-school suspensions; however, the subdivisions are
different. School suspensions are at the discretion of the school site administrator. However,
under EC 48910, teachers have the authority to issue a classroom suspension for any of the acts
outlined in EC 48900. EC Section 48900 K describes willful defiance suspensions, stating that
students who disrupt “school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of
supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the
performance of their duties'' may be suspended (California Legislative Information, 2020).
Willful defiance is subjective and based on one’s perception of a student’s behavior. There can
also be a cultural component to defiance. An educator who is not accustomed to the cultural
norms of students may find their behavior disrespectful.
In 2010, former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called out the disproportionalities
in student discipline, citing that students with disabilities and Black students were
overrepresented in school suspensions and expulsions (Losen, 2011). Duncan also called
attention to the severe punitive measures that Black students received compared to other groups
of students. As a result, a policy brief addressed the need for reform (Losen, 2011). The policy
brief notes how White students are often disciplined for objective reasons, while Black students
are disciplined for subjective reasons and are unfairly singled out. There are alternatives that
districts and schools can implement. The policy brief drew attention to Baltimore public schools.
The superintendent required administrators to get approval from the deputy for suspensions
longer than 5 days (Losen, 2011). In addition, discipline was handled through parent

16
conferences, mediation, and counseling, and mental health professionals were placed in middle
schools (Losen, 2011).
To decrease the overwhelming overrepresentation of Black student suspensions for
willful defiance, California passed Assembly Bill (AB) 420, amending EC 48900, the policy
went into effect on January 1, 2015. It eliminated the authority of school districts to issue out-of-
school suspensions kindergarten through third grade and expulsion for disruption or willful
defiance from kindergarten through 12th grade (California Assembly Bill [AB] 420, 2014).
Stone (2002) states that because Black students are disproportionately affected by exclusionary
discipline, the policy has an equity-based goal: to implement a more equitable process. The
policy's goal was to reduce suspensions to keep students in school, thus resulting in better
learning conditions for students because of more class time and keeping students out of the
school-to-prison pipeline.
In 2013, Los Angeles Unified School District, the largest district in California, was the
first to ban willful defiance suspensions and expulsions for all students and adopt restorative
practices (Jones, 2019). Jones (2019) notes that the district saw improvements in the climate and
culture of schools and reduced suspension numbers. In 2014, San Francisco Unified School
District became the second district to join the ban and implemented the Safe and Supportive
Schools Policy, a restorative approach to discipline (Frey, 2013).
With the elimination of willful defiance suspensions for K −3 and expulsions for K −12,
there were some successes in reforming student discipline policies. Some school districts took a
district-wide approach to address student behavior, implementing positive behavioral
interventions and supports (PBIS) and restorative justice practices (CBSA and Public Council,
2015). Jones (2019) reports that from 2013 to 2015, over 15,000 K–3 suspensions were

17
prevented and that many districts adopted alternatives to suspension and expulsions. Schools also
must be more accountable to show what interventions have taken place to support students (Frey,
2013).
While there were successes, there were also challenges with AB 420. Danker (2018)
argues that there was no clear plan of implementation or training, and there was inadequate
funding and a lack of enforcement. The Center for Public Integrity reported that Kern County,
located in the central valley, lowered its suspension and expulsion numbers from over 2000 to a
little over 500 but still had disproportionalities as their expulsion numbers mirrored those of all
of Los Angeles County (Danker, 2018). It was found that students were being sent to alternative
schools for behavior but were forced to drop out because their migrant farmworker families
could not travel distances upwards of 40 miles to take their children to school. Other challenges
included the accuracy of suspension numbers, as some schools were documented sending
students home for the day for their behavior instead of writing an official suspension. The policy
also did not address EC 48910. Teachers could still issue a teacher suspension. In addition, the
elimination of suspensions was only for kindergarten through third-grade students. Students in
fourth grade and higher could still be suspended for willful defiance. The policy did not revise
the subjective language of willful defiance. In sum, the policy did not address the
disproportionate suspensions of Black students, as Black students still accounted for most
suspensions in California.
EC 48900, section K had amended again when Governor Gavin Newsom signed off on
Senate Bill (SB) 419, which went into effect on July 1, 2020, and extends the ban on willful
defiance suspensions to grade 5 and from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2025, for sixth to eighth-
graders. The law now reads as follows:

18
48900 A pupil shall not be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion unless
the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is
enrolled determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined in subdivisions (a) to
(r), inclusive:
(k) (1) Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of
supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged
in their duties.
(2) Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades
1 to 3, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any acts enumerated in paragraph (1). Those
acts shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to
12, inclusive, to be recommended for expulsion. This paragraph was inoperative on July
1, 2020.
(3) Except as provided in Section 48910, commencing July 1, 2020, a pupil enrolled in
kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts
specified in paragraph (1). Those acts shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled in
kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to be recommended for expulsion.
(4) Except as provided in Section 48910, commencing July 1, 2020, a pupil enrolled in
grades 6 to 8, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph
(1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2025 (California Compilation of School
Discipline Laws and Regulations, 2019, p.18).
Schools closed for a while in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with the
brief closure, Black students were reported as having the most suspensions that school year with
6.8%, three times greater than their White peers (DataQuest, n.d.-a). The suspension data for

19
2021is skewed, as that school year was primarily distance learning, which brought on significant
challenges with student attendance. DataQuest (n.d. -c) reports that Black students had 0.3% of
suspensions, the same percentage as their White peers, and Native American students had 0.8%
of suspensions. The elimination of suspensions for willful defiance in Grades kindergarten
through 5th grade and a temporary ban for Grades 6 through 8 is a start. Still, it does not address
the anti-Blackness that plays out in the disproportionate suspensions of Black students.
Racial Disparities and School Discipline
Implicit bias has been attributed to disproportionate discipline practices (Anyon et al.,
2014; Carter et al., 2017; Staats, 2015). Student discipline can be subjective; educators need to
understand how their implicit biases can create barriers to student success (Staats, 2015). One of
those barriers is how Black students are perceived. As previously mentioned with California’s
48900 section k violations, willful defiance and student discipline can be subjective as behaviors
are interpreted based on experiences and unconscious associations (Staats, 2015). “Implicit
biases do not necessarily lead to explicitly biased decisions or behaviors in schools, but they can
undergird discriminatory behaviors-especially when such biases remain unstated and
unexamined” (Carter et al., 2017, p. 215).
Stereotypes, a fixed belief for a group of people, are rooted in racism and anti-Blackness
and can have an impact on how students are perceived and disciplined. The stereotypes of the
dangerous Black man, rooted in slavery, labeled black men as aggressive and sexual predators
(Carter et al., 2017; Monroe, 2015), while Black women are labeled as angry (Blake & Epstein,
2019). Other stereotypes for Black people include being dumb, ignorant, lazy, and rebellious, all
stemming from slavery, which was used to keep enslaved people under control and maintain
White supremacy (Johnson, 2020). Common stereotypes associated with Black students are

20
being loud, overactive, and less capable; any behavior that deviates from the White male-
dominated culture is viewed as inappropriate and subject to discipline (Johnson, 2020).
Adultification is another stereotype applied to Black students where Black children are perceived
as adult-like and less innocent than their White peers (Blake & Epstein, 2019). Black students
are in jeopardy of becoming targets of the stereotype threat, being judged by negative societal
stereotypes that become self-threatening and interfere with their intellectual functioning (Steele
& Aronson, 1995). Schools remain segregated by race and class, decreasing opportunities for
people to interact and learn from one another, thus destigmatizing stereotypes (Carter et al.,
2017).
Vaught and Castagno (2008) conducted an ethnographic examination of teachers'
attitudes towards race, racism, and White privilege using the CRT tenant of Whiteness as
property. The study revealed that White teachers did not fully understand stereotypes and how
they affect people (Vaught & Castagno, 2008). The study also showed that White teachers did
not believe they had White privilege and racialized power because they taught in urban schools
(Vaught & Castagno, 2008). In addition, not acknowledging racial disparities in achievement as
a structural issue allows people to develop individualized understandings of the reasoning behind
the gap, leading to the inability to adequately educate children of color (Vaught & Castagno,
2008).
A study on school suspension and racial disparities revealed that students of color,
especially Black students, in sixth through tenth grade were more likely to be suspended
compared to their White peers (Morris & Perry, 2016). The study also found that Black students
were more likely to attend schools with stricter exclusionary practices, resulting in lower
achievement in math and reading (Morris & Perry, 2016). Another study, using the same grade

21
span, examined students’ perceptions of teachers’ treatment and school suspension practices
(Pena-Shaff et al., 2019). One thousand, four hundred and forty-four students were given a
questionnaire, and the results showed that Black students were more likely to have negative
perceptions of how they were treated by teachers (Pena-Shaff et al., 2019). The study also found
that Black and multiracial students felt Black students were more likely to be suspended (Pena-
Shaff et al., 2019).
Skiba et. al. (2002) conducted a study of middle school students in a large urban public
school district in the Midwest, analyzing discipline records to examine disparities in discipline
by race and gender. When controlling for socioeconomic status, race still accounted for
disparities in discipline. When students were referred to administration, there was no discrepancy
in racial disproportionality between Black and White students, however, there were discrecancies
office referrals. White students were more likely to receive office referrals for objective events
such as smoking, leaving without permission, obscene language, and vandalism. While Black
students were more likely referred for subjective events such as disrespect, excessive noise,
threat, and loitering. The disparities were perceived as unintentional or unconscious by White
teachers, while students of color perceived the differences as deliberate (Skiba et. al., 2002).
Carter et. al. (2017) explain that to begin to get at the root causes of inequities, educators
must push aside their reluctance to talk about racial disparities. School leaders must create safe
spaces to dialogue with teachers about racial inequities in school discipline.
Black Girls’ Perspectives on School Discipline
Research on school discipline practices has a heavy focus on Black males, giving the
perception that Black girls do not encounter similar barriers, however national suspension data
indicates that Black girls face similar challenges. For the 2013-14 school year, the suspension

22
rate of Black boys enrolled in public schools was 17.1%, the highest of all subgroups (National
Center for Education Statistics, 2019a). Similarly, Black girls held the highest percentage rate for
their gender in that same year, 9.6%, which was three times greater than all girls suspended that
year at 3.2% (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019a). In contrast, White girls had a
suspension rate of 1.7%, Latinx at 2.6%, and American Indian/Alaska Native at 4.3% (National
Center for Education Statistics, 2019a). Only recently have researchers begun to study the
impact of student discipline on Black girls (Murphy, et. al., 2013). It is important to highlight the
experiences of Black girls in disproportionate discipline practices, as they have the highest
percentages in suspension rates.
A quantitative study conducted by Butler-Barnes and Thompson (2020) examined the
perceptions of teacher discrimination on school discipline for African American and Caribbean
Black girls. The study consisted of a sample of 603 Black American girls: 410 African American
and 193 Caribbean Black girls between the ages of 13 and 17 years old. The results showed that
African American girls reported a higher level of teacher discrimination and had higher rates of
student discipline compared to Caribbean Black girls. Both groups measured the same on
perceptions of school bonding (Butler-Barnes & Thompson, 2020).
A mixed-methods study conducted by Murphy et al. (2013) examined the perceptions of
frequently disciplined Black middle school girls and their reasoning on their compliant and non-
compliant school behaviors using the theory of intersectionality. The researchers aimed to
answer the following questions: “How do these girls explain and justify their compliant and
noncompliant behaviors? How do interactions with educators share these girls’ beliefs about
their behaviors?” The findings indicated two major influences on behavior: temperament, mood,
and factors in the participants' daily environment attributed to their compliant and non-compliant

23
behaviors. The participants reported feelings of being overwhelmed by emotions, frequent
accounts of being dehumanized, peer drama, being treated unfairly by educators, peer instigation,
feeling alienated, educators’ misunderstandings, and subjective expectations as justifications for
non-compliant behavior. However, the participants stated that when they encountered a teacher
that took the time to listen, even after they had gotten in trouble, there was more respect for that
educator. The researchers note that the study can be useful to those in education: teachers, school
administrators, and policymakers, who aim to close the achievement gap by recognizing the
experience of Black students in a U.S. culture dominated by race and gender inequities.
However, there were limitations to the study. While previous research has documented similar
findings, this study only had seven participants all from the same region and school. In addition,
the study did not address behavior management strategies to support educators, nor did it address
the race or ethnicity of the teachers the participants spoke of or get the perspectives of the
educators (Murphy et. al., 2020).
Another study analyzing Black girls and school discipline was conducted by Wun (2016),
who examined the lived experiences of Black girls that were disciplined. The researcher argues
that Black girls are criminalized in schools and draws parallels to anti-Black police violence.
Saidiya Hartman’s concept of the afterlife of slavery frames the study, explaining that Black
people continue to be held in captivity through institutions such as school, prison, and poverty.
The study was conducted in a Northern California high school, using five Black girls between 15
and 18 years old with discipline records. The study attempted to answer the following questions:
What are some reasons that girls of color, specifically Black girls, are punished? What are the
types of discipline and punishment that Black girls experience? What are the effects of these
types of discipline and punishment? The findings indicated that Black girls, who did not

24
represent the majority, were overrepresented in student discipline numbers. In addition, the
participants claimed that they often got in trouble for defiant behaviors: talking back, having
attitudes, having a smart mouth, or appearing to look like they were doing something, all leading
to disciplinary action, including being kicked out of class, suspended, or arrested. The
participants noted that when others displayed the same behaviors, they did not receive
consequences. The interviews also revealed that the discipline policies failed to acknowledge the
lived experiences of the participants, often disciplining Black girls for defiant or disobedient
behavior (Wun, 2016).
There is a need for school discipline policies to consider race, gender, and
intersectionality, specifically addressing Black girls' experiences when developing discipline
policies. Participants reported feelings of discrimination when being disciplined. Two of the
studies indicated that participants felt targeted and unfairly disciplined, especially compared to
peers of a different race. In addition, participants felt oppressed or held hostage due to
inequitable practices. The quantitative study suggests that even between and within groups,
Black American girls and Caribbean Black girls, there are different perceptions of school
discipline. While the three studies address how Black girls feel towards exclusionary discipline
practices, the qualitative and mixed-method studies gave more insight into the perspectives of the
participants because they were interviewed. The interviews allowed readers to gain a better
understanding of the impact of exclusionary discipline practices on Black girls. Regardless of the
type of study, policies need to be revamped to consider the lived experiences of Black girls to
address race and gender in creating equitable and inclusive practices that support positive student
behaviors.

