Open research questions in Education Discipline and Inequality

What the literature leaves open

• While this study captured students’ perspectives at multiple time points, allowing for the examination of change over the year, we could not similarly gather surveys from educators at the beginning of the year. This data constraint limited our under- standing of educators’ predispositions when the program was initiated. However, we sought to compensate by using reflective questions during the EOY surveys that asked about changes over the course of the year due to the PM program. While we did successfully collect three waves of student surveys, insights from these surveys should be interpreted considering the observed decline in response rates across suc- cessive surveys. Based on this data limitation and the small sample size of interview and focus group participants, we acknowledge that our findings may not represent all participants’ perspectives. Further, the perspectives presented in the findings section are descriptive; the small sample size of survey participants prevented testing for statistical significance. This study embraces its descriptive nature, seeking to provide rich insights through the triangulation of various data sources. Journal of Educational Change1 3 Findings The following sections of this paper provide insights into how a PM program played out at four schools and the factors that shaped its’ implementation. Our findings high- light a story of partial implementation despite widespread support for PM by educa- tors and students alike. Through student and educator insights, we reveal both the factors that limited implementation and the positive benefits that were experienced regardless.

  Building restorative school cultures: Insights from peer mediation programs in elementary and middle schools · 2026 · DOI

• Similarly, future research could examine how social class interacts with these other factors in shaping mothers’ attitudes, as this was not possible with the present sample. Moreover, the demographic characteristics of the interview- ees and the sample size do not allow for the analysis of certain questions, which should be explored in future research.

  Navigating stigma amid class disparities: a qualitative study of same-sex couples in French schools · 2026 · DOI

• The School-to-Prison Pipeline (STPPL) is primarily positioned in the discourse relating to education and criminal justice yet its public health implications remain underexplored.

  Beyond the Classroom: The School-To-Prison Pipeline as a Public Health Crisis · 2025 · DOI

• While ASCA continues to dedicate resources to promoting RAMP and manageable student-to-school counselor (SC) ratios, previous research has demonstrated mixed findings in their role on student outcomes.

  A Comparative Analysis of Schools' Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) Designation Status, Student-to-School Counselor Ratios, Racial/Ethnic Composition, and Student Outcomes · 2025 · DOI

• Alongside ongoing efforts to increase postschool outcomes of racially minoritized young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), little is known about their parents’ experiences in preparing for and navigating the transition planning process.

  Exploring Transition Planning Among Racially Minoritized Parents of Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Using DisCrit and QuantCrit · 2024 · DOI

• All 13 provinces and territories in Canada (and their associated federally run schools) permit the use of curriculum modifications yet, despite their frequent use, the efficacy of this long-standing practice has rarely been studied.

  What Is Known About Curriculum Modifications? A Scoping Literature Review · 2024 · DOI

• Abstract Very limited research exists regarding the beliefs and practices of student support teams (SSTs), sometimes called child study teams or IEP teams, in settings with non-expulsion policies for young children with severely challenging behaviors.

  Soft Expulsion: What Happens When School-Based Supports aren’t Enough · 2024 · DOI

• This study examines understudied racial-ethnic heterogeneity in the relationships between an early elementary school ADHD diagnosis—with or without medication treatment—and children’s future perceived self-competence, teacher-rated school behaviors, and parent-rated educational expectations.

  Racial-Ethnic Heterogeneity in the Relationship Between an Early Elementary School ADHD Diagnosis and Later Child Well-Being · 2024 · DOI

• The lived experiences of queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) youth are significantly influenced by the various environments they navigate – including but not limited to their families, schools, neighborhoods, communities, and workplaces.

  Did It Get Better? The Realities of Queer and Trans Youth of Color in K-12 Schools · 2024 · DOI

• Several studies indicate supportive leaders and IPD improves school climates for LGBTQ+ students; however, quantitative descriptions of how IPD may influence student behavior remain scarce.

  LGBTQ+-Inclusive Professional Development in Elementary Schools: Does It Matter to Schoolwide Discipline? · 2023 · DOI

• PK-12 leaders use gender- and sexuality-inclusivity professional development (IPD) as a tool to improve the school climate for LGBTQ+ students, but IPD programs vary widely in their scope, breadth, duration, instructional approach, and content.

  LGBTQ+-Inclusive Professional Development in Elementary Schools: Does It Matter to Schoolwide Discipline? · 2023 · DOI

• The majority of research on overrepresentation, intersectionality and disproportionate risk has been conducted in the United States, yet there has been limited research within an Australian context despite reports of the overrepresentation of students in priority equity groups: students with a disability, Indigenous students and those living in out-of-home care.

  Suspensions in QLD state schools, 2016–2020: overrepresentation, intersectionality and disproportionate risk · 2023 · DOI

• 2020), lack of quality teachers as more Black students enroll in a school (Jackson, 2009), the intersection of health disparities and education(Fiscella & Kitzman, 2009), and lastly recent publications have related to Black children are lacking access to appropriate social-emotional learning experiences that humanize them and prepare them for a world of anti-Black racism (i.

  Strategies to accelerate the closure of opportunity gaps for Black youth · 2023 · DOI

• Three, we provide a situated critique rooted in current IDEA racial equity monitoring to show how technical mandates are insufficient for assuring justice and equity on the ground level.

  Racial and Dis/Ability Equity-Oriented Educational Leadership Preparation · 2022 · DOI

• Although there was relatively robust overall AP course availability in both school districts, access and degree of racial segregation varied widely within the school districts.

  Advanced Placement and Equity: A Case Study of Two Suburban School Districts · 2022 · DOI

• Three research questions guided this review: (1) What was the purpose of research studies concerning ULWD? (2) Who were the participants, what were the research methods, and theoretical frameworks used? and (3) What were the common themes across the studies? Findings indicate that there is little research addressing the needs of ULWD and their family caregivers, with existing literature consistently calling for further research on this population.

