“That’s not fair!” Black secondary students’ perceptions and experiences with school discipline
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Noelle Leslie (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Katherine Mansfield
Abstract: Consistent research over the past 40 years as shed light on racial disparities with school discipline. Black students are overrepresented in office referrals and exclusionary discipline. Today, schools and school districts have focused on improving equity to increase student achievement. Schools have also worked to close the discipline gap between Black and White students. However, despite school districts efforts to close the discipline gap with various solutions, racial disparities and discrimination continue to exist in school discipline. In recent years, researchers have focused more on student perception and amplifying student voice to counter the message that we consistently observe with discipline data. This research aims to add to that research. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gage Black secondary students’ perceptions and experiences with middle school discipline. The research also aimed to identify and make meaning of differences across gender or age through indirect/direct experiences or observation. There is a dearth of research which focuses on middle school perception and this research seeks to add to the discussion. I met with three focus groups each composed of three to four students. Focus groups were utilized because they have the potential to produce a great amount of data because of the face-to-face contact between participants and the interviewer (Parker & Tritter, 2006). The first two focus groups were composed of eighth-grade students who attended a small charter school. The last focus group included high school students who reflected on their middle school experiences at various traditional schools. Due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, I met with the first two focus groups one time. I met with the third focus group twice. All focus group were conducted virtually using the Zoom platform and lasted 50-60 minutes. After I conducted all three focus groups, the data was transcribed. I analyzed the transcriptions and disaggregated the data into topics or categories discussed. Based on those categories I have identified, I assigned codes in each category and broke down the nature of the student responses. Next, I grouped the codes into emerging categories and identified themes or patterns emerged. Findings from my data reveal students perceive relationships between students and staff as a critical factor to improving equity, closing the discipline gap, and ensuring equitable treatment in the discipline process. Data from student perception also revealed students value teachers who show care and concern for their academic and non-academic affairs. One key implication from the research is the importance of highlighting student voice to transform and improve the school culture for students and staff.
“That’s not fair!” Black secondary students’ perceptions and experiences with school discipline
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Created on 12/1/2021
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2021
- Keywords
- Black, School discipline, Secondary
- Subjects
- African American middle school students $x Attitudes
- Discrimination in school discipline
- Discrimination in education
- Middle school education