25
Black Parent Perspective and Involvement
Parental involvement has a positive impact on students' academic achievement, but
research has yet to prove if there is a positive correlation between parental involvement and
student behavior (Marcucci, 2020; Mowen, 2017). Love et al. (2021) argue that the traditional
model of parental involvement marginalizes Black families because the traditional approach
centers White, middle-class values. Black families are then shunned for their lack of
participation and blamed for their child's lack of success.
Black parents want to be involved and are actively involved in supporting their children’s
educational success. Parents teach their children how to respect others, and how to follow school
rules and they teach their children about racism and how to respond to racist acts (Gibson &
Haight, 2013; Love et. al., 2021). Parental involvement also shows up in advocacy to address
racial inequities. Parents, in a school district, banded together to demand action in the form of
interventions and support when Black students were disciplined and labeled as the problem
(Love et. al., 2021). In another district, parents joined forces with already established community
organizations, working to reform educational policies, and building their capacities to become
advocates for their children to fight racial inequalities in their district (Goss, 2015). Goss (2015)
argues there is power in numbers, people of the same background, with shared identities,
banding together as a community organization can help to improve educational opportunities for
students.
Hollins (2015) notes that for White Americans, education is the key to success, but values
may differ for other cultures. Anyon (2014) suggests that macroeconomic policies support
persistent poverty in minority urban populations. It can be challenging for parents to negotiate
the school’s systems because much of their energy is spent on making ends meet, often working

26
multiple jobs (Anyon, 2014). The U.S. Census (n.d) reported that between 2010 and 2018, 22.5%
of Black Americans were living below the poverty level. Educators need to have an
understanding that some families in urban districts live in poverty, and that it is not that parents
do not care about their child’s education, priorities are just shifted due to economic causes.
Many studies have documented the impact of exclusionary practices on students.
Students can feel disconnected from school, academic performance can decrease, and receiving
school suspensions can increase the likelihood of contact with law enforcement, otherwise
known as the school-to-prison pipeline (Gibson & Haight, 2013; Mowen, 2017, Skiba et. al.,
2014a). What should also be considered is the collateral impact that exclusionary practices have
on families. When it comes to family, particularly in low-income Black, and single-parent
homes, the impact can be financial, missing work to attend meetings with the principal (Gibson
& Haight, 2013; Mowen, 2017); parents can also suffer from the mental effects of dealing with
their child being disciplined (Mowen, 2017; Powell & Coles, 2021).
Powell and Coles (2021) conducted a study on the impact of school suspensions on Black
families using personal narratives from Black mothers. A Black mother recalls her traumatic
experience of learning about her preschool-aged children being suspended which triggered a
memory from her childhood of first learning about her father’s arrest. Another narrative account
is of a mom explaining how she tried to build a positive relationship with the teachers and
administration so they would treat her child better. She also explained how she was upfront about
her educational level so they would not stereotype her as being an uneducated, single Black
mother; she is living the history of Blackness daily. One parent spoke of being an outcast
because she was single and Black. Another parent spoke on the negative perception teachers

27
have because of how Black people are portrayed in the media and movies, playing into the
stereotype that Black people are to be feared (Powell & Coles, 2021).
Another study found that caregivers wanted their children to be successful in school
(Gibson & Haight, 2013). Caregivers understood that sometimes their children could be
challenging and supported the schools when appropriate consequences were given. However, the
perception of out-of-school suspensions was not met with the same feelings, as they were
reported as unjust, disproportionate, and even inappropriate. It is important to note that the
participants were not aware of their school’s discipline policies. Parents want schools to consider
the child's background and be open-minded to others’ experiences regarding racial socialization
(Gibson & Haight, 2013).
Studies found that Black parents support student discipline when the emphasis is on
teaching students how to follow the rules (Gibson & Haight, 2013; Golann et al., 2019). Parents
were also supportive when logical, age-appropriate consequences were given but were not in
favor of out-of-school suspensions (Gibson & Haight, 2013). One study focused on how White
teachers and administrators had a savior complex when addressing student misbehavior (Golann
et al., 2019). Parents felt their Black children were frequently surveillance, harassed, and
punished because of how they acted or dressed (Love et al., 2021). Black children are labeled as
the problem, blaming the child and family, and schools fail to look at the systemic structures that
are racially inequitable for Black families (Love et al., 2021). Schools can be a reproduction of
historical trauma through disciplinary constructs, such as school suspensions (Powell & Coles,
2021). When defining parental involvement, schools should take a culturally responsive
approach to identify what parental involvement looks like for the students they serve,
decentering the traditional norms of involvement.

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Culturally Responsive Practices
Educational expectations and policies center on Whiteness (Givens, 2016; Love, 2019;
Monroe, 2005; Tosolt, 2020) and have been attributed to the causes of disproportionate
discipline practices for Black students (Monroe, 2005). With BIPOC students now the majority,
educators must disrupt the status quo and decenter White supremacy culture in school discipline,
failing to do so denies students full access to learning (Hollins, 2015). Research also implies that
teacher preparation programs do not always assist in developing culturally competent educators
(Lopez, 2003; Douglas & Nganga, 2013). With most educators being White (National Center for
Education Statistics, 2019b), a shift in mindsets is needed to be more understanding of the Black
student and family experience. With Black students being the third-largest demographic in public
schools, educators need to understand the cultural norms and experiences that Black students
bring to the classroom and how they are an asset. Districts and schools need to dismantle harmful
policies that lead to inequitable discipline practices.
Time must be spent diving into the reasons for the disparities to begin to address the
inequities in education (Carter et al., 2017). School leaders can have staff analyze student
achievement and discipline data, as behavioral events can occur due to negative interactions
between teachers and students over academics. After the data is presented, reflective
conversations can take part, analyzing school processes, adult actions, adult interactions with
students, and conversations about specific disciplinary incidents, asking who is or is not being
served and whose needs are or are not being met. It is important not to blame the students for the
inappropriate behavior, but rather get at the why of their behavior. There is mention of how
different racial and ethnic subgroups perform, however, the discussion may not always discuss
the why of the disparities in the data.

29
Addressing the disproportionalities in discipline data involves educators examining their
assumptions, positionality, epistemology (Douglas & Nganga, 2013), and understanding the
cultural backgrounds (Weinstein et al., 2004) of the students they serve. In addition, providing
opportunities for educators to interact with Black students and observe different classroom
environments allows educators to challenge their beliefs about Black students (Monroe, 2005).
People make decisions based on how they identify and on their lived experiences. When
educators critically reflect on who they are, who their students are, and what assets they bring
into the learning environments, educators can begin to get at the root causes of the inequitable
discipline practices.
Consideration should be made to the suspension's impact on the student and family to
support culturally responsive school discipline practices (Haight et al., 2014). Educators can
thoughtfully respond to behaviors, individualizing the consequences and providing interventions
that target the underlying cause of the behavior (Gibson & Haight, 2013; Haight et al., 2014).
The decision to suspend should not be one person’s decision, instead, incorporate perspectives
from other educators, parents, and students (Gibson & Haight, 2013; Haight et al., 2014).
Advisory boards for school discipline (Monroe, 2005) could be used to develop appropriate
alternatives to suspension (Haight et al., 2014). Social workers can also support student
discipline by building the capacity of educators in culturally relevant and culturally sensitive
practices (Gibson & Haight, 2013).
Denver Public Schools implemented a policy to reduce the disparities in discipline,
implementing restorative and therapeutic interventions (Anyon et al., 2014). While there were
reductions, Black and Latinx students were still more likely to receive disciplinary referrals.
However, with the implementation of interventions, Black and Latinx students were less likely to

30
receive an out-of-school suspension (Anyon et al., 2014). Another study conducted in Denver
Public Schools notes that building positive relationships is critical in reducing out-of-school
suspensions (Anyon et al., 2018). Spending time to get to know students in and out of the
classroom allowed staff to understand the root cause of any misbehavior and respond
appropriately. To build positive relationships with students, staff took part in-home visits,
positive contact with families, greetings, morning meetings, advisory periods and staff were
visible on campus (Anyon et al., 2018).
Harris (2005) argues that strong student-teacher relationships, classroom management,
and cultural competence training are alternatives to addressing punitive practices in schools. The
cultural and racial context of the student and how they may differ from that of the school should
also be taken into consideration to create better outcomes for Black students.
Summary
“Racial discipline disparities are a consequence of U.S. history, of the biases and
stereotypes created by that history, and the still-strong divisions in lived experiences between
groups that we call ‘races’” (Carter et al., 2017, p. 208). America’s treatment of enslaved Black
people, Jim Crow laws, segregation, redlining, and zero tolerance policies continue to perpetuate
the anti-Blackness in schools, leading to disproportionate discipline practices. With Black
students perceiving that they are more likely to be treated unfairly, targeted, and punished more
severely than their White peers (Murphy et al., 2020; Pena-Shaff et al., 2019; Wun, 2016),
policymakers must be intentional about developing anti-racist policies that do not marginalize
BIPOC students. Educators must also examine their implicit biases and be intentional about
dismantling policies and procedures that harm Black students.

31
Chapter Three: Methodology
Love (2019) argues that our educational system is doing exactly what it was designed to
do, spirit murder Black and Latinx students. Schools have policies in place that are rooted in
racist ideas (Love, 2019). School suspensions have increased over time (Skiba et al., 2014a;
Nance, 2016), and teachers are more likely to use harsher consequences toward Black students
(Monroe, 2005). Morris (2016) posits that Black girls are criminalized in schools because they
are perceived as deserving the mistreatment. Across the country, Black students are suspended at
higher rates than any other subgroup (Pena-Shaff et al., 2019; Nance, 2016), and for the 2013–14
school year, Black students were suspended at a rate three times higher than their White peers
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2019a). In California, for the 2019 school year, the
suspension rate for Black students was 8.8%, about four times higher than their White peers
(California School Dashboard, n.d.-a.). Most recently, in 2020, a year when the COVID-19
pandemic shut down schools, the suspension rate for Black students was 6.8% (DataQuest, n.d.-
a).
This study took place in a large, urban Northern California school district. The school
district was selected for this study because of the disproportionate number of Black students
suspended; the district had the greatest number of Black male suspensions in the state for the
2017 school year (Wood, Harris III, & Howard, 2018). For the 2017 school year, over 14% of
Black students were suspended at least once. In 2018, it was over 16%, and for the 2019 school
year, it was over 14%: Black students account for about 14% of the enrollment in the district
(DataQuest, n.d.-b., n.d.-c., n.d.-d.).

32
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this convergent parallel mixed-methods study was to explore successful
discipline practices that can be implemented to provide a counter-narrative to the
disproportionate discipline practices of Black students. The research questions were grounded in
the research literature and the conceptual framework (see Figure 1). This study aimed to address
the following research questions:
1. What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student
discipline?
2. What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for
Black students?
3. What do Black parents of Black students say about school discipline practices and
how those practices impact their children?

33
Figure 1
Conceptual Framework

Critical race theory argues that our society is inherently racist (Ladson-Billings, 1998).
Schools are designed to do exactly as they are doing, and it is up to educators to interrupt
systems of oppression. By building teachers’ capacity, developing a shared vision incorporating
various stakeholders, and revising student discipline policies, schools can begin to dismantle and
disrupt practices that harm Black students.
Racism is prevalent in our society, and recently, it has become more overt. School
discipline policies are often rooted in White supremacy culture (WSC), which is ingrained in our
society, and we do not even realize that we centered WSC in our decision-making. Jones and
Okun (1999) state:

34
White supremacy culture consists of ideas, thoughts, beliefs, habits, and actions grounded
in Whiteness that are perceived as superior to the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of
people and communities of color. One does not have to be a White supremacist or even
White to embody or enact White supremacist culture.
Hollins (2015) declares that teachers participate in discriminatory practices against non-
White students and deny students full access to learning. Based on my 16 years in education,
with the last 5 years being a school site administrator, I have seen first-hand the negative
interactions Black students have had with teachers and school administrators when it comes to
student behavior. I have been guilty of harming Black students when handling student discipline.
As a Black school site administrator, I was responsible for suspending students. I had 2 years of
data showing Black students being disproportionately suspended. I honored the written word and
upheld the Education Code to the fullest, not seeking alternative means for addressing student
behavior.
Lopez (2003) and Douglas and Nganga (2013) note that educator preparation programs
do not properly prepare students to teach diverse groups with an understanding of race relations.
Staats (2015) argues that student discipline can be subjective and that educators need to
understand how their implicit bias can create barriers to student success. With the lack of
preparation and training, school districts must fill in the gaps and have educators examine their
positionalities and epistemologies to gain a better understanding of self. Leading educators
through this process can begin the work of interrogating practices that are harmful to Black
students. However, the work does not stop there. Training must be mandated and ongoing, which
can only be done through revised district policies.

35
The Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization (n.d) suggests
that to be fully inclusive, an organization should have the participation of various groups, sharing
the power to develop policies. At the school site level, the voices of Black students and parents
should be heard and shared with all stakeholders. Surveying and interviewing Black parents of
Black students can provide an understanding of their experience with student discipline. The data
gained from the surveys and interviews can be used to interrogate current inequitable discipline
practices, leading to revised policies.
Sample and Population
This study was conducted in a large, urban Northern California school district. The
school district has 42 elementary schools and eight K–8 schools with 66 school site
administrators and 1,620 Black students in the fourth through sixth grades (DataQuest, n.d.-e.).
Purposeful sampling was the best method for identifying participants, as the participants needed
to meet certain criteria to help address the research question (Johnson & Christensen, 2017;
Maxwell, 2013). This study focused on successful strategies to address disproportionate
suspension rates of Black students; therefore, the following criteria were used to identify
elementary schools:
• Majority of the student population is Black
• Low suspension rates for Black students
• Decreased suspension rates for Black students
Eight elementary schools met the criteria. The district of study had a research approval process
that included writing a research proposal. Once the district approved the study, the district
reached out to the identified schools to ask the principals if they wanted to participate in the
study. Of the eight schools, six agreed to participate. I was granted permission by the district to

36
reach out to the other two school principals to try and increase the participation rate. Two emails
were sent to each principal approximately two weeks apart from one another. One principal
expressed interest and a consent form was sent to her, however, the consent form was not
returned. Another attempt at recruitment yielding no results. Individual emails were sent to the
principals with the consent form (see Appendix A). Once consent forms were received, the
survey protocol (see Appendix B) with a link to the survey was sent (see Appendix D). All
surveys were returned, and three principals were asked to participate in a follow-up interview, all
three agreed.
My original criteria for parents were Black parents or guardians of Black students
enrolled in Grades 4, 5, or 6 and having their child enrolled at one of the selected schools for 2 or
more years. Due to the low recruitment of Black parents, I had to pivot and eliminate the
enrollment criteria. I asked the school principals to pass out recruitment flyers to Black students
to gain access to parent participants. The initial distribution of flyers yielded zero responses from
parents. Flyers were distributed again, and one parent responded. I had to pivot again to increase
the number of participants. I was able to obtain the contact information of the Black students
from the schools that agreed to participate. Phone calls, emails, and text messages were sent to
families with the recruitment details. This yielded 11 potential participants. Of the 11 potential
participants, six returned a signed consent form (see Appendix A). Once the consent form was
received, the survey protocol (see Appendix C) and survey (See Appendix D) was sent via email
and text. The six surveys were returned. Only one parent indicated that they would participate in
the interview.

