Breaking Schools’ Rules
A Statewide Study on How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement
The CSG Justice Center, in partnership with the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University, has released a groundbreaking statewide study of nearly 1 million Texas public secondary school students, followed for at least six years. Funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and the Open Society Foundations, this study found that when students are suspended or expelled, the likelihood that they will repeat a grade, not graduate, and/or become involved in the juvenile justice system increases significantly. African-American students and children with particular educational disabilities who qualify for special education were suspended and expelled at especially high rates.
Key Findings
Of the nearly 1 million public secondary school students studied, about 15 percent were suspended or expelled 11 times or more; nearly half of these students with 11 or more disciplinary actions were also involved in the juvenile justice system.
- Repeated suspensions and expulsions predicted poor academic outcomes. Only 40 percent of students disciplined 11 times or more graduated from high school during the study period, and 31 percent of students disciplined one or more times repeated their grade at least once.
- Only three percent of the disciplinary actions were for conduct in which state law mandated suspensions and expulsions; the rest were made at the discretion of school officials primarily in response to violations of local schools’ conduct codes.
- African-American students and those with particular educational disabilities were disproportionately disciplined for discretionary actions.
On June 26, the CSG Justice Center convened state leaders in workforce development, education, and corrections from 7…
Read More
While corrections agencies across the country collect vast amounts of data and make significant investments in…
Read More
19 states were recently granted permission by CMS to reimburse critical reentry services with Medicaid funding for up…
Read More
Breaking Down Barriers: Reentry 2030 States Meet to Tackle Employment-Related Collateral Consequences
On June 26, the CSG Justice Center convened state leaders in workforce development, education, and corrections from 7 Reentry 2030 states for the second session of the Reentry 2030 Workforce Development Peer Learning Cohort.
Read More
How Embedded Data Analysts Are Transforming State Corrections Systems
While corrections agencies across the country collect vast amounts of…
Read More
A “Once in a Generation Opportunity” to Improve Reentry for Nearly 2 Million People
19 states were recently granted permission by CMS to reimburse critical reentry services with Medicaid funding for up to 5 years.
Read More
First-of-its-Kind Plan for States to Support Children and Families with Incarcerated Parents
Our plan—developed with the National Resource Center on Children & Families of the Incarcerated at Rutgers University-Camden and the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at UConn—provides evidence-based, trauma-informed strategies for corrections leaders and policymakers to strengthen parent-child connections and reduce recidivism.
Read More
Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness and Incarceration: Q&A with New CSG Justice Center Advisory Board Member Wayne Niederhauser
The CSG Justice Center Advisory Board establishes the policy and project priorities of the organization. The board features a cross-section of leaders who shape criminal justice policy in various parts of the country.
Read More
Involuntary Treatment for Patients in the Justice System: Q&A with Dr. Marvin Swartz
"AOT is a complex community intervention that can be effective or not depending on how it is implemented. The question about its effectiveness is better phrased as: for whom and under what conditions can AOT be effective?"
Read More