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The comments teachers write when sending students to the office have the potential to increase our understanding of how bias may contribute to longstanding racial disparities in school discipline. However, large-scale analysis of open text has traditionally had a prohibitive cost. Through natural language processing techniques, we examined over 3.5 million office discipline records from national samples of more than 4,000 schools for whether teachers' linguistic patterns differed when describing incidents depending on the race/ethnicity and gender of the students. Results of such analyses consistently showed that teachers wrote longer descriptions and included more negative emotion when disciplining Black compared to White students, especially for Black girls. In conjunction with psychology of language theory, the patterns suggest that teachers may perceive and process student behavior differently depending on student identities. Implications of the findings and potential for research on naturally occurring language data in education are discussed.

One commonly used strategy used in attempts to decrease racial disproportionality in school discipline across the country is sharing data with school administrators that discipline disparities are a problem in their schools with the assumption that it will increase attention to equity and improve outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of providing monthly disciplinary equity reports to school administrators in 35 schools on levels of (a) disciplinary equity report viewing, (b) disciplinary equity, and (c) inclusion of disciplinary equity into school improvement plan goals. We used a small, double-blind randomized controlled trial in which half of the schools were randomly assigned to receive either monthly disciplinary equity reports or monthly general discipline reports. Results showed that schools receiving the equity reports had significantly increased rates of viewing equity reports but no meaningful change in disciplinary equity or equity goal setting. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED605738.]

There is a longstanding and pressing challenge regarding overuse of exclusionary discipline (e.g., office discipline referrals, suspensions) for students of color and students with disabilities. Moreover, many common efforts to address the problem have not been shown to enhance equity in school discipline. This article describes a promising four-step approach, described in the freely available PBIS Disproportionality Data Guide, for using school discipline data to identify specific interactions that are more susceptible to the effects of implicit bias on decision making and change the environment to meet the needs of all students. A case study is included that identified disproportionality for physical aggression on the playground as a primary source of overall disproportionality and implemented a plan that included elements of explicit instruction and cultural responsiveness. Results showed a consistent decrease in discipline disproportionality over time.

In efforts to improve outcomes for students, state education agencies have developed systems of school improvement to identify and provide support for schools that have persistently low educational outcomes, often those with majority-Black student populations. However, such efforts have generally been ineffective in turning schools around. This article describes the effects of implementing a year-long professional development series of four full days of training based on a school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework with an explicit focus on equity in school discipline. Results from this quasi-experimental study showed statistically significant improvements in school outcomes, including exclusionary discipline and school climate as compared with similar, nonparticipating schools. Findings are discussed in terms of using PBIS for school improvement.

This study examined the extent to which disparities in Black and White students' risks of receiving office discipline referrals (ODRs), and out-of-school suspensions (OSSs) were related to differences in implicit and explicit racial biases assessed at the community level. The sample consisted of discipline records for 1,354,010 students enrolled in 2,100 U.S. schools in 183 communities distributed across the United States. Analyses estimated and compared the contributions of average implicit and explicit racial biases in schools' localities to school-level disproportionality in ODRs, OSSs, and OSSs controlling for disproportionality in ODRs. Results showed that community-level racial biases were related to racial disparities in ODRs and OSSs in schools, with some important differences by type of discipline decision.

Racial disparities in rates of exclusionary school discipline are well documented and seemingly intractable. However, emerging theories on implicit bias show promise in identifying effective interventions. In this study, we used school discipline data from 1,666 elementary schools and 483,686 office discipline referrals to identify specific situations in which disproportionality was more likely. Results were largely consistent with our theoretical model, indicating increased racial and gender disproportionality for subjectively defined behaviors, in classrooms, and for incidents classified as more severe. The time of day also substantially affected disproportionality. These findings can be used to pinpoint specific student--teacher interactions for intervention.