37
Instrumentation
For this convergent parallel mixed-methods study, document analysis, surveys, and
interviews were utilized to gain a better understanding of the research problem (Lochmiller &
Lester, 2017). Surveys were administered to participants, and the interviews provided a deeper
dive into ideas and concepts that arose from the surveys (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). A
document analysis was included to gain a broader perspective of the history of the school district.
The surveys provided information on participants' attitudes, beliefs, and concerns, while the
interviews provided specific information and insights into the participants' experiences (Merriam
& Tisdell, 2015).
Documents can uncover valuable data and provide descriptive information supporting the
research questions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The documents analyzed in this study included
the school district discipline policy, school handbooks, and suspension data. School demographic
and suspension data is public record and can be located on online data platforms such as the
California School Dashboard or DataQuest on the California Department of Education’s website.
Surveys were administered to all participants and consisted of nominal, ordinal, and
interval measurements to address the research question. The surveys included closed and open-
ended items and Likert scales, giving the researcher an in-depth look at the participants' opinions
(Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). The survey items asked participants to provide information on their
beliefs and attitudes about how Black students are treated. For school principals, the survey also
asked participants about training and school policies. The parent survey asked parents about their
knowledge of school site discipline practices and policies. The survey had construct validity.
Constructs are generated from a theoretical position that the researcher holds (Salkind, 2017).

38
There has been research on how culturally responsive practices and the implementation of
restorative practices have a positive impact on the school climate and culture.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with both school principals and parents.
Participants were given the interview protocol explaining the purpose of the research (see
Appendix F). The interview questions were developed following the guidelines outlined by
Creswell (2013). The interviews asked specific questions that were aligned with the survey. The
interviews also allowed me to explore topics in detail that arose from the structured questions,
giving more insight into how schools can revise current discipline policies (Merriam & Tisdell,
2015). Ethically, there was a chance that my interpretation of the responses was incorrect (Dei,
2005; Atkins & Duckworth, 2019). To increase the study's credibility, I used member checks to
validate my interpretation of the data by building opportunities for the participants to engage in
the analysis process as a check and balance approach (Atkins & Duckworth, 2019; Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016).
Data Collection
Data collection methods were comprehensively used to understand the research topic
(Creswell, 2013). Document analysis, surveys, and semi-structured interviews were part of the
data set. Glesne (2011) advises that researchers maintain participant confidentiality. Before
beginning the study, informed consent was obtained from each participant. Participants were
informed of the purpose of the study, the risks and benefits of participating, the voluntary nature
of the research, and their right to cease participation at any time.
Several documents were analyzed for this study. The California School Dashboard
(www.caschooldashboard.org), an online data system, provides school accountability data.
DataQuest (data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest) is another online data system available through the

39
California Department of Education that provides state, district, and school information. Due to
the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures in March 2020, suspension data was not available
on the California School Dashboard, and DataQuest had to be used to get suspension data for
that school year. The school district’s parent handbook was reviewed to see the district’s student
behavior policy. The selected school’s websites were also reviewed to gather information on the
school’s student behavior policy.
Lochmiller and Lester (2017) state that when using surveys, one must think about how
participants will receive the survey and the time needed to complete the survey. Surveys were
developed on Qualtrics, and a link was sent via email and text message. Lochmiller and Lester
(2017) suggest keeping the survey open for two weeks. Due to the ongoing recruitment, the
surveys were kept open for approximately two months.
Interviews were conducted using the procedures outlined by Creswell (2013). Creswell
(2013) suggests having adequate means to record the interview. Interviews were conducted on
Zoom's web-based platform, which can record video and audio in two separate files. Interview
participants were given pseudonyms to maintain anonymity. Participants were asked if they
consented to be recorded, and they all agreed. The interviews were then transcribed using a
recording device on my password-protected phone.
Creswell (2013) argues that very little attention is given to how data should be stored.
Files should be backed up and stored in protected places. Because the survey was developed on
Qualtrics, data was stored on the program. The interview recordings were stored in a password-
protected file folder on my personal, password-protected computer.

40
Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics were used to identify trends and frequencies of the survey data set
(Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). The principal survey data was then compared to the parent survey
data to find trends in responses which were later compared to interview response themes. The
analysis of the first interview included annotated notes that were then compared to the
annotations for the second and third interviews. There was repeated listening of the interviews
and repeated readings of the transcriptions to understand the data. The interview transcriptions
were coded by each research question (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Categories were developed
from the codes and interpreted into themes (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017)
Summary
This study aimed to explore successful discipline practices that can be implemented to
provide a counternarrative to the disproportionate discipline practices of Black students. Data
consisted of document analysis, surveys, and semi-structured interviews to address the research
questions: measures schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student discipline,
culturally responsive strategies principals utilize for Black students, and parent perspectives on
school discipline practices and how those practices impact their children. Chapter 4 will present
the findings, and chapter 5 will discuss the results.

41
Chapter Four: Results or Findings
Interview participant Tiffany fully captured the rationale for this study: “Suspensions
were overused on African American children because they were seen as intolerable, didn’t have
humanity as a person. They weren’t worthy of attention.” This study aimed to explore successful
discipline practices that schools can implement to eliminate or reduce the disproportionate
discipline practices towards Black students. Understanding what schools are doing to provide
better outcomes for Black students can assist other schools and districts revise current discipline
policies to be more culturally relevant. This study had three research questions:
1. What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student
discipline?
2. What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for
Black students?
3. What do Black parents of Black students say about school discipline practices and
how those practices impact their children?
To address the research questions, documents from the school district of study were
analyzed. The documents included the district’s parent handbook, student handbooks from each
school in the study, and student behavior data. A survey was also administered to participants and
semi-structured interviews were conducted.
Participants
The participants for this study met specific criteria. The identified schools were
elementary schools from a Northern California school district that either decreased suspension
rates for Black students, had a high percentage of Black students, or had a high percentage of
Black students with low suspension rates. An advisory board for the district of study

42
recommended that the school sites that had disproportionate suspension rates for Black students,
implement a plan to reduce suspensions to the district’s average. These schools were labeled 5%
variance schools, their suspension percentages were at least 5% or more than the district’s
average suspension rate. As shown in Table 1, participants had to identify if their school was a
5% variance school, having a disproportionate number of Black students suspended for the 2018-
2019 school year. Of the six schools, five were a 5% variance school.
Eight schools met the criteria, and all eight elementary principals were asked to
participate in the study. Seven agreed to participate. However, one principal was unresponsive.
Of the six principals, one left the district, and another left their elementary school for a middle
school in the district of study. Six principals completed the survey and three participated in semi-
structured interviews. The participants included two females and four males, of which three
identified as Latinx, one Black, one Asian, and one White. All but one participant had worked in
the study district for their entire career.

43
Table 1
Participant Demographics: Principals
Pseudonym Ethnicity Years in
education
Years in
district
Years as site
administrator
Years at
current
school
5%
variance
school
Marisol Latinx 19 2 2 2 Yes
Carlos Latinx 17 14 6 6 Yes
Michael White 17 17 6 6 Yes
Tiffany Black 22 22 7 7 Yes
David Latinx 17 17 9 4 Yes
Kai Asian 23 23 17 9 No

Note. Participants Carlos, Tiffany, and Kai were interviewed.

Table 2
Survey Participants- Black Parents

Parent participants Child’s grade level Child has been
suspended
School
1 4th No O
2 6th No *
3 4th No T
4 4th No O
5 6th Yes W

Note. Participant 2 did not state the school of attendance

44
Results for Research Question 1
Research Question 1 explored the following: What measures do schools put in place to
create positive outcomes in student discipline? Black students are disproportionately disciplined,
often receiving more severe consequences than their White peers. Research suggests that school
districts provide preventative measures to address the overrepresentation of Black student
discipline (Gregory et. al., 2018; Skiba et. al. 2014b). Districts need to address the structural
factors that contribute to racial disparities, such factors include district policies, training to
address racial bias and the need for alternatives to suspension (Trinidad, 2018). Anyon et. al.
(2014) conducted a study in the Denver Public School district analyzing the effect alternatives to
suspension had on student discipline. The study revealed that when school districts implement
systemic practices, such as alternatives to suspension and restorative approaches, student
suspensions along with student referrals were reduced (Anyon, et. al, 2014).
To address the first research question, the district of study’s parent and student handbook
was reviewed to gain insight into the district’s approach to supporting student behavior. The
survey asked participants to rate their responses to a series of questions about district training.
The semi-structured interviews explored the specific support and training school administrators
received to support positive student behavior outcomes at their schools.
Little to No District Support in Supporting Student Discipline
In reviewing the district of study’s parent handbook, the document outlines specific board
policies and education codes about student discipline. The document defines the three forms of
suspension: out-of-school suspension, in-school suspension, and teacher suspension. There is a
section titled Student Support Strategies, and directly underneath, in parenthesis with small font,
it states that all strategies may not be available at all sites. However, under the parenthesis, it

45
states that supports are available at all schools, with the word all being bold and capitalized. The
strategies listed include social-emotional learning skills development, restorative practices,
Saturday school, group counseling, support group, peer mentorship, and mentoring. The
document also lists the offenses under California Education Code 48900, displaying a matrix
outlining the discipline approach to consider. From left to right, it lists alternatives to suspension,
followed by may suspend, may recommend for expulsion, and contact law enforcement.
Concerning Research Question 1, the district’s website lists various social-emotional supports
and interventions that school sites can implement to support student behavior. What is not noted
is what supports are used at each site. The information is conflicting, stating that supports are
available at all schools, while also stating they are available at some sites. For the matrix,
alternatives to suspension are suggested, but it is not known which alternatives are recommended
for each infraction. The document also does not address any specific strategies administrators
and teachers can take for frequently occurring behaviors.
The survey data revealed that half of the participants somewhat agreed to feeling
supported by the district with student discipline, while the remaining participants either
disagreed or somewhat disagreed. When asked, I know who to contact if I have questions about
how to handle a student discipline event, half of the participants knew whom to contact. Three
participants, who have been in the district between 14–23 years, indicated they somewhat agreed
to being trained by the district in restorative practices. The other participants indicated they
disagreed with being trained in restorative practices, their total years in the district ranged from
2–22 years. The data obtained from the survey did not indicate if the training was required or
optional training from the district.

46
During the interview, participants were asked what training the district has provided in
culturally responsive practices. All participants said that they did not have any specific training.
Carlos shared that last summer he spent his own money to attend a series of culturally responsive
training sessions. He shares that in 2008 when he was a teacher, he attended courageous
conversation training, but adds that the district does not provide opportunities for administrators:
But I just go and search for things on my own because, you know, I think that our district
and the world of education is not in the world that you and I live in. Their target is not our
target. Schools were not created for people like you and I, so that's not the target. So, we
then have to go out and do our own thing. And, so, I just try to do things like that. I've
gone through the Trust Foundation. I did that a couple [of] summers ago.
There were similar findings in Kai’s response. He did not recall any specific culturally
responsive training from the district, other than a few EPOCH sessions from last year. His
perspective on being a culturally responsive educator stems from him just wanting to be a good
human being:
I think, as a human being, I’ve always wanted to cultivate my lens as a human being,
right? Not as a site administrator, but just as a human being. You know, I think I bring
that lens, that mindset of just wanting to make sure that whatever I do, I make sure that
I'm just equitable, ethical, and it's all morally sound and that I'm not projecting some
subdued microaggression with somebody because of implicit bias.
While the survey indicated that 66.7% of respondents somewhat agreed with the district
providing training to administrators on restorative practices, the participants who were
interviewed contradicted the survey results. All three principals shared that they have not
received any training from the school district to support student behavior. They also had no

47
formal restorative practices training. According to the district parent handbook, restorative
practices are listed as a strategy that all schools should be implementing, but 16.7% of the
respondents indicated that they are not trained, and 33.3% of respondents have not trained their
teachers to use restorative practices.
The district website has a page that informs about additional support the district provides.
There are support centers at schools in the district that provide
Support to students who are struggling socially, emotionally, behaviorally and/or
academically. At each center, a coordinator works closely with school staff to identify
students in need of assistance. Once identified, social workers, family advocates, interns,
and community partners work directly with students and parents to address issues that are
of concern to them, drawing on other resources for additional support.
Each interview participant was asked if social workers were on their site to support students'
social-emotional needs. All three principals replied yes, but only had the additional support 1 day
a week. Tiffany gave her opinion on what her district should do:
What they need to do is have a social worker at every site. They need to have every
school have a discipline matrix. They need to have a conversation with every teacher and
put out publications that talk about the why [emphasis added] kids are acting that way,
and ways to support the kids. That’s where they need to start. And there is none of that.
There are no social workers around. I'm not talking about somebody who shows up for
half a day or one day, I'm talking about somebody who's there to consistently build
relationships with kids every day.
The information on the district webpage and the participant surveys and interviews
contradicts one another. The information on the website alludes to many resources and supports

48
provided to all school sites. However, participants indicated they have not all been trained nor
have access to resources needed to support the behavioral needs of their students.
Implicit Bias Contributes to Educators Not Seeing Black Children as Children
Implicit bias can play a role in how school administrators and teachers discipline students
(Scott, 2021; Staats, 2015). Survey results indicated that implicit bias had been attributed to how
Black students are perceived. Teachers can have preconceived notions about BIPOC students and
seek out misbehaviors from said students, even though the same behaviors are being displayed
by White students (Scott, 2021). Figure 2 addresses the following survey item: Teacher implicit
bias plays a part in how Black students are treated at my school. All participants responded that
they either agreed or somewhat agreed that implicit teacher bias plays a part in how teachers treat
Black students.
In contrast, when participants were asked to rate if teachers treat students fairly regardless
of race, ethnicity, or culture, over 60% agreed (see Figure 3). It is unknown what accounts for the
disparity in the two questions. It can be assumed that if teachers are implicitly biased against
Black students, then all students are not treated fair.

