Discipline Reform and Academic Achievement

Terry-Ann Craigie , Smith College

To curb the excessive and disproportionate use of out-of-school suspensions, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed two key legislative reforms. The first reform, effective May 2012, banned the use of out-of-school suspensions for attendance-related infractions. Four years later, in June 2016, the Assembly passed additional legislation to lower the use of out-of-school suspensions for disruption-related infractions. The study investigates the impact of these reforms on individual and overall academic performance of Rhode Island's elementary and middle-school students, as well as corresponding racial-ethnic and disability achievement gaps. Using quasi-experimental estimation, the paper finds that although the first reform does not change individual and overall academic outcomes, it substantially reduces minority-white achievement gaps. The second reform, on the other hand, improves academic outcomes for treated students, but sacrifices the academic performance of the overall student population. The implications of these findings are discussed in detail.

See paper

 Presented in Session 56. Economy, Human Capital and Labor Markets