Falling Through the Cracks Disparities in Out-of-School Suspension in St. Louis at the Intersection of Race, Disability, and Gender

Abstract

A high quality education is critical to lifelong wellbeing. But such an education is far from guaranteed in the St. Louis region, and whether or not a child receives one can all too often be predicted by his or her race and other characteristics. Out-of-school suspension (OSS) is a serious form of school based discipline that affects the quality of a child’s education. OSS is widely used inequitably, leading to “discipline gaps.” Black students, males, and students with disabilities are all more likely to receive an OSS. However, zooming in on one characteristic like race, sex, or disability status paints a misleading picture. Students (and people in general) are more than just one thing, more than just one identity. When we look at characteristics simultaneously, we can see that students with some combinations of these characteristics are far more likely to be suspended than it appears when we look at these characteristics one at a time. In this study, we looked at how race, sex, and disability status intersected to impact rates of out-of-school suspension among K12 students in the 2015 to 2016 school year.