49
Figure 2
Teacher Implicit Bias Plays a Part in How Black Students Are Treated at My School

50
Figure 3
Teachers at My School Treat Students Fairly Regardless of Race, Ethnicity, or Culture

The interview participants all described the need to change their school's culture to create
a more positive environment for Black students. Carlos stated that the teachers he did not hire, all
but four, were not pleased with how he shifted their school’s approach to discipline. He
elaborates on the need for change, recalling the exact date and time on the first day on the job,
And I remember, I was in a classroom, and I was called on the radio, that I had some kids
in the office that needed to be seen. I came to my office, and I had 28 African American
boys in my office. I had come from a school of almost 3000 students … high school. I
never had 28 kids in 1 hour ever sent to the office.

51
Tiffany describes her school’s previous culture as “toxic”, and the transformation was a
“brutal process” that she would not want to experience again. When she first started at her site,
students would be lined up in the office, teachers would just “punish them.”
There was no talking to kids. There was no relationship building. There was no mercy, no
grace. It was a mess. It was to the point where I would approach a kid on campus, I swear
this is true. They would literally raise their fist at me as if they want to fight back. They
were in such a whole fight mode with everything.
She shares “It’s been a long, slow, painful process getting people to see Black children as
children. They are just children, no different than their kids.”
Kai had a similar experience in noticing that it was mainly his Black students that were
sent to the office. He recalls that during one year, he asked his office manager to tally the
ethnicity of students who were sent to the office; most students were Black. He also
acknowledges that he has older teachers who are “entrenched in the traditional mindset” and that
there has been an “abuse of disruption, Section K, definitely defiance” type behavior that has led
to students being sent out
The media can play a role in how people form negative stereotypes that can lead to a
person's implicit bias (Scott, 2021). Carlos spoke about how outside influences, such as the
media, have impacted his teachers' perception of Black students on his campus. He states, “If we
haven't taken the time to get to know the child… we are afraid of them because of what we have
seen that the media teaches us and shows us what a person of color is.” Staats (2015) argues that
well-intentioned adults can contribute to inequitable practices.
All interview participants had similar observations when they took over their school sites.
Their observations revealed that mainly their Black students were being sent to the office. The

52
school environments were not conducive to supporting Black students. The data implies that
implicit bias may have contributed to how Black students were perceived and treated by the staff,
principals included.
Revising School Practices Can Better Support Black Students
That year, I had 14 teachers, and I think like six of them self-surplused [volunteering to
change school sites]. And so, they saw I was using a different approach with my kids,
giving them an opportunity, being able to talk to them, instead of just saying you're going
home suspended. (Interview Participant Carlos)
Carlos has implemented many changes throughout the years, but he recalls one
experience with vivid detail. When he first took over at his site and learned about the sixth-grade
promotion policy during his “second or third week.” He tells the story of a teacher asking if he
was tracking referrals because the teacher needed to know how many a particular student
received. The teacher proceeded to tell him that if a student received six referrals, they could not
participate in the promotion. When he asked who came up with the policy, he was told it was the
site-based decision-making team. So, they had used a platform by, with the foundation of the
teachers’ contract to punish not only my kids, but a family to not participate in a celebration.”
Carlos could not remove the policy because it was decided on through a collective bargaining
action and needed to be voted on. He held a site-based decision-making meeting, proposing that
students who receive referrals can attend Saturday school for 3 hours, and the infractions would
then be removed. Knowing that he may be outvoted, he invited parents because the contractual
language says decisions are to be made with all stakeholders. In the end, the revised policy was
approved with the support of parents. Carlos held Saturday school for 3 hours each week. He

53
used his own money to purchase food each Saturday to feed his students. Some of his teachers
were displeased with his approach and later moved to other schools.
Carlos recalls a conversation with his office manager, a Black woman.
She says, you didn’t need me to call her? I said, she speaks English, right? And she says,
well of course. I said, no offense, but why would I need you to call her? And she says,
well, because she’s Black.
Carlos learned then that anytime a Black student was sent to the office, the office manager was
responsible for calling the parent. He noticed that his teachers were afraid of people of color. He
then implemented a policy change. “So now, if they ever send a child to my office, you must call
them, you must, because you are the first responder and you’re the person that saw the action.”
He also required his teachers to document the parent contacts through the student data system.
Because of the new school-wide practice, he saw a decrease in office referrals. Tiffany had a
similar experience with a decline in office referrals. Having mainly Black students sent to the
office, she said one day she had a conversation with teachers and asked, “what’s the point of all
of these referrals?” She told her teachers they would have to complete the referrals on the student
data system. “So, that slowed the process down and me just having a conversation with them
about that.” By adding that one extra step, teachers were not wanting to add one more thing to
their plate, which had an unintended positive consequence, fewer office referrals.
In contrast, Kai has not had many behavioral referrals on his campus. He speaks highly of
his teachers, saying that,
To my staff's credit, right? They’ve always been good with kids. Yes, some of our staff
members I’ve had a few fights. And one of the things that we agree on, and I always say,
over and over, is I still love you

54
Even with his love for his staff, he recognized a need for change, “We talk to children in
sometimes disrespectful way[s], sometimes in criminalizing way[s], sometimes in ways that
we’re creating them or making them feel bad.” He has worked with his staff to implement an
approach called ethos of care. Kai elaborates, “the ethos of care is a philosophy about doing
something to create a kind of community and change that we want to see. Removing controls,
removing structures that are controlling, restructuring the way we talk to children.” He wants
staff members to call each other out, including calling him out, when someone is not operating
from a lens of the ethos of care. He asserts that, “as a staff, we have an agreement that that’s what
we will do for each other. Because this is our community, and we need to care about them.” The
teachers that have embraced this approach have stronger relationships with students and families,
he also rarely has any students sent to the office.
Each participant was asked what culturally responsive training they have provided to
their staff. Prior to Kai implementing the ethos of care, he trained his staff on implicit bias,
microaggressions, stereotypes, discrimination, and social constructs. He refers to himself as a
BIPOC leader and says that he has used his own experiences, showing his vulnerability to
change his staff's mindsets. He also introduced his staff to Adverse Childhood Experiences
(ACE), “we recognize that some of our kids do come with some of those issues. And those are
the issues that really surface when kids are interacting with each other and when they’re
interacting with adults.” For the community he currently serves, it is often his Black families that
have had adverse experiences. He expects his staff to be able to recognize when a student may be
responding due to having an adverse experience and for them, as a team, to support the student.
Tiffany also provided training on implicit bias, prejudice, and courageous conversations
to her staff. Both Carlos and Tiffany have provided book studies to build cultural competency.

55
Carlos mentioned that his staff was getting ready to start another study and his plant manager, the
lead custodian, even asked to join.
Using School-Wide Approaches to Support Student Discipline Decreases Student Behavior
Incidents
Research has demonstrated that implementing school-wide approaches to discipline such
as PBIS and restorative practices can positively impact disproportionate suspension rates for
Black students. Each participant has taken a different approach to their school-wide practices.
Carlos’s site implemented PBIS as their school-wide approach to discipline. Students are
recognized for their positive behavior by receiving SOAR cards where “[they] catch them doing
good.” Carlos will purchase, with his own money, prizes for his Friday raffle, where students
submit their SOAR cards. Their school had planned on having monthly dance parties, however,
COVID limited the ability to gather on campus. To accommodate the COVID restrictions, they
increased the number of SOAR cards that were pulled for the raffle. He recalls that when PBIS
was first implemented, teachers were not implementing it to fidelity. He recently purchased PBIS
posters to hang in classrooms and had a discussion with staff over the summer about effectively
implementing the program. He says, “That’s when I felt like I heard the teachers using ‘make
sure to be safe, thank you for being respectful.” He acknowledges that his school still has work
to do when discussing how his teachers do not treat students as people, “Like, we see them as
students, kids, somebody we could control still. So, that’s a mindset that I’m still trying to work
on.”
While Tiffany has not implemented a full PBIS program, she has collaborated with her
staff to develop a discipline matrix, modeled after another school district’s matrix. As previously
mentioned, Tiffany met with her teachers about the referrals, asking what was the purpose of

56
writing so many referrals. Before she addressed her teachers, she wanted to ensure that she
would provide support for them, the support was the discipline matrix. She explains her process,
I [had] a meeting and I said, tell me what behaviors are annoying. I had them tell me. It
was like a group exercise. So, I took all the behaviors and a couple [of] others they might
have forgotten, they pretty much had them all, and I created a matrix. ... I have all of the
offenses down, right, and it says if they do this, you do that.
Tiffany explicitly outlined the steps teachers were to take for minor and “egregious” behaviors to
eliminate the “frivolous” types of behavior referrals such as sending students out for not having a
“pencil or because she just won’t be quiet.” She also told her staff that students would not lose
instructional time for an offence, they were not happy with her for implementing that policy, but
she said it worked. She added that she has not extensively trained her teachers, but they use a
restorative like approach to student discipline.
Kai has a different outlook and approach to a school-wide discipline system.
I don't have a set school-wide discipline. For something, this is the consequence. For a
second thing, that's the consequence. I don't want to write anything because if I write
something like that, I'm held to it. I will be held to that because that's going to be an
approved plan by the school site council and by the staff. So, I have a loose discipline
plan, so that I can do what I need to do, and I'm not tied to that.
He explains that he used to have a strict policy, but it created more problems. At his site, they
make phone calls home for minor offenses, time-outs for reflections, and apology letters. They
will also “coach the child” and provide opportunities to “test the replacement behaviors.” For
fights, throwing things in the classroom or hurting others, those are the behaviors that go directly
to him.

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Discussion for Research Question 1
Overall, the data reveals that there is not a systemic approach in place to support schools
with student discipline. School districts that have district-wide policies in place for student
behavior have a positive impact on school discipline practices (Anyon, et. al., 2014). The
district’s website mentions that all schools will use restorative practices, the data indicates that
not all principals have been trained in restorative practices. Research suggests that implementing
restorative practices reduces the use of exclusionary practices, especially for Black and Latinx
students (Gregory, et. al., 2014). A reemerging theme was the negative perception that teachers
had towards Black students. Interview participants spoke in detail about addressing the mindsets
of their teachers. The data revealed that there has not been much training provided to school site
administrators. Without proper, on-going training, principals lack the capacity to properly
address their own biases and create a safe educational setting for Black students. In addition, if
principals lack the capacity, then they cannot effectively support their teachers, and the perpetual
cycle of singling out Black students continues, creating overrepresentation in student behavior
data. However, the interview participants provided insight to the individual steps they took to
address the disproportionate practices at their sites. There was insufficient evidence to conclude
why the district implies that all schools implement restorative practices. To address that claim,
information would need to be gathered from the district’s department that supports student
behavior. Given the district's history of the disproportionate suspensions for Black students, data
draws attention to the need of addressing the implicit bias of teachers and site administrators as
well as providing training in culturally responsive strategies to support schools in creating
positive outcomes for Black students. Failure to implement systemic systems can continue to
lead to the overrepresentation of Black students in suspensions.

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Results for Research Question 2
Research Question 2 explored the following: What culturally responsive strategies do
principals use in their discipline practices for Black students? National suspension data reveals
that Black students are disproportionately disciplined more than any other subgroup (National
Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Research also reveals that educator’s discipline Black
students more harshly than their White peers (Dumas, 2018; Losen, 2011), and the suspension
does not change behavior (Skiba et al., 2014). The California Education Code states that it is at
the principal's discretion to issue a school suspension. Therefore, principals have a choice and
could opt to use alternatives to school suspension as a disciplinary action. Such alternatives
could include counselling, mentoring, restorative circles, community service, parent meetings, or
alternative recess. If principals are aware of the disproportionate discipline practices, they can be
more intentional about finding alternatives to support their students. To discipline is to teach, and
as educators, that is the premise of the job. To address the research question, interview
participants were asked about their purpose for being a principal, their views on exclusionary
discipline, the kind of misbehaviors that are prominent at their sites, and how they handled
student discipline. Survey participants were asked about their implicit bias and if they used
alternatives to school suspension. While the focus of this research question was about culturally
responsive discipline practices, it became apparent from the interviews that school principals
need to be intentional about being culturally responsive in all approaches to address the
disproportionate suspension rates of Black students.
Having an Equity Centered Purpose Can Support Black Students
To understand who each interview participant was and why they make the decisions they
do, they were asked what their purpose was. In exploring their backgrounds, all three participants

59
shared that they did not intend to be a principal. Other people encouraged them to take that step
to get their administrative credentials. All participants did not hesitate when asked what their
purpose was, and the underlying theme was equity.
Carlos’ purpose:
My purpose is that all of my kids, that walk through our front door, that they have an
opportunity, just like any other White child walking through a school. Growing up, I
didn't feel that way. And so, I want to make sure that everybody who walks through my
school believes in themselves and can achieve anything that they want to. Because again,
growing up, just by you having a different name, talking differently, or having a different
skin tone, for some, we’re seen differently. And so, I want all of my kids to know that it
don’t matter what country, what language you speak, or how you look, everybody's going
to make it.
Tiffany’s purpose:
I really do see my purpose as creating an equitable and comfortable place for students of
color. A place where they feel loved, they feel wanted, and where they get treated fairly.
Where people see them as worthy as anyone else.
Kai’s purpose:
I am always thinking about race to make sure that I’m addressing racial inequities…And
I think that’s what drives me to also do my job because I want to make sure that what I do
is also better for the kids and for their families.
Each participant is a BIPOC educator. They all addressed equity for their BIPOC students
in their purpose statements and wanting to create better student outcomes.

