National, Local & Personal Context

In the United States, researchers describe a pervasive problem known as the “school-to-prison pipeline” (Okilwa et al., 2017). The School-to-Prison pipeline is a term that refers to the disproportionality of exclusionary school discipline that results in students missing classroom instructional time and results in these students entering the criminal justice system. The students are overwhelmingly students of color, students from low-income families, and students with dis/abilities (Okilwa et al., 2017). In order to begin to understand this discrepancy, it is crucial that those who study this topic look at the systemic discrimination that is embedded in the systems in which we currently live and exist. One system is public school-based exclusionary discipline practices of students with dis/abilities.

National Context

According to national data from the 2017-2018 school year, Black male students are 3 times more likely to be suspended one or more times than their white male peers (U.S. DOE, 2022). In the same set of data, students with dis/abilties that receive special education services were more likely than their non-dis/abled peers to be disciplined using exclusionary practices (U.S. DOE, 2022). Students who receive exclusionary discipline such as suspension and expulsion are removed from their mainstream educational settings and have a greater likelihood of being arrested (Mowen & Brent, 2016; Okilwa et al., 2017).

Nationally, the most recent data regarding suspensions and expulsions are from the 2017-2018 school year. While students with dis/abilities made up 15.9% of students enrolled, they constituted 28.1% of out-of-school suspensions and 25% of expulsions (U.S. DOE, 2022). Black students with dis/abilities made up 17.1% of students enrolled and constituted 35.7% of out-of-school suspensions, and 39% of expulsions (U.S. DOE, 2022).

Local Context

The school district I work in provided special education services for 21,855 students during the 2020-2021 school year. The school district follows a model in which the district provides special education services for the schools in 22 school districts. This school district also has 8 public-separate schools, which means all faculty and staff in the building are employed by the school district and all students receive special education in a special education setting for 100% of their school day. The school I work in has 187 students enrolled and it is considered a public-separate school. During the 2018 calendar year (most recent data available), there were 3 students in the building who were suspended for more than 10 days. In buildings that are strictly special education schools (public separate buildings or programs) there were 59 students in total that were suspended for more than 10 days. This differs from the number of students receiving special education in all 22 school districts who were suspended for 10 or more days. I am unable to find this data currently as it is not publicly reported information. In future research, I would like to compare the number of students who receive special education who receive 10 or more day suspensions and the proportion of enrollment of students with special education in those schools. I would also request the demographic information of the suspensions to compare with the demographic information for enrollment.

The district in which I conducted my pilot student has 1,529 students enrolled for the 2021-2022 school year. During the 2022 calendar year, there have been 10 out of school suspensions lasting longer than 10 days and 0 expulsions (as of 11/27/2022) (DESE, 2022).

Personal Context

Early in my career, I case-managed a student who received language therapy and had DLD. His identification under IDEA was a diagnosis of “Language impairment.” This young man also had diagnosed difficulties with his mental health and his mother was a major advocate for him. An incident occurred in which this student threw his chair towards his teacher and left the room. For this, he was to be suspended for 10 days. I attempted to navigate the MDR process with very little support. I lacked the language and knowledge I now have after having studied federal law and district policies. There were many individuals in attendance, but two voices were heard above all others: the principal (LEA representative), and the teacher in who’s direction the chair was thrown. I discussed the difficulties the student may have had in processing language receptively while upset, because of his DLD. The school psychologist spoke to factors that may have been influenced by the student’s mental health diagnosis. The teacher and the principal kept returning to the same phrase: “He knew what he was doing.” This meeting lacked a few key components. First, we did not review the full IEP, including the modifications and accommodations and information about his language skills. Second, we did not discuss the possibility of conducting an FBA, discuss previous BIPS or discuss developing a new BIP. Third, we did not look at the summary of his most recent assessments and diagnoses and have them fully interpreted by the school psychologist. Fourth, there was a misunderstanding as to who had the final say in this meeting; the principal felt his word was final and not all voices were valued equally. Last, we did not discuss if this behavior was a result of the team’s inability to implement the IEP. The behavior was not found to be a manifestation of the student’s dis/ability or the result of failure to implement the IEP properly. The student was suspended for 10 days. His suspension led to chronic absences, and he did not complete enough course work to earn any credits during that semester. This student was also a Black male in a building that was predominantly white.

I believe that this process is playing out across the country with case-managers who feel ill-equipped to host the meeting, and with angry, confused, and often biased team members. There is a crisis in our country of students being disciplined with suspensions and expulsions and ending up in the criminal justice system. Since that meeting, I have been a part of other MDR teams and have supported students with a variety of behavior needs. While these experiences have helped me grow as an individual, the injustice I witnessed in that room, the lack of preparedness I felt, and the outcome of the removal of an at-risk student who wanted to remain at school are all contributing factors to this research.