Troublemakers? The Role of Frequent Teacher Referrers in Expanding Racial Disciplinary Disproportionalities

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Education and Office for Civil Rights reported that Black K-12 students were 3.8 times more likely to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions when compared to white students. Black girls in particular received 13% of out-of-school suspensions despite representing just 8% of all enrolled students. Past research has highlighted how educators often treat Black students and students of color more harshly than white students for both major and minor offenses, but this paper is among the first to isolate and examine administrative data tracking the use of office discipline referrals (ODRs) to understand how and why such racial disparities arise. 

Researchers discovered that just 1.7% of all teachers (called “top referrers”) were responsible for doubling the Black-White, Hispanic-White, and Multiracial-White referral gaps in their schools. Teachers in this group are more likely to be white, in middle school, and relatively new to the profession.  Most of the referrals from those teachers are issued for interpersonal/defiance reasons, which previous research has shown to be more subject to bias. Importantly, on average only 25% of teachers identified as top referrers remain in that category in the subsequent year, and the number continues to drop when looking at three years and beyond, suggesting that top referrer practices are mutable. Targeted interventions and supports for these teachers are likely to help, but administrators need to track referring behaviors to identify where professional development is most needed.

Related Titles