Indiana University Study Finds Huge Racial Disparity in Middle School Suspensions

A new study by researchers at the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University in Bloomington finds a huge racial disparity in suspensions for middle school students.

In data collected from 9,000 middle schools nationwide, the researchers found that 28.3 percent of black males were suspended at one time during the school year. This is nearly three times the rate for white males in middle school.

When researchers examined a subset of 175 middle schools in urban areas, they found that more than one half of all black males were suspended at least once during the school year at 84 of these schools.

For black females, 18 percent of all middle school students were suspended at least once during the school year. This is 4.5 times the rate for white females.

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