Suspended Education in Massachusetts: Using Days of Lost Instruction Due to Suspension to Evaluate Our Schools
PLEASE ONLY CITE THE CORRECTED REPORT AND SPREADSHEETS DATED 3-23-17 ON THIS PAGE.
This study shows that the overuse of suspensions in the Commonwealth’s schools is harming educational opportunities for all students, but with the burden impacting black students and students with disabilities more than other groups. The study is the first ever to quantify the school-level days of missed instruction due to discipline, reporting both the black/white gap and the impact on students with disabilities.
The statewide average was 16 days of missed instruction for every 100 enrolled students. This number doubles to 32 days per 100 for students with disabilities and black students missed 34 days per 100. That was more than triple the 10 days missed by white students. When only days missed for minor misbehavior were counted, behaviors that according to the state were non-violent, non-drug related and non-criminal, white students still lost 6 days per 100 enrolled while black students lost 21 days per 100 enrolled and students with disabilities lost 19 days. Minor misbehaviors were the driving reason for most of their lost instruction.
Suspended Education in Massachusetts: Using Days of Lost Instruction to Evaluate Our Schools, uses percentages reported by the state to estimate the total days of missed instruction per 100 students enrolled. The authors argue that this school-level analysis is an ideal indicator for the state’s proposed new accountability system because it gives meaningful information to the public about school climate with regard to how much lost instruction is incurred by students, an area that schools have a great deal of control over.
Alternative schools and five charter schools made up a disproportionate number of the 30 schools with the most days of missed instruction (overreach with more than 100 days per 100 enrolled). More than one of these schools came from the districts of Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, Lowell, Fitchburg and Springfield, and three of the five charters, (Up Academy of Boston and City on a Hill, at Dudley Square, and at Circuit Street) serve students from Boston.
The report and data supplement also provide district-level analysis. District numbers tend to be much lower because the lower suspending schools balance out the high suspending ones. Our district level analysis focused on where students with disabilities lost the most instructional time and on districts with at least two schools and 2,500 students. We found that Wareham topped this list with a district average of 110 days of missed instruction per 100 enrolled students with disabilities.
The data supplement enables readers to find the data on their school or district for all students; black students; or students with disabilities, and make comparisons to other districts.
This research and report were made possible with support of The Atlantic Philanthropies and the Schott Foundation for Public Education.
In compliance with the UC Open Access Policy, this report has been made available on eScholarship:
