Title: Nationally, Black Girls Receive More Frequent and Severe
Discipline in Schools

Description: In a new report, we found that Black girls are disciplined
much more often and more harshly than other children in public schools.
GAO’s Jackie Nowicki tells us more.

Related work: GAO-24-106787, K-12 Education: Nationally, Black Girls 
Receive More Frequent and More Severe Discipline in School Than Other 
Girls

Released: September 2024

{Music}

[Jackie Nowicki:] Any way we looked at it, Black girls were punished
more frequently and more harshly than other girls.

[Holly Hobbs:] Hi, and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for
fact-based, nonpartisan news and information from the U.S. Government
Accountability Office. I'm your host, Holly Hobbs. How students are
treated in school can profoundly influence the education they receive
and have lingering effects into adulthood. By law, children should
receive equal treatment in public schools, regardless of their sex, race
or ethnicity, or disability. But in a new report, we found that Black
girls are disciplined much more often and much more harshly than other
children in public schools. Joining us to talk about this new report is
GAO’s Jackie Nowicki, an expert on K-12 education. Thanks for joining
us.

[Jackie Nowicki:] Thanks for having me, Holly.

[Holly Hobbs:] So, Jackie, our report found that Black girls are being
disciplined more often and more harshly. What does that look like and
how do we know?

[Jackie Nowicki:] So it looks like a really concerning picture of how
Black girls are treated in school, especially when they have a
disability. We analyzed data from just about every public school in the
country, and we found that across all categories of discipline,
including suspensions and expulsions and school arrests, Black girls
were disciplined more than any other group of girls. For example, in
2017, Black girls were suspended at five times the rate of white girls.
And that holds true even when you account for the behavior that prompts
the discipline. Any way we looked at it, Black girls were punished more
frequently and more harshly than other girls.

[Holly Hobbs:] Is this just happening in some regions or some cities?

[Jackie Nowicki:] No, the pattern holds in every state. So here in
Washington, D.C., for example, Black girls’ rate of out-of-school
suspension is 20.5 times the rate of white girls. And most of the
discipline gap between white girls and Black girls is explained by
differences of discipline within a school. So, in other words, the
difference cannot be explained by the fact that Black girls attend
schools with higher overall discipline rates.

[Holly Hobbs:] So we know it is happening. Do we know why it's
happening?

[Jackie Nowicki:] So we did a literature review, and peer reviewed
studies confirmed what our interviews with experts told us—that racial
bias, including things like colorism, is a contributing factor to the
discipline of Black girls. Adultification bias is often at play. That's
a form of racial and gender bias where Black girls are often viewed as
older, more adult-like, more promiscuous than their peers, and are
sometimes seen as less likely to need support in school.

[Holly Hobbs:] This paints a bleak picture. What's the impact of this on
Black girls?

[Jackie Nowicki:] So there's actually national survey data on this.
Black girls reported feeling less safe and had less trust in school than
other girls. We also had the privilege of hearing directly from young
women aged 18 to 24 about their own K-12 experiences. And what they told
us matched what we found in the data that we analyzed. And it showed us
that the girls themselves are aware that even when they behave similarly
to their peers or perform well academically, they may be treated
differently at school because of their race and their gender. We know
that when girls are excluded from the classroom, so when they're
suspended or expelled, they're losing learning time, they feel less
connected to school, and they are more at risk for adverse outcomes
spanning into adulthood, such as reduced earnings. So, there are
educational consequences, economic consequences, and emotional
consequences, and physical consequences for girls’ safety and
well-being.

{MUSIC}

[Holly Hobbs:] Jackie just told us that Black girls in public schools
are being disciplined at a much higher rate than their peers. And this
is having dire consequences—not only on these kids’ education, but also
long-term. So, Jackie, this is not our first report on how girls are
disciplined differently. We've also looked at things like dress codes in
schools. How does that prior work fit into what we’ve learned in this
new report?

[Jackie Nowicki:] So both of those reports—all of our work in this space
actually—tell a story of gender and racial disparities. So, you
mentioned our dress code report. We know from that report that over 90%
of school dress codes prohibit clothing typically worn by girls, as
compared to 69% of dress codes that prohibit items of clothing more
typically worn by boys. And the young women that responded to our
questionnaire for this work repeatedly cited differences in how dress
codes are enforced not only between boys and girls, but between girls of
different races and different body shapes.

[Holly Hobbs:] I see. Is there a bigger picture here about how girls are
being treated in schools?

[Jackie Nowicki:] You know, there is. So recent federal data has shown
that girls are struggling across almost all measures of
well-being—things like mental health, substance abuse, experiences with
violence, suicidal ideation, thoughts, behaviors. And we know that how
students are treated in school can profoundly influence their
experiences and have long-lasting effects well into adulthood. So yeah,
what girls are experiencing with discipline in school is a really
important part of that larger conversation about girls’ wellness.

[Holly Hobbs:] And last question—what's the bottom line of this report?

[Jackie Nowicki:] I'd say the bottom line is that Black girls’
experiences in school, especially with discipline, are often very
different from their peers. The data in this report mirror what we know
to be true from our past work on dress codes and school policing—and
that is that Black girls are monitored differently and treated more
harshly than their peers, even when you hold constant the behavior that
prompted the discipline and it's significantly affecting their
experiences in schools.

[Holly Hobbs:] That was Jackie Nowicki talking about our new report on
K-12 discipline trends. Thanks for your time, Jackie.

[Jackie Nowicki:] Thanks, Holly.

[Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To
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GAO.gov.