The results of a new analysis of out-of-school-suspension data are even more reason to rethink that common method of disciplining students, researchers said Monday.
One of the findings researchers from the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at the University of California, Los Angeles, labeled "most disturbing" was that 36 percent of all black male students with disabilities were suspended out of school during the 2009-10 school year. The study analyzed data from about 85 percent of all public schools in the country.
The authors also found that since the early 1970s, the rate of out-of-school suspension for black middle and high school students has more than doubled, while for white students, it's been nearly flat. Back then, about 12 percent of black secondary students were suspended out of school; for the 2009-10 school year, the rate was 24.3 percent. Forty years ago, about 6 percent of white students were disciplined the same way, compared with 7.1 percent three years ago.
