The Hidden Cost of Education Policy
Open Access DepositedExclusionary Discipline and the School to Prison Pipeline
This research analyzes how educational policies affect the use of exclusionary discipline practices in public schools, which make students more likely to start down a path towards the criminal justice system. To understand this relationship, I analyzed the use of exclusionary discipline in thirty school districts across three states – Texas, Virginia, and Illinois, before and after the implementation of a federal or state educational policy. I looked at four policies in total, each related to the use of exclusionary discipline in public schools. The results were mixed, with none of the four policies having a consistent increase or decrease in exclusionary discipline usage across the academic years studied. While results were not significant, analyzing them through the lens of labeling theory, life course perspective, containment theory, and critical race theory allowed for some conclusions to be drawn about potential confounding variables not previously considered. The Covid-19 pandemic and federal funding are pathways for future research to better understand how educational policies impact school discipline and the likelihood of students becoming involved in the criminal justice system.
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