Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2006

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Gregory R. Ulm

Second Advisor

Robert Boyd

Third Advisor

David A. Gilman

Abstract

This research study was undertaken on the premise that the public had concerns regarding a11egations that minority-students were suspended or expelled more frequently than non-minority students. The implication of excessive disciplinary action on minority students emerged when the Zero-Tolerance Act was adopted in l 994. The Act was an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Critics state disciplinary action under zero-tolerance policies has unduly affected all students but has primarily affected children from families oflowcr socioeconomic status and ethnic minority groups. This study, using the chi-square goodness of fit test, examined the 2002-2003 disciplinary statistics of five Indiana school corporations: Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, Indianapolis, and South Bend. It was detennined that there was a higher frequency of disciplinary expulsions for minority studeryts than for non-minority students, and there was a higher frequency of suspensions and expulsions for male students than for female students. Based on the research findings, recommendations were made regarding more noninvasive disciplinary policies and procedures that could be implemented without expelling students from school and without compromising school safety.

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