Extension of retribution- and incapacitation-based criminal justice policies and practices to schools has exacerbated racial and ethnic disproportionality in school discipline, a serious and unsolved threat to equity in education and social opportunity. Common approaches implemented to reduce discipline disproportionality have not been shown to be widely effective. A more comprehensive, theory-driven understanding of the factors associated with disproportionate discipline is needed to enhance equity. In this article, we propose a conceptual model of how racial and ethnic bias affects school discipline, with direct implications for practical interventions. The model includes a multidimensional view of bias, informed by research from the field of social psychology, with multiple points identified for intervention to reduce disproportionality over time. The authors conclude with a proposed multicomponent intervention that builds on a foundation of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) and includes specific strategies for reducing the effects of explicit and implicit bias on school discipline decision making.

There are substantial racial disparities in school discipline but little agreement on how best to measure them. The choice of metric can influence conclusions about the magnitude of racial discipline disproportionality and intervention effectiveness. This article describes 2 common (risk ratio, risk difference) and 3 relatively novel (standardized effect size, raw differential representation, discipline rate) approaches to evaluating racial disproportionality, with illustrations of their strengths and weaknesses. Its concludes with a discussion of the metrics and a recommendation that researchers and policymakers consider the raw number of students of color differentially disciplined, as among the easiest to understand, the most stable, and capturing the widest range of information. Even so, no metric captures all relevant aspects of disproportionality. Accordingly, researchers and policymakers should be deliberate in their specific aims in measuring discipline disproportionality and select a combination of metrics that provides information most responsive to their goals.

To improve our understanding of where to target interventions, the study examined the extent to which school discipline disproportionality between African American and White students was attributable to racial disparities in teachers' discretionary versus nondiscretionary decisions. The sample consisted of office discipline referral (ODR) records for 1,154,686 students enrolled in 1,824 U.S. schools. Analyses compared the relative contributions of disproportionality in ODRs for subjectively and objectively defined behaviors to overall disproportionality, controlling for relevant school characteristics. Results showed that disproportionality in subjective ODRs explained the vast majority of variance in total disproportionality. These findings suggest that providing educators with strategies to neutralize the effects of implicit bias, which is known to influence discretionary decisions and interpretations of ambiguous behaviors, may be a promising avenue for achieving equity in school discipline.

This article introduces the construct of indeterminacy and describes its effects on transfer in adult education. Indeterminacy is characterized as a type of stimulus-response relationship in which the stimulus evokes a response that requires secondary and/or ongoing judgments as opposed to evoking a concrete, predetermined response. Following a brief overview of research on transfer in which we highlight the neglect of a systematic study of the construct, we review extant literature from different disciplines in which indeterminacy has been recognized as playing an important role. During this process, we distinguish it from uncertainty and ambiguity. Based on the review, we hypothesize and provide empirical evidence suggesting that indeterminacy diminishes transfer. On this basis, we argue that understanding, measuring, and controlling indeterminacy is important for the study and design of effective adult education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judges limit antidiscrimination rights to cases involving purposeful discrimination. Recent social psychological evidence for "implicit bias," however, shows that people injure others by discriminating even when they do not intend to do so. Advocates of the behavioral realism approach argue that such gaps between the assumptions judges inevitably make about human behavior when interpreting legal doctrine and available social scientific evidence should be closed or justified explicitly on other grounds. Closing the gaps, however, requires understanding why they developed and persist, so that an appropriately responsive strategy can be developed. This Article argues that the law-science gap exists and persists in significant part because judges believe that they lack the ability to effectively remedy non-purposeful discrimination of the kind described by work on implicit bias and are unwilling to take the steps necessary to develop ways to do so. To illustrate, this Article reviews major developments in antidiscrimination doctrine related to discretionary decisions in two different domains--the death penalty and employment decisions--and highlights the role that judicial concerns about remedies plays in the opinions supporting those developments. In order to more effectively impact the doctrinal development in that area, this Article discusses concrete ways that the remedies understanding of the law-science gap can help guide social scientists, legal scholars, and advocates for expanded antidiscrimination rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examine the use of implicit bias to advance anti-discrimination law in the U.S. Topics discussed include unintentional discrimination to legal scholars with transformative consequences; role of race and criminal record on employment discrimination; and non-purposeful discrimination for an extraordinary variety of legal topics including employment discrimination, affirmative action and civil procedure.