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Implicit Bias or Not, Suspension Numbers Run High for Black Students
In the 2019–2020 school year, schools that had disproportionate suspension rates for
Black students from the previous year were identified, these schools were called 5% variance
schools. Five percent variance schools had to develop an action plan that would reduce the
number of suspensions for Black students. Both Carlos and Tiffany had 5% variance schools.
When asked about the approach they implemented to address the disproportionate suspension
rates, they both said they started with the behavior data. With his staff, Carlos reviewed a report
that was conducted about Black male suspensions. He then disaggregated the data by grade level
and by teacher. After spending time analyzing the data and having conversations about the report,
he began to see a decline in office referrals. Carlos has also taken the initiative to build his own
capacity by seeking out professional learning opportunities on culturally responsive practices.
Tiffany was not pleased with how the percentages were calculated, she said that was a difficult
year for her, as her school had “an issue with predatory students that year.” She defined
predatory behavior as those who pick on the innocent and even shared of sexual predatory
behavior at her school site. While not pleased with the data, it “was still a good wakeup call … to
change the practice.” Since then, she and her staff have gone through a “growth process.”
Survey participants were asked if their implicit bias has played a part in how they have
disciplined Black students. Over 60% of participants agreed or somewhat agreed with the
statement (see Figure 4). Eighty-three percent of respondents said that consequences are the
same for Black students compared to non-Black students (see Figure 5). It should also be noted
that five of the six participants had a 5% variance school. More data would need to be collected
from other principals who had a 5% variance school to draw a correlation between implicit bias

61
and Black student suspensions. However, Tiffany mentioned that the district has a culture of
relying heavily on suspensions instead of interventions to support student behavior.
There were commonalities between Carlos and Tiffany’s approaches, both starting with
the data with their staff to begin the dialogue. It was noted in the analysis of Research Question
1, that the district did not provide opportunities for principals to expand their capacity in
strategies to support Black students. However, Tiffany and Carlos took it upon themselves to
increase their knowledge base on their own.

Figure 4
My Implicit Bias Has Played a Part in How I Have Disciplined Black Students

62
Figure 5
If a Non-Black Student Commits the Same Infraction as a Black Student, the Consequences Are
The Same

Implementing Alternatives to Suspension to Keep Black Students in School
Alternatives to out-of-school suspensions are used to keep students in school. Data
gathered from the survey indicated that all participants agreed or somewhat agreed with using
alternatives to suspensions more than suspensions. More detailed information about the
alternative approaches was collected from the interviews.
Interview participants were asked about their views on exclusionary practices. Carlos
responds by saying,
I think if a child is suspended, in my opinion, it’s a reflection of our poor work at the
school. That’s my take. We’ve had the kids for months now, some of them are now in the

63
sixth grade, so, we’ve had them for a couple of years. If we still cannot work with the
kids we’re failing, we are failing them, we’re failing as a school. That's my take on that.
They come to school to learn, to have fun, to be with their friends, to do whatever they
want to do during recess. And if we are taking that away from them, we have failed.
Tiffany’s response reflected her past practices and growth as a principal. She spoke on the
suspension driven culture of the district and how she would suspend students to give everyone a
break from the student and their behaviors. She reflects on how it was at her site, “it was just so
out of control and there was, just a lot of, you know, craziness.” She has since made changes to
her practices and will “think twice” before disciplining a student, getting the opinions of other
staff before making a decision. She says, “We are not a suspension school.”
Like the other participants, Kai was against suspending students,
We don't move to suspension. They [teachers] know I'm not going to suspend, unless it's
warranted. And there's always going to be an alternative, you know, because as
mentioned, if I can find it, because it is about keeping kids in school and not kicking kids
out of school.
While suspension is not the first approach to student discipline, the participants did say
they will suspend a student if warranted. For Kai, it is case by case, as he considers the context.
He provides the example of a student bringing a knife to school. “If a child brought a knife to
school unintentionally, or they didn't brandish it, they didn't use it to hurt anybody, it's just in
their [back]pack, [and] forgot to put it away, everybody makes mistakes.” For this situation he
would not suspend the student, instead he would have a conversation with the student and parent
and ask the parent to check the backpack daily. Conversely, “if they [student] were on campus,
and they went after somebody with the intention to hurt them [another student],” he would

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suspend the student and hold a parent meeting, putting a plan in place to support the student. Kai
will take steps to remove a student from his campus when the behaviors are “severe, extreme”
and the student is aggressive and violent. In line with Kai, Tiffany will suspend students who are
“violent predators” and “sexual predators because the things they do to children leave a long
impression or mark, and I can’t have a person like that marking up my babies.”
When sharing his opinions about suspension, Carlos told a story about when a student
brought a BB gun to school. Instead of suspending the child, Carlos met with the parents and told
them he was taking their child to a behavior hearing. Behavior hearings are held at the district
office; depending on the nature of the situation, a student can be removed from the school or
expelled from the district. Carlos did not want that to happen, and he did not want the BB gun on
his record. He states, But I wanted him to understand, not just coming from me, but coming from
someone who could actually remove a child from a school or even a district, the importance of
following the rules.” His alternative approach served as a teachable moment for his student.
A common theme amongst the interview participants was that they would not suspend
students for fighting. Tiffany calls students who physically fight “mutual combatants.” Her
approach involves teaching, “I need to teach them how to better engage with each other. So, I try
teaching them, maybe keep them off the playground for a little while, and we do some more
lessons or until they cool down.” Carlos explained his procedure for handling fights.
The only time I have had to suspend a child [long pause] if they get into a fight, is if they
cannot sit down in the same room with that other individual, and myself, and talk over
this. If they can't be over that, then you need to go home. So, I do give them a good 30-
minute cooldown. I give them a think sheet. But if they cannot, within 30 minutes, sit
down and say, my bad for whatever I did, and show me that we're cool, you are going

65
home. It's simply for the safety of everybody involved because I don't want to just send
them back to class, still being upset, and then after school, somebody could really get
hurt.
Carlos laughingly, recollects an encounter with one of his students who tried fighting another
student.
And I love this kid. [Student’s name], he’s a little thing, but man, [student’s name] will
fight me if he has to. And I love him because he’s such a cool cat. I love his swag. I love
his demeanor, but you mess with him, you’re going to find him. He goes from zero to
100, like bam! He wants to fight.
Carlos sat his student down and explained his procedure. His student responded, “you don’t get
suspended for that [fighting] here?” Carlos shares how he told him if he would sit down, “young
man to young man,” to have a conversation, he will not be suspended. He continues the story
with his student's response, “My mom should have put me here since a long time ago; I’ve been
kicked out of so many schools.”
Each participant emphasized how they would talk to students as a consequence for their
behavior, Tiffany said she “probably talks them to death.” Additional strategies that participants
mentioned were teachable moments, teaching students’ strategies on how to engage with others,
alternative recess, community circles and student support services were used as alternatives to
suspension. Opportunities are given to students to practice the “replaced behavior,” and “make
amends.” After working with students, Kai will “praise every right choice” the student makes
and will follow up with students, “I’m going to set time [aside] to just play chess and to regularly
check in and make positive phone calls. Both Tiffany and Kai discussed taking the time to
understand the root cause of the behavior so an “action plan” can be implemented to support the

66
student. All participants said they will meet with the parents and will at times, involve the parents
by getting their input on the appropriate consequence for the behavior. Carlos has a specific
procedure; he talks to his students and calls parents each time.
Every single time I have a child in my office, I call the parent letting them know, your
child arrived at [the time] and it is now [the time]. I’m going to be sending your child
back to class, but this is what we discussed. Do you have any questions? Would you like
to come and meet me? And they’re like, you're not sending my child home? No.
Kai wants to ensure that he does not jump to conclusions and assign consequences; he
explains, “but one of the things that I find to be very valuable is that people value justice, and it’s
right when I can present facts and information in context. And I could present it in a non-
judgmental, very objective, facts based upon an account capturing from the beginning of the
event to the end,” and he will then attach an appropriate consequence. He will take his time to
investigate and has “been accused of taking too long with solving problems.”
Another recurring theme was finding the underlying cause of the behavior and
implementing appropriate interventions. Kai stated several times during his interview that
handling discipline is case by case, “discipline isn’t cookie cutter for our kids, because our kids
are from different backgrounds.” Kai and Tiffany mentioned putting action plans in place with
the support of parents.
Being Intentional with Recruitment Can Support Black Students
A prevalent theme amongst participants was their intentionality in hiring practices and
attempts at involving more Black parents with school events and committees. Tiffany’s teachers’
racial and ethnic demographics do not align with her students' demographics. Eighty per cent of
her teachers are White women, she does not have any Black teachers on staff, and many of her

67
students are Latinx and Black. She has been intentional about the support staff and programs she
has brought to her site. She researched programs and brought in Black mentors for her students.
The after-school staff “is almost 100% African American … and they have been a great help with
that male presence.”
When Carlos first took over his school site, his teaching demographics did not match the
student population, most of his teachers were White. His students are predominantly Latinx,
followed by Asian and then Black. Over the years, Carlos has diversified his staff to align to his
student population. He hired a Black teacher, but that teacher has since left the school. Kai was
the only participant who responded positively when asked about the alignment of his teachers’
racial and ethnic demographics compared to his students. He was intentional about hiring Black
teachers; he has hired three and wanted representation in all segments. He has a Black teacher in
the primary grades, kinder through third grade, one in the intermediate grades, four through six,
and has a Black special education teacher. Kai has had conversations with his Black teachers,
informing them that their voice is valuable and encourages them to speak out when they see
something that is inequitable, “I give them permission to call it out. But at the same time, I also
need them to represent my kids, my parents, and I tell them you are here for a reason.”
Interview participants have also been deliberate in their approaches to recruiting Black
parents to be part of school committees and attend events. Carlos has two educational programs
on his campus. He noticed that Black parents in one program were more active in on-campus
events but he wanted to reach all his Black parents. He recalls an event he held at a local park to
meet his Black parents.
I can remember going to the park. ... I bought like 10 pizzas when I first started here,
Little Caesars, and I went over there, and like a bunch of kids came out. I just wanted the

68
parents to meet me because they wouldn't come to the school. I had been here for almost
a month, and I didn't know who these parents were. So, I just did that, and a bunch of
parents were like, oh, you're the principal? Okay, and I'm like, whenever you guys need
something, just go to the school. Like, that's your spot. That's your spot. I still never got
it. So, that is something that I still need to work on.
Carlos said he had a very active Black mom on committees a few years back, but currently does
not have anyone on a committee.
Tiffany has had a Black parent on the School Site Council for the past two years, she
previously had another Black parent on the council as well. She does state that, “Typically,
African American parents don’t get involved.” She has “good working relationships,” with her
Black parents, but is not sure why do not get involved in school committees. When asked if she
ever held a meeting just for Black families, she said, “I’m a little apprehensive to do that because
of the political climate … unfortunately, it’s probably something I would have to present it to
everyone. I’m not comfortable doing that, but I have thought about doing that [meeting with
Black parents].” She adds that since COVID, she has not “pushed hard” to get Black parents
involved on school committees.
Kai has two Black parents on his School Site Council and shares how he recruited
parents.
I intentionally asked him [a Black parent], one actually volunteered, she was new to our
site, so she volunteered. I told her I'll get you in because I needed somebody who can
bring that perspective to my meetings. One parent, I strategically asked her to sit on it
[School Site Council] because she's Black, but she also has a special ed student.

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He strategically selected the parent with the student in special education because “she
understands the laws from a larger perspective … is highly involved in her child's education and
understands systemic injustice.” To increase involvement, he also includes parents in the
discipline process, getting their perspective on possible consequences.
Discussion for Research Question 2
I feel like when I deal with nine- to 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds maybe, they’re learning.
Man, I was 23 and I wasn’t sure of what I was doing. So, you’re talking about a 10-year-
old, as a male, it takes so long to mature. I see how my young ladies walk around and
they’re so much more mature than my boys. And I remember being there. And not to say
that, you know, boys and girls should be treated differently, but they should have some
space to grow. What better place than the place they spend most of their day. (Interview
Participant Carlos)
In California, for most student offenses, it is at the discretion of the principal to suspend
or not. Previous research draws attention to the disproportionate suspension rates for Black
students, with Black students being suspended for less severe, minor infractions (Nance, 2016;
Skiba, et. al., 2002; Skiba, et. al., 2014). When comparing low suspension middle schools to high
suspension middle schools, with high populations of Black students, low suspension schools had
principals who were committed to their Black student population and approached their students
with care (Mukuria, 2002). The study also found that principals in low suspension schools
viewed the district’s suspension policy as a frame of reference, but ultimately, used their own
judgment on disciplining students (Mukuria, 2002). In response to Research Question 2 (What
culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for Black
students?), all interview participants did not utilize a one size fits all discipline approach and

70
were very cognizant of how Black students were treated by some teachers on their staff. Carlos
understands that students will be judged based on their skin color and wants his BIPOC students
to have the same opportunities as his White students. Tiffany wants her BIPOC students to feel
loved, while working to provide an equitable and comfortable learning environment. While Kai
is always thinking about race and working to ensure that all decisions, he makes are equitable
and fair.
The interview participants noted the challenges they faced, but never gave up. Tiffany
was told that she “just wants to protect the Blacks” by White people in her community. Kai had
to deal with his staff talking negatively about how he does not suspend students. Carlos dealt
with some upset teachers saying he took away all the consequences for inappropriate behavior.
Their approaches all focused on not relying on suspension as a consequence and implementing
alternatives to support not only their Black students, but all students.
In addition, they understood representation matters in creating a safe learning
environment for their Black students. From hiring Black teachers, approaching Black parents to
serve on school committees, and selecting after-school programs with Black staff, the
participants were intentional about having representation for their students. When school
principals understand the challenges that Black students can endure at school and are intentional
about changing the narrative, schools can begin to be a safer place for Black students.
Results for Research Question 3
Research Question 3 explored the following: What do Black parents of Black students
say about school discipline practices and how those practices impact their children? Research
Question 3 grapples with how Black parents perceive their school’s discipline process. By
understanding the parent perspective, schools can use the information gathered to revise their

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current policies and develop a culturally responsive approach to student discipline. Previous
research suggests that Black parents support the discipline process when logical consequences
are assigned but were not in support school suspensions (Gibson & Haight, 2013). For this
research question, the intent was to survey and interview Black parents of Black students in the
fourth through sixth grades. There were challenges with recruitment for this study even after
multiple attempts to get participants. While 11 parents consented to participate in the survey, six
surveys were submitted. However, one survey was left unanswered. Of the five participants, one
consented to an interview. Of the five participants, four indicated the school their child attended.
even after multiple attempts to get participants. While 11 parents consented to participate in the
survey, six surveys were submitted. Of the four, three participants were at schools that were
identified as 5% variance schools during the 2019 school yea
Black Parents Understand Their School’s Discipline Policies
While there is not enough research to indicate a positive correlation between parent
involvement and student behavior (Marcucci, 2020; Mowen, 2017), it is important to know if
schools effectively communicate their school discipline policies not only to students, but to
parents. If parents know and understand the discipline policy, then parents can support their
children by reinforcing the rules at home.
Participants had to rate their response to the statement I know the student behavior policy
at my child’s school. Responses showed that 60% of participants agreed and somewhat agreed to
knowing the behavior policy. Results aligned to a similar survey item that was asked on the
principal survey, over 60% agreed or somewhat agreed to parents knowing the behavior policy.
Most participants also agreed to schools clearly communicating behavioral expectations and to
knowing what would happen if their child were to get into trouble. When asked to rate the

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statement The school involves parents in developing school policies, 60% somewhat agreeing to
the statement, 40% somewhat disagreed or disagreed with the statement.
Participants were asked My input is valued at my child’s school and 80% of respondents
agreed or somewhat agreed. When comparing the responses to a similar item on the principal
survey, over 60% of principals indicated that they seek the input of Black parents when
developing school-wide policies (see Table 3). Black parent perception was rather favorable in
knowing the policies and being involved in developing the policies. In contrast, on the principal
survey, over 60% of principals had a behavior committee and there were no Black parents on the
committees. This is not to say that the only way to gather input is by being on such a committee,
but a follow up question would need to be asked to determine how parents contribute their input
to developing the behavior policies.

