Middle School In-School Supension by Race

In-School Suspension Rates Among Middle Schools Students of Different Races

Ericka Eppler

Carter Andrews, D. J., & Gutwein, M. (2019). Middle school students’ experiences with inequitable discipline practices in school: The elusive quest for cultural responsiveness. Middle School Journal, 51(1), 29–38. Taylor & Francis Online. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2019.1689778

Study RationaleResearch shows that traditional forms of punishment like detention and suspension are inequitable to different race, class, and genders. Students perceive that traditional discipline practices are culturally biased. (Carter Andrews & Gutwein, 2019). Therefore, it is crucial to study the impact that in-school suspension has on different races.Research Question: Is there a significant difference in the average of in-school suspension for middle school students of different races?

Study Type

Cross-Sectional Design

An awesome title

Cross-Sectionl

Data Source

2017-18 Washington State CRDC Data - School Behavior and Climate

Ha: At least one μ i ​ does not = μ j ​ (where i ≠ j and i, j = 1, 2, ... , p)

Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): There is a significant difference in at least one racial group's mean in-school suspension rate among middle school students of different races.

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference in the mean in-school suspension rates among middle school students of different races. H0: μ1 = μ2 = μ3 = ... = μp (where μ represents the mean in-school suspension rate for each race, and p is the number of races).

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

****The Native Hawaiian data exhibited even more significant inconsistencies. This group had many extreme results, including 0% and other high percentages, which are unreasonable values in a real-world school setting. This distribution could severely impact the outcomes and violate my statistical test assumptions. I made a difficult decision to exclude this group from the study. This choice does not reduce the Native Hawaiian group's importance because they deserve equal representation in the data. This gap highlights the necessity for inclusive datasets.****

All groups violated normality assumptions, so I reviewed skewness and kurtosis ad looked at box-and-whisker plots to see if there are outliers.

Normality: Shapiro-Wilk Test

ANOVA ASSUMPTIONS

I decided to not remove the outliers for these levels because it could be important information about school culture in certain schools or districts.

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Native Hawaiian6= Two or More Races7= White

Normality Violation

ANOVA ASSUMPTIONS

Homogeneity of Variances

ANOVA ASSUMPTIONS

The data did not pass this assumption at p< 0.01.

Asymp. Sig: the H-test < 0.001 which indicates significant difference between at least two group ranks.

I used the Kruskal-Wallace Test since the data did not meet the normality or homogeneity of variances assumptions.

Homogeneity of Variances: Violations

ANOVA ASSUMPTIONS

This means plot shows that the Native American/Alaskan Native Group had the highest in-school suspension rate, and the Asian Group had the lowest in-school suspension rate.

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

MEANS PLOT

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

Games-Howell Test: All Results

POST-HOC

The Native American/Alaskan Native Group had the highest in-school suspension rates (25%) when compared to other groups, yet there is no significant difference between this Group and the Black Group (approx. 19.75%).

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

Games-Howell Test: Native American/Alaskan Native Group

POST-HOC

The Asian Group had a significantly lower in-school suspension rate (approx. 7%) than the Native American/Alaskan Native, Black, and Two or More Races Group, yet there is no significant difference between this Group and the Hispanic Group (approx. 9.75%) and the White Group (approx 7.5%).

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

Games-Howell Test: Asian Group

POST-HOC

The Black Group had a significantly higher in-school suspension rate (approx. 19.75%) than all groups except the Native American/Alaskan Native Group; there is no significant difference between this Group and the Native American/Alaskan Native Group (25%).

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

Games-Howell Test: Black Group

POST-HOC

The Hispanic Group had a significantly lower in-school suspension rate (approx. 9.75%) than the Native American/Alaskan Native and Black Groups, yet there is no significant difference between this Group and the Two or More Races (approx. 11%) and the White Group (approx 7.5%).

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

Games-Howell Test: Hispanic Group

POST-HOC

The Two or More Races Group had a significantly lower in-school suspension rate (approx. 11%) than the Native American/Alaskan Native (25%) and Black (approx. 19.75%) Groups and a statistically higher suspension rate than the Asian Group (approx. 7%) or White Group (approx. 7.5%). There is no significant difference between this Group and Hispanic Group (approx 9.75%).

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

Games-Howell Test: Two or More Races Group

POST-HOC

The White Group had a significantly lower in-school suspension rate (approx. 7.5%) than all groups except the Asian Group, yet there is no significant difference between this Group and the Asian Group (approx. 7%).

Coding Scheme1= Native American/ Alaskan Native2= Asian3= Black4= Hispanic5=Two or More Races6= White***Native Hawaiian***

Games-Howell Test: White Group

POST-HOC

• The results indicate that it is appropriate to reject the Null Hypothesis (HO).
• There is a significant difference among group means based on the Games-Howell post-hoc test.
• The Native American/Alaskan Native Group have the highest in-school suspension rate when compared to all other groups, but the comparison to the Black Group is not statistically significant.
• The Asian Group has the lowest in-school suspension rate when compared to other groups, but the comparison to the Hispanic and White Groups are not statistically significant.

Conclusion

Reviewing the Study's Purpose Study Rationale: Understanding conventional disciplinary differences is crucial. Although racial differences occur, this study examined in-school suspensions, supporting concerns about culturally biased discipline. Significance: Based on 2017-18 Washington State CRDC Data, this report emphasizes the importance for schools and policymakers to examine disciplinary practices. They must be fair and not disproportionately affect specific races. Further Research: This research illuminates race inequities, but more is needed. School atmosphere, teacher training, and institutional biases can explain these inequalities (Carter Andrews & Gutwein, 2019).

Conclusion