Exclusionary Discipline Consequences and Reading Performance of Grades 3 Through 8 Students in Special Education: A Statewide, Multiyear Analysis

In this investigation, the academic performance of students in special education who received between 1 to 30 days, between 31-60, and more than 60 days in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement and had STAAR Reading Level I: Unsatisfactory, STAAR Reading Level II: Satisfactory, STAAR Reading Level II: Phase-In Satisfactory, and STAAR Reading Level III: Advanced standard during the 2012-2013 through 2015-2016 school years were determined. In each of these four school years, the percentage of students in special education who received Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement and had Unsatisfactory Standard performance on the STAAR Reading exam consistently increased for all grades except for Grade 4. The percentage of students who had Phase-In Satisfactory Standard performance on the STAAR Reading exam consistently decreased for all grades except for Grade 4. The percentages of students who had Satisfactory and Advanced Standard performance remained consistent across the four school years, never varying more than 7%. Recommendations for research and implications are discussed along with suggestions for policy and practice.

Imprisoning ‘Those’ Kids: Neoliberal Logics and the Disciplinary Alternative School

Despite a perceived retrenchment of exclusionary school punishment, the disciplinary alternative school has emerged as a space in which to enforce upon marginalized students the logics of neoliberal carcerality. This article draws on the code of conduct handbooks of 15 Texas Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs to illustrate how this space seeks to reaffirm social and economic marginality for certain youth. Specific processes in the alternative school prepare youth for a life of imprisonment, often characterized by criminal justice system involvement, but also precarious (un)employment. As such, this article situates the disciplinary alternative school as one of many ‘alternatives’ to carcerality through which the carceral state maintains its power.

Disciplinary Consequence Differences in Grade 6 Students as a Function of Race, Ethnicity, and Economic Status

In this investigation, we used Texas statewide data to determine the extent to which ineq- uities were present in the assignment of school disci- plinary consequences. Specifically examined were the assignment of in-school suspension, out-of-school sus- pension, and disciplinary alternative education pro- gram placement to grade 6 Black, Hispanic, and White students by their economic status in Texas public schools. Inferential analyses yielded statistically sig- nificant differences for each disciplinary consequence within each ethnic/racial group. Students who were economically disadvantaged received statistically sig- nificantly more instances of each disciplinary conse- quence than their same ethnic/racial peers who were not economically disadvantaged. Of note was the very high numbers of grade 6 students who were as- signed these disciplinary consequences. A clear lack of equity was demonstrated in the assignment of dis- ciplinary consequences to grade 6 Black, Hispanic, and White students by their economic status. As such, school administrators and educational leaders are urged to evaluate their own discipline programs to ascertain the degree to which they have equity in the assignment of disciplinary consequences in the stu- dents they serve.