School Strictness and Education: Investigating Racial and Ethnic Educational Inequalities Associated with Being Pushed Out

There are racial and ethnic disparities associated with school discipline practices and pushout rates. In addition, research suggests that urban schools have stricter school discipline practices and higher pushout rates. What remains unknown, however, is the relationship between racial and ethnic inequality, school discipline practices, and pushout rates across urban, rural, and suburban schools. Therefore, this study draws from the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to address two questions about the relationship between racial and ethnic inequality, school punishment practices, and academic progress that remain unanswered by the previous literature. First, is the relationship between stringent or lenient discipline practices and pushout rates similar in urban, rural, and suburban school contexts? Second, is the relationship between stringent or lenient discipline practices in urban, rural, and suburban contexts associated with racial and ethnic differences in pushout rates? This study seeks to contribute to racial and ethnic educational inequality research by investigating if there is a relationship between school discipline practices and pushout rates and establishing if there are racial and ethnic differences in urban, rural, and suburban contexts. Findings indicate that there are significant racial and ethnic disparities in pushout rates across all school contexts, particularly for Black/African American and Latina/o American students. Findings indicate that both stringent and lenient school punishment practices have effects on pushout rates; however, there are important and distinctive nuances that are presented and examined.