Disparities in Discipline: A Look at School Disciplinary Actions for Utah's American Indian Students (image)
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School disciplinary actions handed down to students at Utah public schools disproportionately impact American Indian children over all other ethnicities enrolled in the state's public education system, new research from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law Public Policy Clinic reveals. Researcher and law student Vanessa Walsh found that although American Indian students comprise the smallest student demographic in Utah, they have the largest percentage of students referred to law enforcement and arrested at school. The rates for disciplinary actions taken against American Indian students are much higher than for white students. Studies show that suspension and expulsion rates are closely correlated with dropout and delinquency rates, and have tremendous economic costs. Referrals to law enforcement and arrests at school are the harshest forms of school disciplinary action and expose students directly to the juvenile justice system, said Walsh. Such students often become part of the "School-to-Prison Pipeline," or STPP, which are practices by schools and law enforcement that steer schoolchildren out of the classroom and into the juvenile justice system.
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University of Utah
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