Table 3
Black Parent Input Is Valued
Responses Black parents Principal
Agree 20.0% 60.0%
Somewhat agree 60.0% 20.0%
Somewhat disagree 20.0% 0.0%
Disagree 0.0% 20.0%

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When asked about school suspensions, over 60% of participants were not aware of the
school’s suspension data. All participants did not believe that their schools relied heavily on
suspension to discipline students, which aligns with the principal survey item I use alternatives
to suspension more than suspensions, where 100% of the participants agreed and somewhat
agreed with the statement.
Participants were asked a series of questions about student discipline. Responses
indicated that parents agreed and somewhat agreed to trusting the teacher and the principal to be
fair when discipling their Black child. Over 60% somewhat disagreed with the statement I feel
my child is targeted by teachers because he/she/they are Black. The results were the same when
principals were asked the same question on their survey (see Table 4). While parents did not feel
their children were targeted because they were Black, 60% disagreed with the statement Black
students are treated the same as non-Black students. More information would need to be
obtained to determine why parents did not feel like their children were targeted but were treated
differently.

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Table 4
Response to Black Students Being Targeted
Responses Principals Parents
Black parents of Black
students feel their children
are targeted.
I feel my child is targeted by
teachers because he/she/they
are Black.
Agree 16.7% 0.0%
Somewhat agree 16.7% 40.0%
Somewhat disagree 66.7% 40.0%
Disagree 0.0% 20.0%

A Mismatch of Perceptions of Trust and Respect for Black Students From School Staff
Three questions asked about culture on the survey. Overall, parents felt that their schools
tried to understand the cultural values of their children. Data gathered from the principal
interviews indicated that some teachers did not respect students. Contrary to the principal survey
and what principals said during the interview, parents felt that both principals and teachers
respected their child’s cultural values (see Table 5 and Table 6).

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Table 5
Parent Survey Participants
Responses My child’s cultural values are
respected by the
administration.
My child’s cultural values are
respected by teachers.
Agree 60.0% 60.0%
Somewhat agree 40.0% 20.0%
Somewhat disagree 0.0% 0.0%
Disagree 0.0% 20.0%

Table 6
Principal Survey Participants
Responses The cultural values of my Black students are
respected at my school.
Agree 16.7%
Somewhat agree 33.3%
Somewhat disagree 33.3%
Disagree 16.7%

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In contrast, while participants felt their child’s cultural values were respected, participants
did not feel that teachers respected their Black child. When principals were asked the same
survey item, their responses were similar to the parent response (see Table 7). Additional
questions would need to be asked during the interview to understand the reasoning for the
responses.

Table 7
In My Opinion, Black Students Are Respected by Teachers
Responses Principals Parents
Agree 16.7% 0.0%
Somewhat agree 16.7% 20.0%
Somewhat disagree 66.0% 60.0%
Disagree 0.0% 20.0%

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Discussion for Research Question 3
Data gathered from the parent participants indicated an understanding of their school’s
discipline policies. Parents felt like their input was valued and were part of the decision-making
process. Most responses were favorable; however, participants did have an opportunity to
include additional comments on the survey, and one parent added their comment. The parent
wrote, “I have seen for myself how Black student's get treated. They are not given the same
respect nor disciplinary actions as non-Black students. The adults show no patience at all for
some Black students.” While this is a statement from one parent, it mirrors what previous
research has found, that Black students can be punished more severely than non-Black students.
Interviews would need to be conducted to better understand how Black parents feel about
student discipline practices and their experiences. In the one interview conducted, the parent
discussed her experience with her daughter being suspended. Her daughter and another student
were arguing in the classroom, the argument escalated into a physical altercation. The parent was
upset because the teacher was in the classroom the entire time and did not stop the girls from
arguing. The parent never received a phone call from the principal about the investigation. She
was only called and informed of her daughter’s suspension. She equated school suspensions to
the justice system, saying schools do not get to the root of the problem. If more Black parents
were willing to be interviewed, more could be learned from their experiences, possibly resulting
in changes to discipline practices.
Summary
This study aimed to understand what strategies schools could implement to change the
narrative on the disproportionate discipline practices that Black students encounter. The study
indicated that anti-Blackness has contributed to how Black students are perceived and treated in

78
the district of study; the evidence is apparent in surveys and interview responses. There were two
overarching findings from this study.
A key finding from the study is the need for the district to implement a culturally
responsive, systemic discipline policy. With half of the principal participants indicating that they
did not feel supported with student discipline, principals need to be provided with the appropriate
tools to create positive outcomes in student discipline. Each school must develop their own
school-wide policy which can contribute to the trend of inequities in discipline practices that has
challenged the district. The school district website states that all schools are to implement
restorative practices to support student behavior. Participants indicated they had not all been
trained in restorative practices; therefore, training for all principals is needed to properly
implement restorative practices.
Another key finding from this study indicates that mandated, ongoing anti-racist training
is needed for school site administrators and teachers. When asked if implicit bias was a
contributing factor in the treatment and discipline of students, a high percentage agreed with the
statements. Training is not only needed to recognize implicit bias but also in culturally
responsive practices that will support Black students. As Kai described, educators need to
approach Black students with an ethos of care. Educators need to care about Black students and
see them as children. Interview participants frequently mentioned how teachers were afraid of
their Black students and did not take the time to get to know them. When asked, what do you
believe is the most important factor in improving how schools handle student discipline for black
students? Tiffany states, “relationship building and seeing Black children as worthy of love and
attention and care, just as anybody else. I would just say seeing their humanity.” White
supremacy culture is embedded into the foundation of education, school districts and educators

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must be intentional about their practices to create and maintain a safe and welcoming
environment for Black students.
The third key finding came from the challenge of recruiting Black parents for this study.
Out of the six schools that participated in the study, only five parents completed the survey. On
the principal survey, participants were asked, “I seek the input of Black parents of Black students
when developing school-wide behavioral policies,” over 50% of participants agreed and
somewhat agreed to the survey item. On the parent survey, all participants agreed or somewhat
agreed to “The school involves Black parents of Black students in developing school policies.”
During the principal interviews, participants were asked about Black parent involvement at their
school sites. Each principal had made attempts to increase on-site involvement with Black
parents but spoke to the challenges and not necessarily knowing how to better engage Black
families. While the parents that participated in the survey felt their input was valued, the lack of
participants and the principals’ reflections on Black family engagement, speaks to a greater need
for schools to be intentional about creating learning environments that actively engages and
centers Black families. The following chapter will conclude this study and discuss the finding
and implications for future research.

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Chapter Five: Discussion
This study focused on elementary school site principals’ approaches to student discipline
and Black parental perception of school discipline practices. The National Center for Education
Statistics (2014a) and the California School Dashboard (n.d.-a) have similar trends in data,
showing Black students with the highest percentage of school suspensions over the years. Black
students enrolled in California’s public schools account for 5.2% of the student population and
have the highest percentage of suspensions in the state (California School Dashboard, n.d.-c).
With Latinx students representing 55% of the student population, White students at 21%, and
Asian students at 9.5% (California School Dashboard, n.d.-c), one would assume that Black
students would not have most of the suspensions. Previous research has noted how Black
students are often handed harsher consequences for minor infractions or severely disciplined for
similar infractions displayed by non-Black peers, leading to an overrepresentation in discipline
data (Dumas, 2018; Skiba et al., 2014a, 2014b). CRT argues that racism is ingrained into the
fabric of our society (Capper, 2015; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Ladson-Billings, 1998), and
Skiba et al. (2011) assert that the disproportionate discipline rates of Black students are a
violation of their civil rights protections. Given that education was built on a White supremacist
framework (Givens, 2016; Love, 2019; Monroe, 2005; Tosolt, 2020), schools must take strategic
steps to address the underlying racism that has tarnished the educational experience of Black
students.
Purpose of the Study
This study aimed to identify successful approaches that schools can implement to
counteract the disproportionate discipline rates of Black students. There were 11 participants in
this study: six elementary principals and five Black parents of Black students in grades four

81
through six. All participants were from one of six elementary schools in a Northern California
School district. The schools were selected by meeting one or more of the following criteria:
• Majority of the student population is Black
• Low suspension rates for Black students
• Decreased suspension rates for Black students
The district of the study had its research approval process, in which the identified
school’s principals were contacted by district staff to solicit participation. Parents were recruited
with the support of the identified schools. Flyers were distributed to students to send home along
with emails and text messages to families who met the specified criteria. Parents had to be Black
with a Black student(s) enrolled in the fourth, fifth, or sixth grades. All participants completed a
survey. Three principals were asked to complete a semi-structured interview. In addition to the
survey, all parents were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview. Only one parent
consented and was interviewed. The data collected from principals gained insight into the
discipline approaches utilized to account for low or reduced suspension rates of Black students.
The parent survey provided some understanding of how Black parents of Black students
perceived their school’s discipline policies. The intent was to use the semi-structured parent
interviews to understand better how schools could better support Black students when addressing
behavior incidents. This study was framed using the underlying tenet of CRT to develop the
following research questions which guided this study:
1. What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student
discipline?
2. What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for
Black students?

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3. What do Black parents of Black students say about school discipline practices and
how those practices impact their children?
Findings
Three findings emerged from this study. The first finding revealed that school sites would
be better equipped at addressing the disproportionate discipline practices for Black students if
there was a systemic approach to discipline. The second finding revealed that district support,
alternatives to suspensions, and social and emotional support for students were important to
principal participants. Findings further suggest that mandated, ongoing anti-racist training is
needed to address the implicit bias held by staff. Ten themes emerged from the three research
questions.
Research Question 1
Research Question 1 explored the following: What measures do schools put in place to
create positive outcomes in student discipline? Three findings emerged for the data indicating
that schools receive little support from the district in creating positive outcomes in student
discipline. Findings contradicted Jones (2019) accounts of districts improving their overall
culture and climate by implementing district-wide, systemic approaches, such as PBIS and
restorative practices.
One finding indicated that even with a lack of support from the district, school sites have
been able to implement school-wide policies to support students at their respective schools. The
district of study was noted as having the most suspensions in the state for Black males (Wood et.
al., 2018). Ten recommendations were provided in the report, one being on-going training, and
another was implementing restorative justice practices (Wood et. al., 2018). The district website
provides a list of supports for student behavior, such as student support centers and the

83
implementation of restorative practices at all sites. Survey responses found that 50% of
principals felt supported by their district with student discipline, 66.7% agreed with being trained
by the district in restorative practices and training their staff in restorative practices. Interview
responses from principals found that the district had not provided any training to support student
behavior and the three participants had not been trained in restorative practices.
School-wide discipline policies can be a preventative measure to reduce suspensions
(Mukuria, 2002), however, the interviews gave insight into the lack of support provided by the
district, leaving schools to determine how to best support student discipline. There was
inconsistency in each participant's approach. One principal had a “loose” approach, not wanting
a behavior matrix. He did not want to be held accountable to what was written, and preferred
autonomy with his discipline practices. When he disciplined students, he approached each
situation from an ethos of care, centering equity, and fairness. This method can be positive, if the
person operates with a sense of care, understanding that Black students face inequities with
discipline (Mukuria, 2002). Another principal stated she was not a PBIS school, but she did
develop a behavior matrix, with the support of her staff. The matrix outlined specific behaviors at
her site with steps that each teacher needed to take to address the behavior. Another principal
recently implemented PBIS at his site.
The second finding confirmed implicit bias contributed to the disproportionate discipline
rates of Black students (Anyon et. al., 2014; Carter, et. al., 2017; Staats, 2015). All principal
survey participants responded in agreement that teacher implicit bias played a part in how Black
students were treated. There was a contradiction in two of the survey items, while principals
agreed that implicit bias was at play, a little over 30% believed that teachers treated students
fairly regardless of race, ethnicity or culture. One principal shared her observations from an

84
incident on the playground. Students were not following school rules, but it was the Black
student that was called over by a teacher, not both students. The principal interviews responses
found similarities to studies conducted by Skiba et. al. (2002) and Skiba et. al. (2011), there was
an overrepresentation of Black students receiving office referrals. The interviews also confirmed
that Black students are often disciplined for subjective reasons (Losen, 2011; Murphy et. al.,
2013; Skiba et. al., 2002). One principal recalled a conversation he had with a teacher, who sent
a Black student out for being disrespectful, the student was sent out for rolling their eyes and
rolling their neck. The principal pointed out to the teacher that she did the same thing when
speaking to him. Another principal reflected on a time when a Black student was sent out for
chewing gum, he told the student to spit it out and sent him back to class. Before considering
suspending a student, input should be gathered from others taking a collaborative approach
(Gibson & Haight, 2013), that is the approach that one principal implements, as sometimes one’s
judgment can be clouded.
The findings also confirmed the need for schools to analyze the disparities in inequitable
discipline practices (Carter, et. al., 2017). Carter et. al. (2017) highlights the need to examine
root causes of racial disparities. In a discussion about how principals started the dialogue with
their teachers, they emphasized the need to start with the data. Presenting the data allowed for
teachers to visually see the disparities in the discipline data, which opened a space to discuss
how Black students were treated at their schools. Each principal that was interviewed developed
their own approach to shifting the practices at their sites. One principal provided a series of anti-
racist trainings throughout the years. Two principals provided book studies on anti-racist
practices. Two principals reported on having many conversations, often one-on-one

