This article unpacks existing laws and disciplinary policies like "zero tolerance" and "disturbing schools" that criminalize youth behaviors in public schools and explores their roots in U.S. racialized histories using a critical carceral studies framework. Carceral studies scholars critique the punitive capitalist apparatus…

In this volume, editors Patricia Somers and Matt Valentine lead an examination of the unintended consequences of campus gun policy and showcase voices from the college community who are grappling with the questions, issues, and consequences that have emerged at their respective institutions. While making the case that campus carry legislation is…

Because bullying behaviors occur across the many spaces that exist within schools (e.g., classrooms, gyms, bathrooms, playgrounds, cafeterias), and because students often move between classrooms and teachers, it is critical for schools to take a schoolwide approach to preventing bullying and harassment (Jones & Bouffard, 2012; Bradshaw, 2015).…

The school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) describes in shorthand the problematic relationship between some students' school experiences and their subsequent incarceration. One summer, in response to vocal concerned parents, a suburban school board adopted a zero-tolerance policy for smoking and vaping. Through the combined effects of the zero-tolerance…

In July 2021, the US Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held confirmation hearings for Catherine E. Lhamon, President Joe Biden's nominee for assistant secretary for civil rights at the US Department of Education (ED). Lhamon served in the same role during the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. During her hearing,…

The current policy terrain is primed for schools to absorb new discipline strategies and address bias-based beliefs. Over the past 10 years, numerous policy changes regarding discipline have emerged at the federal and state levels. I argue these policy shifts, primarily at the state level, are using two of four value levers (quality, efficiency,…

In September 2021, the Equity Research Action Coalition, in partnership with the National Black Child Development Institute and POINTS of ACCESS, LLC, collaborated in creating the Black Child National Agenda to challenge the negative and stereotypical narrative of Black children, families, and communities and to identify 10 priorities to dismantle…

Black students account for 15.1% of public school students, yet represent 38.2% of out-of-school suspensions, 28.7% of referrals to law enforcement, and 31.6% of school arrests (U.S. Department of Education, 2021). Suspended and expelled youth are less likely to complete high school or attend college (Rosenbaum, 2020), and more likely to be…

This guide is designed for use by school, district, and state education agency staff to improve the effectiveness of efforts to collect and use discipline data, including reporting accurate and timely data to the federal government. It explains the importance of collecting discipline data, identifies key considerations for agencies implementing…

Recently, much public attention has been focused on racial inequalities in who is subjected to exclusionary school disciplinary policies, and consequently, forced to miss hours of instruction. Over the past two decades, researchers have documented the disparate impacts that zero-tolerance policies have had on students of color, low-income…

Exclusionary discipline -- suspensions or expulsions that remove students from the learning environment -- can have long-lasting, negative impacts on a student's trajectory. Research suggests that students who are suspended or expelled suffer academically and are more likely to drop out and be involved in the criminal justice system later in life.…

The teacher shortage in the nation's public schools--particularly in high-poverty schools--is a crisis for the teaching profession and a serious problem for the entire education system. The Economic Policy Institute's (EPI's) teacher shortage policy agenda plots a course to return teaching to a profession in which teachers are compensated on par…

Education is usually considered a force for good, associated with hope and optimism about better individual and social futures. Yet a case can be made that education and education policy in recent decades, far from being a force for good, has had nefarious effects at multiple levels. This can be seen in the growing alienation of significant…

Cyberbullying is a phenomenon increasingly affecting students and faculty in K-12 through higher education systems. Cyberbullying in higher education negatively affects institutions and their respective stakeholders. The consequences range from faculty turnover to student suicide. Research related cyberbullying in higher education in online…

Social, emotional, and academic development (SEAD) is a holistic approach to supporting students' development and learning that is integral to ensuring positive outcomes in school and beyond. Schools must ensure students experience healthy development and rigorous learning. Unfortunately, students of color, students from low-income backgrounds,…