Preventing Disciplinary Exclusions of Students from American Indian/Alaska Native Backgrounds

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12042
• Author: Claudia G. Vincent, CHiXapkaid,Tary J. Tobin,Jeffrey R. Sprague
• Published date: 01 July 2013
• Date: 01 July 2013

PREVENTING DISCIPLINARY EXCLUSIONS OF STUDENTS FROM

AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE BACKGROUNDS

Jeffrey R. Sprague, Claudia G. Vincent, Tary J. Tobin, and CHiXapkaid (Michael Pavel)

We present 2009–2010 data on disciplinary exclusions in schools and juvenile incarcerations from one state in the United

States to demonstrate that American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students: (a) are disproportionately overrepresented in

disciplinary exclusions from the classroom, (b) lose 4.5 times as many student days as White students due to disciplinary

exclusions, and (c) are removed to alternative education for relatively minor offenses. We then present an overview of the

literature on culturally responsive school environments, the Native community’s recommendations to improve outcomes for

AI/AN students and approaches to educational systems changes that might alleviate disciplinary exclusions of AI/AN

students.

Keypoints

• high drop-out rates

• low graduation rates

• low academic achievement

• disproportionate representation in exclusionary discipline

Keywords: American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN);Cultural Responsiveness;Disproportionate Minority;Exclusionary

Discipline;Representation;and School-to-Prison Pipeline.

The deleterious effects of excluding students from the classroom for disciplinary reasons, as

well as the over-representation of non-White students among those excluded have been widely

documented (Aud, Fox, & KewalRamani, 2010; Christle, Jolivette, & Nelson, 2005; Faircloth &

Tippeconnic, 2010). Little published research on American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students

and youth exists, although they experience high exclusion and high incarceration rates (Aud et al.,

2010; Political Research Associates, 2005). Our goal is twofold. First, we examine 2009–2010

discipline and juvenile justice data from a state in the Northwestern United States to document the

magnitude of the disproportionate representation of AI/AN students in various types of disciplinary

exclusion and incarceration as well as the duration and primary reasons for disciplinary exclusions

of AI/AN students. Second, we present promising strategies for culturally responsive behavior

support in the context of recommendations put forth by the AI/AN communities to raise the edu-

cational achievement of AI/AN students. Our first goal was guided by the following research

questions:

1. Are AI/AN youth excluded for disciplinary reasons from the classroom and incarcerated at a

disproportionate rate compared to White youth?

2. Do AI/AN students lose more days in the regular classroom due to disciplinary exclusions

compared to students from White backgrounds?

3. What are the primary reasons why AI/AN students are excluded compared to students from

White backgrounds?

Because of the brevity of the current study, and because the majority student population in the state

was White, we focused on White students as the only comparator group.

Correspondence: jeffs@uoregon.edu; clavin@uoregon.edu; ttobin@uoregon.edu; dpavel@uoregon.edu

FAMILY COURT REVIEW,Vol. 51 No. 3, July 2013 452–459

© 2013 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts