A new report from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA analyzes data from 26,000 U.S. middle and high schools to estimate over two million secondary school students -- one in nine -- were suspended at least once during 2009-2010. Research indicates suspension even once in the ninth grade doubles likelihood of dropping out. Suspension rates in middle and high schools have increased dramatically since the 1970s, especially for black students, to the extent that about one in four black secondary school children today, and nearly one in three black middle school males, was suspended at least once in 2009-2010. Black female secondary students were suspended at a higher rate (18.3 percent) than male counterparts from all other racial/ethnic groups. One in five secondary school students with disabilities was suspended (19.3 percent), nearly triple the rate of students without disabilities. The highest rates were at the intersection of race, disability, and gender: 36 percent of all black middle school males with disabilities were suspended one or more times. The analysis also found suspension "hotspots": In 323 districts, suspension risk for all secondary students was 25 percent or higher. Nationally, 2,624 secondary schools suspended 25 percent or more students annually; for 519 schools, suspension rates equaled or exceeded 50 percent. Nearly 7,000 secondary schools with at least 50 members of a racial subgroup, English learners, or students with disabilities met or exceeded suspension rates of 25 percent for at least one subgroup. In contrast, 7,710 secondary schools in 3,752 districts did not exceed 10 percent for any subgroup with at least 10 members. Chicago had the highest number (82) of high-suspending hotspot secondary schools in the nation. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

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Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.