85
conversations with individual staff members about their inappropriate interactions or approaches
with Black students.
Research Question 2
Research Question 2 explored the following: What culturally responsive strategies do
principals use in their discipline practices for Black students? One finding emerged from the
analysis of the data. Data confirmed what Murphy et. al. (2013) found in their study, principals
who consider the lived experiences of Black students can better support Black students.
Interview participants acknowledged that anti-Blackness had a role in how their students were
perceived and treated. Skiba et. al. (2014) states, “The importance of principal leadership in
creating systemic change appears to be especially critical when the focus of the change effort is
race, culture or equity” (p. 660). Each interview participant took it upon themselves to build their
own capacity in anti-racist and culturally responsive practices to better support their students and
staff because there were no district guidance or support.
Principals relied more on alternatives to suspension than suspension when disciplining
students. Surveys responses indicated 100% of principals agreed to somewhat agreeing on using
alternatives to suspension, studies have documented the reduction of out-of-school suspensions
when alternatives approaches are taken (Jones, 2019). Interview participants conveyed the
message that they were not a suspension school, suspension was the last resort when all
interventions had been unsuccessful. Two participants recalled their accounts of their teachers’
perceptions of them, noting that some felt all the consequences had been taken away because
students were not being sent home. A commonality amongst the interview participants was to
talk to students and get to the root cause of the behavior (Anyon et. al, 2018). Once the root
cause was identified, principals would develop an action plan to support their students (Gibson &

86
Haight, 2013; Haight et. al., 2014). Principals revealed a few of their strategies that were used for
student discipline. Teachable moments were brought up, teaching students about the impact of
their actions. Teaching students’ other ways to respond to situations, mentoring students, writing
apology letters and frequent check-ins were mentioned. For fights, one principal discussed how
he would bring students together, after calming down, to talk. All principals said that fighting
does not always result in a suspension, students would have to refuse to talk to the other student
or cause injury to a student to be sent home.
A notable finding from the data indicated that principals were intentional about increasing
the representation of Black staff to support Black students. Schools must work to decenter White
supremacy culture in policies and student expectations (Givens, 2016; Love, 2019; Monroe,
2005; Tosolt, 2020), One principal was intentional about hiring Black teachers to support his
Black students. The principal was cognizant that all decisions he and other staff made may not be
in the best interest of Black students. He wanted his Black teachers to hold the staff accountable
and to call out inequities towards Black students (Hollins, 2015). Another principal spent time
researching after school programs, specifically looking for a program that would support her
Black students. She found a program of mainly Black males who had been instrumental in
supporting the social-emotional needs of her Black students.
Research Question 3
Research Question 3 explored the following: What do Black parents of Black students
say about school discipline practices and how those practices impact their children? Qualitative
and quantitative data were intended to address this research question, however, due to
recruitment challenges, quantitative data was primarily gathered from participants. Findings

87
support the need to amplify the Black parent perspective on student discipline (Mowen, 2017)
and improve interactions between Black students (Powell & Coles, 2021).
Findings contradict a finding in a study conducted by Powell and Coles (2021) where
Black mothers felt as if their voices had not been heard. Survey results were generally positive.
Black parents overwhelmingly felt their input was valued. The majority of responses also
indicated that their schools involved parents in developing school policies. The same study noted
how anti-Blackness contributed to Black mothers feeling a lack of respect from schools and
feeling like their children were treated differently (Powell & Coles, 2021). Responses indicated
that Black parents felt their Black child was respected by staff. Still, when asked if they felt their
child was targeted because they were Black, results replicated the sentiments of the previously
mentioned study. The principal survey had similar items to compare the principal and Black
parent perspectives. All similar items were rated fairly the same. One notable difference was the
principal response to Black students' cultural values being respected; the responses were split.
A notable finding came from the challenges of recruiting Black parents for the study. Six
schools participated in the study. Despite all efforts to recruit parents, only five participants
completed the study, and one parent was interviewed. During the interview, the parent noted that
Black families may not be involved due to conflicting work schedules, having only one parent in
the home, and schools not being welcoming towards Black families, making parents feel like
they do not belong. When the dominate cultural values of White families are centered, educators
implicit bias towards Black people can create uncomfortable environments for Black families
(Love, et. al, 2021; Marcucci, 2020). Principals also indicated that they were intentional about
actively recruiting Black parents to join committees and school events, they were not always
successful in their attempts. In Carlos’ interview, he stated that it was something that he still

88
needs to work on. Tiffany cited the pandemic as being a cause of her backing off on recruitment
efforts and shared that is something she will revisit.
Limitations
Several limitations related to the study are presented, and readers are cautioned in
interpreting the results. Due to the relatively small sample size, generalizability cannot be
obtained. However, this study aimed to specifically address certain elementary schools within a
particular district, and how those schools have addressed disproportionate suspension rates of
Black students. Recruitment was another limitation to this study that yielded low participation
rates for a sample of the population. For the district of study, there is a research approval process
that allows for the principal to approve or decline participation. The intended outcome was for all
eight identified schools to participate in the study; however, two schools did not agree.
Therefore, access to Black parents at the respective schools could not be obtained. It was also the
intent for Black parents to participate in a survey and an interview. There was limited access to
parents, they did not see me directly. Parents had to respond to a flier distributed by school staff,
emails, or text messages. During the recruitment phase, I received a phone call from a parent
asking if this study was even real. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing guidelines
required interviews to be conducted via Zoom. While it is not known, access to Zoom could have
been a restraint for parents. Parents would need to know how to download the program and
navigate it. Because students participated in distance learning the year before, it cannot be
assumed that parents knew how to use Zoom. Triangulation and member checks were conducted
to support the validity of the data to account for researcher bias. However, triangulation of the
parent data could not be obtained due to insufficient interview participants.

89
Implications for Practice
This study aimed to identify successful practices that schools could implement to support
the disproportionate discipline of Black students. The findings from this study provide valuable
insight for school leaders on how to better support Black students and provide more positive
outcomes with disproportionate discipline practices. This study identifies four implications for
practice (see Table 8).

Table 8
Implications for Practice
Behavior program Advisory board School social worker Training
Implement a district-
wide positive
student behavior
program, such as
PBIS and/or
Restorative
Practices, to
reduce inequitable
practices amongst
school sites.
Provide on-going
training and site
support with
implementation.

Establish advisory
boards at the district
and school site level
to support student
discipline. The
board should
include multiple
stakeholders, with
an explicit plan to
recruit Black
parents/guardians.
The purpose of the
board would be to
analyze student
discipline data,
identify trends,
develop alternatives
to suspension and
make
recommendations
on next steps to
support student
behavior.
Increase the number
of social workers
at school sites,
providing every
school with a
social worker 5
days a week.
Social workers can
provide social-
emotional support
to students and
provide training to
the staff on how to
best support
students’ social-
emotional
development.
Implement mandated,
on-going anti-
racist professional
development for
all district staff.

90
The first implication of practice emphasizes the importance of systemic district support.
While this study focused on specific school sites, school leaders cannot be successful without the
support of their district leadership. Survey and principal interview data indicated that principals
did not feel supported when addressing student discipline. Districts that have implemented
programs such as PBIS or restorative justice practices have seen declines in Black student
suspensions (Anyon et. al., 2014). The district identifies restorative practices are implemented at
all sites; however, participant responses contradict that statement. To eliminate inequitable
practices amongst sites, the district can invest in explicit training in restorative practices, coupled
with on-going site support. This will alleviate the need for school principals to come up with
their own school-wide approach at supporting student behavior. San Francisco Unified School
District (SFUSD) adopted The Safe and Supportive Schools Resolution, incorporating School
Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and restorative practices in all schools (San
Francisco Unified School District, n.d.). The SFUSD parent handbook shows various student
behavior matrixes with the steps that schools must follow. Before a principal can suspend a
Black student, the principal must call the assistant superintendent, who verifies that all
alternatives in the matrix have been implemented and that the school has exhausted all other
means at supporting the student (San Francisco Unified School District, n.d.). It would be
beneficial if the district of study implemented similar policies to support the overrepresentation
of Black student suspensions that was called out in two reports on the district (Wood, et. al.,
2018; Wood et. al., 2020).
The second implication for practice is the establishment of advisory boards that solely
focus on supporting school discipline (Monroe, 2005). There is a need for an advisory board at
the district level and at the school site level, as data indicated not all schools had a committee

91
that analyzed school behavior data. Their purpose would be to monitor and analyze discipline
data and make recommendations on the next steps that the district and schools could implement.
Haight et al. (2014) suggest that schools utilize alternatives to suspension. The advisory boards
could be used to identify the most frequently occurring behaviors and develop specific
alternatives for principals to refer to when having to discipline students. The advisory boards
should include multiple stakeholders, with a detailed plan on recruiting Black parents/guardians
to center their voices, given the trend of disproportionate suspensions of Black students.
The third implication for practice is hiring social workers to be at school sites 5 days a
week. The district website lists social workers as an intervention and support for student
behavior. Principals that were interviewed all stated they had access to a social worker, but only
for 1 day out of the week. To truly support students and provide interventions, schools need more
access to social workers. Social workers can provide counseling, mentoring, run groups, and
provide site-specific training to support the social-emotional needs of students (Gibson &
Haight, 2013).
The final implication for practice is mandated, ongoing anti-racist professional
development for all district staff. Some principals indicated that they have not had training in
restorative practices or culturally responsive practices. Some parents also indicated that they did
not feel like schools were equipped at supporting Black students. All principals responded in
agreement that implicit bias played a role in how their teachers treated Black students and over
half of principals admitted to their own implicit bias playing a role in how they have disciplined
Black students. The principal interview participants discussed the training they previously
provided for their teachers, two provided book studies, but they were not attended by all
teachers, while another principal provided a series of anti-racist training. This perpetuates

92
inequities in building the depth of knowledge on anti-racist practices for staff if principals are
providing different professional learning opportunities. The disproportionate practices are a
systemic trend and should be addressed systematically.
Future Research
This study was developed in response to a report released documenting the overuse of
suspensions for Black males in the district of study (Wood et al., 2018). The findings of this
study could serve as a reference for schools. To better support and prevent the disproportionate
discipline practices of Black students, further research is needed. Three recommendations are
presented below.
Future research can expand on the current study in a few ways. First, due to low parent
participation, the study can continue, providing a longer recruitment period to increase Black
parent participation. Black parents could be interviewed, as intended in this study, to provide a
more in-depth perspective on supporting the needs of Black students. Mowen (2017) asserts the
need to amplify the voices of Black parents and Black students to address school behavior
policies. Another extension of this study would be to include the Black student perspective by
interviewing students on how they perceive student discipline at their schools. Uplifting the
Black student voice, and allowing students to share their experiences can give district leaders
insight into the “destructive power struggles that fuel student resistance” (Murphy et. al., 2003,
p. 588). It would have great benefits to include the perspectives of Black parents and Black
students, so district leadership and schools could provide a culturally responsive approach to
supporting Black students.
Because there is a gap in research on disproportionate suspensions of Black students at
the elementary level, an additional recommendation for future research is to conduct similar

93
studies using a larger sample of elementary schools. The focus of this study was a small sample
with specific criteria. Eliminating that criterion, could allow for more information to be collected
on the various strategies that schools implement to support their Black students.
There have been relatively few studies documenting the reasons for disproportionate rates
(Skiba et. al., 2002). Future research can analyze the documented referrals and suspension codes
used on Black students. While the principals in this study relied mainly on alternatives to
suspension, there are principals who may not. It would benefit the district to know the specific
behaviors that are causing the overrepresentation of Black students in discipline data.
The Researcher
White supremacy culture is embedded in our society, we are all guilty of upholding the
tenets of WSC at some point (Jones & Okuna, 2019). As a Black elementary school principal, I
learned so much from this study, often finding myself reflecting on my own discipline practices.
In my reflections, while my intentions may have been good, thinking I was supporting my Black
students, but I was harming them. That is a hard pill to swallow. As a Black woman, I pride
myself on protecting my Black students, especially because it can be very rare for students to
have a Black teacher or Black principal. I want to be the kind of educator who operates from a
place of empathy and love, working to dismantle systems of oppression, but it can be a
challenge. The challenge lies in being intentional about unlearning everything that you have been
taught. What you may have thought was “right” all along, has been spirit murdering (Love,
2019) students all along.
While my current school site met the criteria for this study, the university’s policy would
not allow me to use my school in my study. I recently became principal of a school that has the
third largest Black student population at the elementary level. Coming back to in-person school

94
this school year was challenging. I was met with several behavioral challenges because of my
students not being in school for over a year. During the data gathering process, I was able to
immediately implement strategies that I learned through the principal interviews. When
confronted with a student who displayed inappropriate behavior that the student could be
suspended for, I would ask myself, what would Carlos, Tiffany and Kai do? Like Tiffany, I began
to collaborate on my decision-making process, calling other principals to get their input before
making a decision. There were times I opted not to suspend a student, I felt good about it at that
moment. Then, the teacher would approach me and not agree with my decision to not suspend. I
found myself questioning my own judgment and had to call another principal for reassurance.
While my school implements PBIS, and I have recently implemented restorative practices,
sometimes that is not enough. I am continuously working to unlearn harmful practices and
increase my bank of alternative practices so that I can create a safe and nurturing learning
environment, not only for my Black students, but all my students.
Conclusions
“Education has to move in our world.” These are the words from Carlos, an interview
participant, who was describing how we must decenter Whiteness in our schools. White
supremacy culture laid the foundation for what education is to look like. Here we are hundreds of
years later and BIPOC students are now the majority, but the standards of behavior still center
Whiteness. This study has shown the need for principals to be intentional about centering their
Black students in their discipline policies. Even more so, the findings show a need for school
districts to implement anti-racist, anti-Black policies to address the implicit bias that educators
can have toward Black students. When Black students are at the core of our decision-making,
outcomes for all students can improve. Failure to address the needs of Black students perpetuates

95
inequities not only in discipline practices but in overall student achievement; if students are not
in school, they are not learning.

96
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Appendix A: Consent Form
STUDY TITLE: School Discipline Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Krystle Andrews, Student, Educational Leadership Doctoral
Program
FACULTY ADVISOR: David Cash, Ed.D

You are invited to participate in a research study. Your participation is voluntary. This document
explains information about this study. You should ask questions about anything that is unclear to
you.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to explore what successful discipline practices can be implemented
to provide a counternarrative to the disproportionate discipline practices of Black students. This
study focuses on elementary school site administrators’ approaches to student discipline and
parental perception of school discipline practices.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
All participants must be in Sacramento City Unified School District and 1) be elementary school
site administrators: principals or assistant principals that have been in the district for at least 2
years; or 2) be Black parents of Black 4th–6th grade students that have been in the district at
least 2 years.

