Education not Incarceration: A Conceptual Model for Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disproportionality in School Discipline
Kent McIntosh, Erik J. Girvan, Robert H. Horner, & Keith Smolkowski, Education not Incarceration: A Conceptual Model For Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disproportionality in School Discipline, 5 J. APPLIED RES. ON CHILD. 4 (2014)
23 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2015
Date Written: December 31, 2014
Abstract
Extension of retribution- and incapacitation-based criminal justice policies and practices to schools has exacerbated racial and ethnic disproportionality in school discipline, a serious and unsolved threat to equity in education and social opportunity. Common approaches implemented to reduce discipline disproportionality have not been shown to be widely effective. A more comprehensive, theory-driven understanding of the factors associated with disproportionate discipline is needed to enhance equity. In this article, we propose a conceptual model of how racial and ethnic bias affects school discipline, with direct implications for practical interventions. The model includes a multidimensional view of bias, informed by research from the field of social psychology, with multiple points identified for intervention to reduce disproportionality over time. The authors conclude with a proposed multicomponent intervention that builds on a foundation of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) and includes specific strategies for reducing the effects of explicit and implicit bias on school discipline decision making.
Keywords: School-to-prison pipeline, disproportionate discipline, implicit bias
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