Does Longevity Matter?: Teacher Experience and the Suspension of Black Middle School

Decades of research have showcased the inequitable exclusion of Black students in urban middle schools via out-of-school suspensions. Black students exhibit the highest rates of suspensions when compared to their White peers according to the 2013-2014 Office of Civil Rights database. Urban middle school teachers are typically placed in high-stress situations, and are initially ill-prepared to manage classrooms, while their lack of experience as a teacher candidate could be exposing Black students to biased discipline practices, which may serve to reproduce societal inequities within the classroom. Although researchers have identified numerous factors which negatively impact Black students' suspension rates, this study sought to determine if there is a positive association between an increase in teachers' years of experience and lower out-of-school suspension rates for Black students in urban middle schools.

Does Longevity Matter?: Teacher Experience and the Suspension of Black Middle School Academic Article