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Research ArticleArticles

Disparities and Discrimination in Student Discipline by Race and Family Income

Nathan Barrett, Andrew McEachin, Jonathan N. Mills and Jon Valant
Journal of Human Resources, July 2021, 56 (3) 711-748; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.56.3.0118-9267R2
Nathan Barrett
Nathan Barrett is the Director of Training and Outreach at The Coleridge Initiative and a non-resident fellow in economics at Tulane University
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  • For correspondence: [email protected]
Andrew McEachin
Andrew McEachin is a policy researcher in the Economics, Statistics, and Sociology Department at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School
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Jonathan N. Mills
Jonathan N. Mills is a senior research associate in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas
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Jon Valant
Jon Valant is a fellow in the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution
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Abstract

Black and poor students are suspended from U.S. schools at higher rates than White and nonpoor students. While the existence of these disparities has been clear, the causes of the disparities have not. We use a novel data set to examine how and where discipline disparities arise. By comparing the punishments given to Black and White (or poor and nonpoor) students who fight one another, we address a selection challenge that has kept prior studies from identifying discrimination in student discipline. We find that Black and poor students are, in fact, punished more harshly than the students with whom they fight.

JEL Classification:
  • I20
  • I24
  • J15
  • Received January 2018.
  • Accepted July 2019.
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Journal of Human Resources: 56 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 56, Issue 3
1 Jul 2021
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Disparities and Discrimination in Student Discipline by Race and Family Income
Nathan Barrett, Andrew McEachin, Jonathan N. Mills, Jon Valant
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2021, 56 (3) 711-748; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.56.3.0118-9267R2

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Disparities and Discrimination in Student Discipline by Race and Family Income
Nathan Barrett, Andrew McEachin, Jonathan N. Mills, Jon Valant
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2021, 56 (3) 711-748; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.56.3.0118-9267R2
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • I. Introduction
    • II. Background on Discipline Disparities
    • III. Data
    • IV. Methods
    • V. Results
    • VI. Discussion
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Keywords

  • I20
  • I24
  • J15
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