@EdWorkingPaper{ai20-216,
title = "Getting Tough? The Effects of Discretionary Principal Discipline on Student Outcomes",
author = "Lucy C. Sorensen, Shawn D. Bushway, Elizabeth J. Gifford",
institution = "Annenberg Institute at Brown University",
number = "216",
year = "2020,
month = "April",
URL = "http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai20-216",
abstract = {Nationwide, school principals are given wide discretion to use disciplinary tools like suspension and expulsion to create a safe learning environment. There is legitimate concern that this power can have negative consequences, particularly for the people who are excluded. This study uses linked disciplinary, education, and criminal justice records from 2008 to 2016 in North Carolina to examine the impact of principal-driven disciplinary decisions on middle school student outcomes. We find that principals who are more likely to remove students do appear to create safer schools through a reduction in minor student misconduct. However, this deterrence comes at a high cost – these harsher principals generate more juvenile justice complaints and reduce high school graduation rates for all students in their schools. Students who committed minor disciplinary infractions in a school with a harsh principal suffer declines in attendance and test scores. Revealed racial bias in principal disciplinary decisions incurs additional negative consequences specific to Black and Hispanic students.},
}