  Looking in the Shadows: Literature on Undocumented Latinx Students with Disabilities · 2022 · DOI

• Studies varied widely in how disability and racial identity were categorized within and across studies and provided limited evidence of effectiveness through the use of subgroup analyses to support meaningful assessment of how students with disabilities and racially minoritized elementary school age students are benefiting from USB SEL interventions.

  A Systematic Review of Student Disability and Race Representation in Universal School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions for Elementary School Students · 2022 · DOI

• Our mission to advance work on this topic has not changed; we have committed our work as co-editors and as researchers to support efforts that ensure children, youth, and adults of color with IDD, and their families, are afforded the inherent civil liberties, freedoms, and protections they are warranted.

  Equity for People of Color With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities · 2021 · DOI

• Cultural misunderstandings and power differentials between caregivers and educators emerged from the data analysis and provided insight into how and why IDEA procedural protections were insufficient for assuring the rights of students with dis/abilities were protected during the transition process.

  The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Equity Imperative: Examining Early Childhood Transitions to Special Education · 2021 · DOI

• Although empirical research on the topic is scarce, the articles that were analyzed in this review that also included an analysis of the experiences of SETOC often was framed using a racial lens in understanding factors that may cause them to stay in or leave the profession.

  Complementary Review of the Literature on Attrition and Retention Patterns of Special Education Teachers of Color: What We Know and How We Move Forward · 2021 · DOI

• Purposely grounding this article in an asset-based approach of exploring the work and lives of superintendents who are not part of the hegemonic norm – by centreing superintendents of colour and women superintendents – we employ a lesser-used tactic of emphasising underexplored leadership experiences to highlight what we can learn from and appreciate about them.

  Leadership and the U.S. Superintendency: Issues of race, preparation and impact · 2021 · DOI

• Although extant literature provides experimental evidence supporting the positive impacts of SWPBIS on decreased office discipline referrals and suspensions, those effects for diverse students have not been fully investigated.

  The Impacts of School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports on School Discipline Outcomes for Diverse Students · 2021 · DOI

• The current case study aims to address this gap in the literature using evidence from participant observations, interviews with program staff, and focus groups with caregivers from the Downtown Boxing Gym, a community-based after-school program in Detroit, Michigan that primarily serves Black youth.

  “Doing Our Part”: What Motivates Black Family Engagement in an After-School Program · 2020 · DOI

• , racial minorities, LGBT students, students with disabilities, religious minorities) in voucher programs raises both legal and policy concerns that have not been extensively examined in recent research.

  Dollars to Discriminate: The (Un)intended Consequences of School Vouchers · 2016 · DOI

• Unfortunately, little research exists on the educational well-being of female students in this population (Crenshaw, Ocen, & Nanda, 2015) and trauma-informed educational practices have not been extensively tested.

  Evaluating Trauma-Informed Educational Practices With Trauma-Exposed, Female Students · 2016

Most-cited papers in Education Discipline and Inequality

• Within-Group Diversity in Minority Disproportionate Representation: English Language Learners in Urban School Districts · Exceptional Children · 2005 · 316 citations
• Determinants of Disciplinary Practices in Low-Income Black Mothers · Child Development · 1992 · 296 citations
• Racial Disproportionality and Disparities in the Child Welfare System: Why Do They Exist, and What Can Be Done to Address Them? · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · 2020 · 295 citations
• Latino Adolescents’ Experiences of Discrimination Across the First 2 Years of High School: Correlates and Influences on Educational Outcomes · Child Development · 2011 · 178 citations
• Unpacking the Drivers of Racial Disparities in School Suspension and Expulsion · Social Forces · 2019 · 159 citations
• The Challenges of Achieving Equity Within Public School Gifted and Talented Programs · Gifted Child Quarterly · 2021 · 158 citations
• Unintended Consequences: Effects of Paternal Incarceration on Child School Readiness and Later Special Education Placement · Sociological Science · 2014 · 147 citations
• Race, Poverty, and Exclusionary School Security · Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice · 2013 · 124 citations
• “I’m a Teacher, I’m Gonna Always Protect You”: Understanding Black Educators’ Protection of Black Children · American Educational Research Journal · 2020 · 123 citations
• Office Discipline and Student Behavior: Does Race Matter? · American Journal of Education · 2010 · 121 citations

Most recent work

• Deepening the Study of Disproportionality in Special Education: A Contextual Analysis Within Suburban School Districts · Exceptional Children · 2026
• Black Girls and School Discipline: A QuantCrit Examination of Discipline Policy, Racialized Female Discipline, and Academic Outcomes · Urban Education · 2026
• Unsettled Standards: Examining State Laws on Restraint and Seclusion · Behavioral Disorders · 2026
• Broaching the Intersectionality of Race and Disability in School Counseling · Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development · 2026
• A Critical Race Analysis of High School Educator Perceptions of School Discipline and Racial Disproportionality · Children & Schools · 2026
• Race at the Top: How Superintendent Racial Representation Shapes Principal Diversity in Texas Schools · Educational Administration Quarterly · 2026
• Punished: Identity Development of Black Boys in a Figured World of Exclusion · Remedial and Special Education · 2026
• Understanding how micro affirmations support multiply marginalized social justice school leaders to thrive · Journal of Educational Administration · 2026
• Equitable, Race-Conscious Schoolwide Practices Supporting the Academic Success and Growth of Black Students · Journal of School Leadership · 2026
• Social Communication as Behavior Support: A Language Professional-Led, Schoolwide Approach in Inclusive Schools · Beyond Behavior · 2026

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