Childhood Disability and Serious School Discipline Among Urban Youth

To examine associations between childhood disability, its various types (physical, cognitive, emotional), and serious school discipline (suspensions/expulsions) in adolescence.

We conducted analyses of secondary data from the Future of Families & Child Wellbeing Study, a population-based urban birth cohort followed across 6 waves in 20 large US cities, to investigate associations between childhood disability and serious school discipline in adolescence. Disability status included disabling physical, cognitive, and emotional conditions reported by the child's mother between ages 1 and 9. Serious school discipline was measured at youth aged 15 as suspensions or expulsions in the past 2 years based on reports by the mother and the youth. Associations were examined using logistic regression models adjusting for confounding factors, presented as average marginal effects.

Of the 2504 adolescents in the analysis sample, one third (33%) were identified as having a measurable disability and these youth were more likely to have experienced receiving serious school discipline, based on mother and youth reports. Adolescents with cognitive or emotional conditions had a significantly higher likelihood of receiving serious school discipline compared to those who did not have those conditions, while those with physical disability did not.

In this study of US urban youth, teens with cognitive or emotional conditions had a higher likelihood of experiencing serious school discipline, while youth with physical disability did not, suggesting that youth with less visible disability conditions are more likely to be penalized at school. These findings point to the urgent need for improved interventions for these youth.