Abstract of Distinction: Disparities in Discipline Referrals for Early Elementary School Students with Social-Emotional Difficulties

Introduction: Office discipline referrals (ODRs) are important to consider in prevention research as they predict meaningful educational outcomes (McIntosh et al., 2009) and entry into the juvenile justice system (Cyphert, 2014). However, significant racial disparities exist in ODRs (Skiba et al., 2014) from an early age (Kaufman et al., 2010). Widespread adoption of “zero tolerance” discipline policies has led to greater disparities (Contractor & Staats, 2014), highlighting the need to understand root causes. Studies have found that non-child factors predict ODRs (Rusby et al., 2007) and suggest that teacher implicit bias may be an important predictor (Staats et al., 2015). Yet little research has examined racial disparities in ODRs in relation to observed school behaviors to explore potential bias.

Methods: The sample included 135 1^st and 2^nd graders (44 White; 91 Black) with social-emotional difficulties (≥12 on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ; Goodman, 1997) from predominantly low-income schools in the southeast US. School staff entered ODRs monthly via an electronic data entry system developed for this project. Project staff observed students in the classroom using the REDSOCS (Jacobs et al., 2000) and on the playground (adapted COCA; Webster-Stratton et al., 2004). Both demonstrated adequate reliability (ICC=.81-.85). Teachers rated oppositional behavior on a composite of the SWAN ODD items (Swanson et al., 2012) and SDQ conduct problems subscale.

Results: Consistent with prior work, significant disparities were observed in rates of any ODRs (11% White, 51% Black; F=8.19, p=.00) as well as in teacher ratings of students’ oppositional behavior (t=3.22, p=.00), which were significantly correlated (r = .35, p = .01). No significant disparities were seen in observations of students’ inappropriate and noncompliant behavior in the classroom (t=-.90, p=.37, t=-.09, p=.93), or in their rule-following behavior on the playground (t=-1.67, p=.10). ODR disparities persisted even after accounting for child behavioral severity on the SDQ.

Conclusions: Early elementary Black students with social-emotional difficulties were referred to the office for disciplinary action almost five times as often as White children in the same schools. Disparities were also seen in teacher ratings, but not observed behaviors. These findings suggest bias in ODRs for early elementary students and raise questions about the validity of ODRs as an indicator of child behavior difficulties. Prevention efforts targeting student-level difficulties may not be as useful as policies and practices that promote equity.