“We Have to Educate Every Single Student, Not Just the Ones That Look Like Us”: Support Service Providers’ Beliefs About the Root Causes of the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Youth of Color

Abstract

This study adds to the extant research on the school-to-prison pipeline by investigating how school-based service providers and administrators conceptualize the causal mechanisms constraining and enabling the school-to-prison pipeline in a large urban district. Thirty-three schools were selected for the study based on their suspension rates. Support staff and district partners (n = 36) participated in focus groups guided by semi-structured protocols. Most participants emphasized structural and systemic causes of the school-to-prison pipeline, such as institutional racism and poverty. To minimize the school-to-prison pipeline, participants highlighted the importance of relationship building and non-punitive practices in response to misbehavior, although solutions offered limited evidence of promising interventions. Given strong research indicating that racial disparities cannot be explained by differential behavior, scholarship in this area emphasizes the need to increase school-level practices that promote positive school climate. The persistence of exclusionary and punitive attitudes among a subset of the sample suggests a need for differentiated professional development to address competing frameworks for understanding the root causes of, and solutions to, the school-to-prison pipeline.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica L. Yang

Jessica L. Yang, PhD, is an assistant professor of social work at Winthrop University in South Carolina. Her research focuses on systematic oppression, disparities, and lived experience of marginalized youth in systems such as child welfare, foster care, and education. She relies on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches using a critical race lens to illuminate mechanisms within systems that can improve outcomes for those who are marginalized.

Yolanda Anyon

Yolanda Anyon, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. Her mixed methods research focuses on the role of schools and community-based organizations in shaping the life outcomes of youth of color.

Malina Pauline

Malina Pauline obtained her Masters in Social Work from the University of Denver and is currently a Mental Health Therapist in a residential treatment center working with adolescents. Her background and research interests include the intersection of the criminal justice system with education and youth's success in academics.

Katherine E. Wiley

Kathryn E. Wiley is a research associate at the University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work where she uses qualitative research methods to examine issues of race and equity in educational policy and practice.

Donna Cash

Donna Cash is a project manager for student equity and opportunity in Denver Public Schools.

Barbara J. Downing

Barbara J. Downing, Ph.D., is a school psychologist for Denver Public Schools. Promoting equity and inclusion, and supporting the social emotional learning of all students is the focus of Dr. Downing's work. In addition to Threat Assessment, she has the responsibility for managing student discipline and the development and implementation of student discipline policy and practice in DPS.

Eldridge Greer

Eldridge Greer, PhD is the associate chief of student equity and opportunity for Denver Public Schools. Greer has worked to accelerate discipline reform efforts, resulting in 64% fewer out-of-school suspensions and 78% fewer expulsions in the past 10 years.

Ellen Kelty

Ellen Kelty, MA, NCSP is the Director of Student Equity and Opportunity in Denver Public Schools. Prior to that she served in DPS as a school psychologist. She provides support and strategic leadership to our school psychologists, nurses, social workers and behavioral team. She is passionate about removing barriers to education by providing strong social emotional and physical health supports to the most vulnerable students.

Thomas Lee Morgan

Thomas Lee Morgan, PhD is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Northern Colorado. Dr. Morgan has experience as a teacher and school leader in private, charter, and public schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels across the United States. He specializes in community engaged QuantCrit scholarship focusing on inclusive school culture and international perspectives of school leadership.

Lisa Pisciotta

Lisa Pisciotta has worked in both community mental health settings and school settings for the last twenty-five years. Lisa is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a Certified Addiction Counselor Level III, Certification serving those facing domestic violence, mental health and substance abuse. Lisa currently works for Denver Public school supporting the elimination of disproportionate discipline outcomes for students of color as well as supporting the discipline and expulsion process for the district.