Discipline, Achievement, and Race: Is Zero Tolerance the Answer

(Paperback)

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Fifty years after Brown v Board of Education inequalities in public education are evident in the disproportionate numbers of Black and Latino students who are held back, often do not graduate from high school, or are removed from school by unforgiving zero tolerance discipline policies. The National Center for Educational Statistics (2002) suspension data indicates that minority students are punished more often and more severely than their peers. Author Augustina Reyes contends that when ineffective zero tolerance discipline policies disproportionately remove minority and low-income students from schools the very roots of a democracy are threatened. This policy clashes with fundamental educational beliefs of education as a right and responsibility for educating all children. It is important for educators to understand the disproportionate effects of zero tolerance discipline policies on low-income students, at-risk students, special education students, and students of color. It is equally important that educators critically investigate the affects of zero tolerance discipline policies, re-evaluate the use of zero tolerance discipline policies in public schools, and promote effective child-centered discipline policies and practices.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of policy, practice, and the effects and recommendations for solutions to the exclusionary discipline policies of zero tolerance. It will be of interest to teachers, principals and assistant principals, and counselors.

Reviews

I would highly recommend the book to both researchers and policy analysts. Moreover, I think it would be an appropriate book for an undergraduate social problems course. * Teachers College Record *
Discipline, Achievement, and Race provides the necessary information, offering a comprehensive analysis of policy and practice and recommending solutions to the discipline policies of zero tolerance. It will be of interest to teachers, principals and assistant principals, counselors, and concerned parents. * Sir Read Alot Book Review *
Professor Reyes' work expertly details the criminalization of student behavior, and forces us to examine more closely zero tolerance policies that disproportionately affect students of color and poor students classified as at-risk. The book is a must read for faculty in principal preparation programs and for school leaders who are concerned about a more socially just educational system. -- Linda C. Tillman, Ph.D., professor emerita, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
This is an excellent book that should be on the shelves of educational researchers, educational administrators, policy analysts, and policymakers. It is must-reading for those concerned with dealing with ills in the schools that have labeled, marginalized, criminalized, and disproportionately pushed out African American, Latina/o, low-income, and special education students. Finally, this book will also be a valuable addition to undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of education, educational policy, educational administration, sociology of education, and minority groups. * Bilingual Review *
The research by Professor Reyes makes a significant contribution to the ongoing research on school safety and how some school policies adversely affect minority students. In addition, Professor Reyes offers some important recommendations that education decision makers should consider as they formulate safe school policies. -- Richard R. Verdugo, senior research scientist, Human and Civil Rights Division, National Education Association, Washington, DC

Author Bio

Dr. Augustina H. Reyes is an associate professor of the Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Studies at the University of Houston where she has raised over $1 million for principal preparation in diverse school environments. She is a former associate professor from the Texas A&M Department of Educational Administration, a former teacher and central office administrator in the Houston Independent School District. Dr. Reyes also spent ten years on the Houston Independent School District board of trustees and six years on the Houston Community College board of trustees.