Nudging the Gap: Introduction to the Special Issue “Closing in on Discipline Disproportionality”

Author Note. Support for this article comes from the Institute of Education Sciences (R305A150221 and R324A110107) and the Spencer Foundation to the second author (Catherine Bradshaw).

Abstract

This special issue of School Psychology Review, entitled “Closing in on Discipline Disproportionality,” examined promising approaches and critical challenges to closing racial and ethnic gaps in schools' use of exclusionary and punitive discipline practices. In this introductory article, we briefly review the rationale and urgency for a focus on disproportionality in discipline and highlight some of the most salient findings from the five empirical studies in this special issue. We identify directions for the field going forward, with particular attention to measurement dilemmas and structural factors that shape differential disciplinary outcomes. Consistent with the National Association of School Psychologists’ position statement, we emphasize the need to build the science of discipline disparities intervention through more systematic empirical research. Taken together, these new directions are intended to catalyze scientific rigor in the next generation of evidence-based interventions to close the discipline gap.

Keywords:

• school discipline
• disparities
• race
• racism
• disproportionality
• educational inequality

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessika H. Bottiani

Jessika H. Bottiani, PhD, MPH, is an assistant professor on the research faculty at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Her primary research interests center on marginalized students' inequitable experiences of safety, support, and belonging (i.e., school climate) in U.S. K–12 public schools. Her research examines the structural causes and consequences of inequitable school climate to inform the development and testing of school-based preventive intervention and promotion strategies to reduce racial disparities in school discipline.

Catherine P. Bradshaw

Catherine P. Bradshaw, PhD, MEd, is a professor and the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Her primary research interests focus on the development of aggressive behavior and school-based prevention. She has led a number of federally funded randomized trials of school-based prevention programs, including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and social–emotional learning curricula.

Anne Gregory

Anne Gregory, PhD, is an associate professor at Rutgers University in the school psychology department. She received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Her work addresses the persistent trend that Black adolescents are issued school suspensions and expulsions at higher rates than adolescents from other racial/ethnic groups. Through research and intervention, she aims to address this trend by strengthening the characteristics of teachers, classrooms, and schools associated with the successful schooling of Black students.