Discipline Assignment Inequities by the Gender and Ethnicity/Race of Grade 9 Students with a Learning Disability
The extent to which differences were present in the receipt of in-school suspension and out-of- school suspension assignments as a function of gender and ethnicity/race for Texas Grade 9 students who had a Learning Disability in the 2008-2009 school year was addressed in this investigation. An analysis of Texas statewide data revealed the presence of statistically significant differences in the receipt of both in-school suspension and out-of- school suspension to boys and girls. Boys who had a Learning Disability received statistically significantly more instances of both discipline consequences than did girls with a Learning Disability. With respect to ethnicity/race, Grade 9 Black students who had a Learning Disability were assigned in-school suspensions and out-of- school suspensions at statistically significantly higher rates (i.e., 1 to 2 times more often) than their Hispanic and White counterparts. Clear disproportionalities were established in the assignment of both in-school suspensions and out-of- school suspensions by the gender and ethnicity/race of Texas Grade 9 students who had a Learning Disability.