If you decide to take part, you will be asked to: 1) complete this consent form, 2) a survey will be
emailed to you: 32 questions for school site administrators and 23 questions for parents, 3)
participates may be invited to participate in an interview based on their responses to the survey,
the interview is approximately 45–60 minutes.

Participants will be asked questions that address the following research questions:

1. What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student discipline?
2. What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for
Black students?
3. What do Black parents of Black students say about school discipline practices and how
those practices impact their children?

CONFIDENTIALITY
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California Institutional
Review Board (IRB) may access the data. The IRB reviews and monitors research studies to
protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

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Participation is voluntary and you can opt out at any time. All participants will remain
anonymous and be given pseudonyms. All notes and records will be kept in password protected
files on the researcher’s personal computer and/or in locked drawers in the researcher's home.

The interviews will be conducted via Zoom and recorded. Participants will be asked if they
consent to being recorded. The interview recordings will be downloaded and stored in a
password protected file folder on the researcher’s personal computer. At the conclusion of the
data collection and analysis process, the recordings will be permanently deleted.

I agree to be (audio/video/photography) recorded: YES____ NO ____

If providing participants the opportunity to review the records:
I would like review the (recordings/transcripts) prior to their use: YES____ NO ____

RISKS AND BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION
Information learned in this study can be used to support schools and school districts in
implementing policies that are culturally relevant. There are no anticipated risks from
participating in this research.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about this study, please contact Krystle Andrews, (916) 826-3471 or
Kandrews@usc.edu.

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at (323) 442-0114 or email
irb@usc.edu.

I have carefully read the information contained above and my questions have been answered to
my satisfaction. I consent to participate in this study, and I understand fully my rights as a
potential subject in this study.

Date:______________________________________
Signature: __________________________________
(Research Participant)

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Appendix B: Principal Survey Protocol
School Discipline Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies
Thank you for your willingness to complete this survey. Participation is voluntary and the results
are anonymous.

Researcher: Krystle Andrews, Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, University of
Southern California

What is the purpose of this study?
The purpose of this study is to explore what successful discipline practices can be implemented
to provide a counternarrative to the disproportionate discipline practices of Black students. This
study focuses on elementary school site leaders’ approaches to student discipline and parental
perception of school discipline practices.

Research Questions
1. What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student
discipline?
2. What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for
Black students?
3. What do Black parents of Black students say about school discipline practices and
how those practices impact their children?

What will I do?
If you decide to participate in this study, each question must be answered to be able to submit
your responses. You may withdraw your participation at any time before sending the survey.
Please note that although you received this email to take this survey, your answers are
anonymous, and you will not be asked to identify yourself in any way. Once you submit your
answers, I will not be able to withdraw or delete your participation in this research since all
responses are anonymous. There are 32 items in the survey and will take approximately 25
minutes to complete.

Criteria to Complete this Survey
Participants must be elementary school site administrators: principals or assistant principals, in
this school district.

Risks
I do not anticipate any risks from participating in this research. However, if a question is found
bothersome, you may stop the survey entirely.

Should you have any questions or would like to know the findings once the research is
completed, I can be reached at Kandrews@usc.edu. Thank you for your time.

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Appendix C: Survey Protocol

School Discipline Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies

Thank you for your willingness to complete this survey. Participation is voluntary and the results
are anonymous.

Researcher: Krystle Andrews, Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, University of
Southern California

What is the Purpose of This Study?
The purpose of this study is to explore what successful discipline practices can be implemented
to provide a counternarrative to the disproportionate discipline practices of Black students. This
study focuses on elementary school site administrators’ approaches to student discipline and
parental perception of school discipline practices.

Research Questions
1. What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student
discipline?
2. What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for
Black students?
3. What do Black parents of Black students say about school discipline practices and
how those practices impact their children?

What Will I Do?
If you decide to participate in this study, each question must be answered to be able to submit
your responses. You may withdraw your participation at any time before sending the survey.
Please note that although you received this email to take this survey, your answers are
anonymous, and you will not be asked to identify yourself in any way. Once you submit your
answers, I will not be able to withdraw or delete your participation in this research since all
responses are anonymous. There are 22 items in the survey and will take approximately 20
minutes to complete.

Criteria to Complete This Survey
Participants must be Black parents of Black students in the 4th–6th grades.

Risks
I do not anticipate any risks from participating in this research. However, if a question is found
bothersome, you may stop the survey entirely.

Should you have any questions or would like to know the findings once the research is
completed, I can be reached at Kandrews@usc.edu. Thank you for your time.

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Appendix D: Principal Survey
School Discipline Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies

The following are general background questions.
1. Select your job position.
o Principal
o Assistant Principal
2. How do you identify?
o Female
o Male
o Non-binary
3. How do you identify racially or ethnically?
o African descent
o European descent
o Indigenous to this land
o Latin descent
o Asian descent
o Other:___________
4. How long have you been education?
________
5. How long have you been a site school administrator?
________
6. How long have you been a school site administrator at this school?
________

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7. How long have you worked in this school district?
________
8. My school is a 5% variance school, meaning I have a disproportionate number of
Black students suspended.
o Yes
o No
9. My school was a 5% variance school, meaning I had a disproportionate number of
Black students suspended.
o Yes
o No
Please rate your response to the statements below, selecting one option for each statement.
10. I feel supported by my district when handling student discipline.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
11. I know who to contact if I have questions about how to handle a student discipline
event.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
12. I am trained to use culturally responsive practices.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
13. I have trained my staff to use culturally responsive practices.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
14. I am trained to use restorative practices.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
15. I have trained my teachers to use restorative practices.

114
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree

16. My district provides training to administrators in restorative practices.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
17. Implicit bias is defined as any unconsciously held set of associations about a social
group. Teacher implicit bias plays a part in how Black students are treated at my school
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
18. My implicit bias has played a part in how I have disciplined Black students.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
19. In my opinion, Black students feel they are respected by teachers.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
20. The cultural values of my Black students are respected at my school.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
21. My teachers are not afraid to meet with Black parents of Black students.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
22. If a non-Black student commits the same infraction as a Black student, the
consequences are the same.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
23. I use alternatives to suspension more than suspension.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
24. I have a school committee that analyses school-wide behavior.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
25. I have parents on the committee.

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28. Teachers at my school treat students fairly regardless of race, ethnicity or culture.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree

26. I have Black parents of Black students on the committee.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
27. I seek the input of Black parents of Black students when developing school-wide
behavioral policies.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree

29. Parents understand my school’s student discipline policy.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
30. My parents are aware of our student suspension data.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
31. Black parents of Black students feel their children are targeted at my school.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
32. Black parents of Black students feel their children are respected.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree

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Appendix E: Parent Survey
School Discipline Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies

The following are general background questions.
1. What grade is your child in?
o 4th
o 5th
o 6th
2. My child attends:
o Elementary School
o K-8 School
o Name of the school: _________________
3. How long have you attended this school?
o 1 year
o 2 years
o 3 years
o 4 or more years
4. My child has been suspended.
o Yes
o No
5. How many times has your child been suspended?
o 1-3 times
o 4-6 times
o Over 7 times

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Please rate your response to the statements below, selecting one option for each statement.
6. I know the student behavior policy at my child’s school.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
7. The school clearly communicates student behavioral expectations.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
8. I know what will happen if my child gets into trouble.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
9. The school involves parents in developing school policies.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
10. The school involves Black parents of Black students in developing school policies.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
11. My input is valued at my child’s school.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
12. I am aware of my child’s school’s suspension data.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree

13. I trust my school’s administration to be fair when disciplining my Black child.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
14. I trust my child’s teacher to be fair when disciplining my Black child.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
15. In my opinion, Black students feel they are respected by teachers.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree

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16. My child’s cultural values are respected by the administration.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
17. My child’s cultural values are respected by teachers.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
18. I feel my child is targeted by teachers because he/she/they are Black
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
19. Black students are treated the same as non-Black students.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
20. I believe my child’s school uses suspension more than other methods to discipline
students.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
21. My school makes an effort in understanding the culture of Black families.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree
22. I believe my child’s school is adequately trained to deal with Black students.
Agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Disagree

23. Is there anything you would like to add that relates to Black student discipline at this
school?

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Appendix F: Interview Protocol
School Discipline Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies
Researcher: Krystle Andrews, Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, University of
Southern California
What is the Purpose of This Study?
The purpose of this study is to explore what successful discipline practices can be implemented
to provide a counternarrative to the disproportionate discipline practices of Black students. This
study focuses on elementary school site administrators’ approaches to student discipline and
parental perception of school discipline practices.

Research Questions
1. What measures do schools put in place to create positive outcomes in student discipline?
2. What culturally responsive strategies do principals use in their discipline practices for
Black students?
3. What do Black parents of Black students say about school discipline practices and how
those practices impact their children?

Criteria to Complete This Interview
Participants must be elementary school site administrators: principals or assistant principals, or
Black parents of Black 4th–6th grade students in this school district.

Procedures?
If you decide to participate in this interview, you will be asked questions regarding your
experiences and beliefs on student discipline as it relates to Black students.
• The interview will be approximately 60-90 minutes.
• Interviews will occur via Zoom, and you will be asked if the interview can be recorded
using Zoom. Recordings will be kept private and on a personal, password-protected
computer.
• Your identity will be protected. A pseudonym, a fake name, will be used and written on
all documents.
• Your participation is voluntary, and you are able to stop the interview at any time. If the
interview is stopped, your responses will not be used.

Benefits and Risks
Information learned in this study can be used to support schools and school districts in
implementing policies that are culturally relevant. I do not anticipate any risks from participating
in this research. However, if a question is found bothersome, you may stop the interview entirely.

120
Participation
Again, participation is voluntary. There are no costs involved in participating. You can end the
interview at any time. By completing the interview, it is understood that you agree to participate
in this study.

Questions
Should you have any questions or would like to know the findings once the research is
completed, I can be reached at Kandrews@usc.edu. Thank you for your time.

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Appendix G: Principal Interview
School Discipline Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies
To start, I would like to hear a little about you.
1. How long have you been a school site administrator?
a. At this school?
b. In this district?
2. What made you enter the field of education?
a. Why did you decide to become an administrator?
3. What do you see as your purpose in doing this work?
I’d like to get some background information about your school.
4. How would you describe the climate and culture of your school?
5. Describe the ethnic and racial demographics of your teaching staff?
a. How is it similar to your student demographics, if at all?
6. Tell me about the teacher-student relationships at your school.
a. How is it the same or different for Black students?
I’m now going to ask you questions regarding exclusionary practices.
7. What is your viewpoint on exclusionary discipline practices, such as suspension?
a. What behaviors, if any, warrant exclusionary discipline?
8. What is your understanding of disproportionate discipline practices?
I would like to know more about how student discipline is handled at your school.
9. How do you handle student discipline at your school?
a. Do you have a school-wide discipline policy or program?
b. Is it implemented consistently by all?

122
10. What kind of behavioral incidents do you primarily have at your school?
11. What, if any, are the racial and ethnic patterns of the students who get into trouble at
your school?
a. (If disparities exist) What do you think attributes to the disparities in student
discipline?
12. Describe any training that you have received in regard to culturally responsive
practices.
a. Tell me about any training that you have provided to your staff in culturally
responsive practices
13. What do you consider before you suspend a student?
a. Are restorative practices used?
14. What are some of the reasons Black students receive office referrals at your school?
a. What are some of the reasons they are suspended?
b. How about non-Black students?
15. How does implicit bias play into disciplining Black students, if at all?
16. How are parents involved in supporting student discipline?
a. How are Black parents of Black students involved?
b. Do you have Black parents of Black students involved in any climate and culture
committees?
17. In your opinion, what is the most important factor in improving how your school
handles student discipline of Black students?
Thank you for your time. Should you have any questions, you can email me at
kandrews@usc.edu.

123
Appendix H: Parent Interview
School Discipline Reimagined: Centering Black Students in Discipline Policies
To start, I would like to know some background information.
1. What school does your child attend?
2. How many children do you have that attend this school?
a. What grade(s) are they in?
3. How long have you been at this school?
4. Tell me about your overall impressions of the school.
School discipline refers to the rules and policies that are in place when students get into
trouble. I am now going to ask you some questions regarding the school’s discipline policies
and parent engagement.

5. What, if anything, can you tell me about your school’s rules and discipline policies?
a. How does the school communicate the policy to parents?
b. (If needed) What happens when a student gets sent to the office?
6. In your opinion, what are some of the behaviors that students get suspended for?
7. To your knowledge, what are some of the ways that parents are involved in
developing student discipline policies at this school?
8. If asked for your input in revising the school’s current policies, what would you say?
School suspensions are a form of exclusionary discipline. Students can have an in-school
suspension, where they cannot be in their class or interact with their peers. Students can also
have an out-of-school suspension, where they are not allowed to come on campus for a period
of time. I am now going to ask a series of questions regarding school suspensions.

9. How do you feel about school suspensions?
a. Do you feel they are necessary?
b. Do you believe they change a student’s behavior?
10. What are your thoughts on Black students and suspension?

124
a. Has your child ever been suspended?
11. What should schools do to support student behaviors?
12. In your opinion, what do you believe accounts for the disproportionate rates of
suspensions for Black students?
I would like to talk about your child and their experience with discipline at this school.
13. Tell me about a time your child has received an office referral to the principal's
office?
Prompts
a. What did your child do?
b. How was the incident handled?
c. Were any behavioral supports offered?
14. How did your child feel afterwards?
15. How did you feel about the situation?
16. What could have been done differently, if anything?
The last set of questions specifically applies to this school.
17. How do you feel the school treats Black students?
a. Why do you think that?
18. In your opinion, what is the most important factor in improving how your school
handles student discipline for Black students?
Is there anything else that you would like to add that I did not cover?

Thank you for your time. Should you have any questions, you can email me at
kandrews@usc.edu.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Andrews, Krystle Renee (author)

Core Title School disciplined reimagined: centering Black students in discipline policies

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 05/10/2022

Defense Date 04/08/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag anti-Blackness,black students,critical race theory,disproportionate discipline,implicit bias,OAI-PMH Harvest,school discipline

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Cash, David (committee chair), Hinga, Briana (committee member), Krop, Cathy (committee member)

Creator Email kandrews@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111307047

Unique identifier UC111307047

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Andrews, Krystle Renee

Type texts

Source 20220510-usctheses-batch-941 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

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