Schooling While Black: Analyzing the Racial School Discipline Crisis for Behavior Analyst

The persisting issue of racial injustice within disciplinary action referred to as the school-to-prison pipeline has been frequently examined and studied across multiple disciplines spanning education, public policy, criminal justice, and others. The racial school discipline crisis is the disproportionate and differential use of exclusionary action against Black children in school. While disproportionate exclusion occurs throughout the educational continuum, early childhood expulsions and suspensions are a growing concern and are linked to further problems in kindergarten and beyond. With national attention from civil rights organizations drawing eyes to the injustices, educational systems are looking to solve the over-use of suspension and expulsion to address student behavior. Behavior analysts are often tasked with addressing and reducing the behavioral concerns of students; however, there is a gap in the behavior analytic literature on racism in schools. Bringing awareness to anti-Black racism in American schooling is an initial step for behavior analysts to take toward dismantling oppressive systems within education.