The Role of Teacher Racial/Ethnic Composition on Schools' Use of Disciplinary Sanctions

1 online resource (73 pages) : PDF

2020

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

This study investigates the relationship between the race of the collective teaching force and disciplinary sanctions at the school level. Prior research indicates that having a teacher of the same race decreases student suspension and expulsion rates at the individual level. Far fewer studies, however, have examined how the race of the entire teaching force at the school level is associated with disciplinary sanctions for students. Using representative bureaucracy theory, the purpose of this research is to examine if there is a significant relationship between the percent of Black teachers in a school and suspension rates (short-term and long-term) for all students. Using the racial threat hypothesis, this study also aims to test if this relationship, if present, is moderated by the segregation level of the school. Results from negative binomial models indicate that, for short-term suspensions, increasing the percentage of Black teachers in a school decreases the number of suspensions. This same relationship is not found for long-term suspensions. Additionally, I find that for both short-term and long-term suspensions, the relationship between the percentage of Black teachers and suspension rates is moderated by the segregation level of the school. These findings highlight the importance of having a more diverse teaching force in public schools to lower exclusionary discipline rates. This is especially necessary in schools that have more students of color who face harsher disciplinary actions.

masters theses

Sociology
Educational sociology

M.A.

High School
Racial Composition
School Discipline
Suspension Rates
Teacher Race

Sociology

Bottia, Martha

Mickelson, Roslyn
Bennefield, Zinobia

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2020.

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Moniz_uncc_0694N_12491

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2217