Open research questions in Education Discipline and Inequality

What the literature leaves open

• The study had a limited sample size of 27 elementary and middle schools. The study only included schools that were willing to participate in the study. The randomization procedure for the fourth cohort was different from the first three cohorts. The study did not control for all potential confounding variables. The study relied on self-reported measures from teachers.

  The R-CITY Youth Violence Preventive Intervention: Primary Outcomes from a School Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial · 2026 · DOI

• Future studies should investigate the long-term effects of the R-CITY program. Research should examine the effectiveness of the R-CITY program in different school settings and populations. Studies should explore the potential benefits of integrating the R-CITY program with other interventions.

  The R-CITY Youth Violence Preventive Intervention: Primary Outcomes from a School Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial · 2026 · DOI

• Further research could explore the long-term effects of DSG laws on educator retention and student outcomes. Studies could investigate the impact of DSG laws on educators' self-efficacy and sense of agency. Research could examine the relationship between DSG laws and school climate.

  Perceived Comfort and Safety of Self and Students Predicting One’s Wish to Leave Education · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of understanding of how 'Don't Say Gay' laws affect educators' perceptions of safety and comfort. The study aims to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between 'Don't Say Gay' laws and educator retention. The research gap includes the need to understand how the presence of 'Don't Say Gay' laws affects educators' self-efficacy and sense of agency within the school environment.

  Perceived Comfort and Safety of Self and Students Predicting One’s Wish to Leave Education · 2026 · DOI

• Comparatively little is known about how students themselves conceptualise safety and unsafety in a school environment.

  Exploring students’ conceptions of school safety and unsafety · 2026 · DOI

• Although academic predictors can identify students at higher risk for Step 1 failure, there is limited evidence on how to best support these students in achieving first-attempt success and maintaining on-time graduation.

  Improving USMLE Step 1 outcomes in academically vulnerable students through a targeted, competency-based curriculum · 2025 · DOI

• Additional research on the con­ sequences of the deinstitutionalization of children, with emphasis on the quality of community services and supports available to families of children with severe disabilities, will provide the information necessary to more fully integrate children who were once excluded altogether from society.

  The Movement of Children with Mental Retardation from Institutional to Community Care · 1987 · DOI

• Future research should examine the experiences of children and families who are denied enrollment. Future research should explore the impact of pre-enrollment exclusion on children's outcomes. Future research should develop and test strategies to reduce pre-enrollment exclusion.

  Denied at the Door: Examining Pre-enrollment Exclusion in Early Childhood Education · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of research on pre-enrollment exclusion in early childhood education. The study aims to address this gap by examining pre-enrollment exclusion in community childcare programs.

  Denied at the Door: Examining Pre-enrollment Exclusion in Early Childhood Education · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should explore the long-term effects of Black girl spaces on the positive youth development of Black girls. Future research should investigate the use of CRSEL pedagogy in other contexts.

  Taking Up Space: An Analysis of Educational Spaces for Black Girlhood · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need for restorative and liberatory environments for Black girls. There is a lack of understanding of what Black girls learn in these environments.

  Taking Up Space: An Analysis of Educational Spaces for Black Girlhood · 2026 · DOI

• The population targeted was hard to recruit due to its very minority status. The study may be limited by the potential reluctance of sexual minorities to participate in studies due to risk of being outed.

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

• Future research could explore the experiences of homomaternal families in different cultural and national contexts. The study's findings suggest the need for further research on the intersection of class, sexuality, and parental involvement in schooling.

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

• There is a need for culturally affirming antiracist school counseling practices. The intersectionality of race and disability in school counseling is a critical issue that requires attention.

  Broaching the Intersectionality of Race and Disability in School Counseling · 2026 · DOI

• Implementing peer mediation programs in schools with limited resources. Addressing societal and identity-related factors that affect program success. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of peer mediation programs.

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

• There is a lack of guidance on how schools should implement peer mediation programs to support meaningful change in school disciplinary culture. The effectiveness of peer mediation programs depends on their structure and how they are carried out.

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

• Implicit bias in teacher referral practices. Lack of standardized criteria for behavioral documentation and disciplinary decision-making. Limited access to comprehensive mental health support in under-resourced schools.

  Misdiagnosed and Overmedicated: How U.S. Schools Pathologize Black Boys Without Providing Comprehensive Mental Health Care · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of understanding about how diagnostic pathways operate for Black boys. There is a need to examine the institutional processes that shape disparities in diagnosis and treatment.

  Misdiagnosed and Overmedicated: How U.S. Schools Pathologize Black Boys Without Providing Comprehensive Mental Health Care · 2026 · DOI

• There is a significant gap in research on preservice/postsecondary ECE students' perspectives, particularly through a critical framing that challenges the normative logics embedded within psychological and developmental theories. The study identifies a need for a critical examination of the ways in which sanist systems of oppression are reinforced in early childhood education.

  Regulation of Madness in Early Childhood Education: Exploring Undergraduates’ Understanding of Professional Identity and Mental Health · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need to examine the effectiveness of different training programs in mitigating widespread classroom disorder. The study aims to identify which training programs have a significant impact on reducing or preventing classroom disruptions.

  Which Training Works? · 2026 · DOI

• The study faced challenges in defining and operationalizing the concept of DEI. The review was limited to peer-reviewed educational studies that explicitly use the term DEI or directly apply Fricker's theoretical framework. The study had to navigate the complexities of analyzing and synthesizing a large body of literature.

  Who Gets to Know, Speak, and be Heard? A Scoping Review of Discriminatory Epistemic Injustice (DEI) in Educational Research · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of a universal definition of inclusion. The concept of DEI has not been fully explored in educational research. The study aims to address the gap in understanding DEI in educational contexts.

  Who Gets to Know, Speak, and be Heard? A Scoping Review of Discriminatory Epistemic Injustice (DEI) in Educational Research · 2026 · DOI

• Limited participation by experts, key stakeholders, and parents. Poor coordination between the social development and education departments. The lack of parental support and involvement in addressing learners' issues.

  Collaboration and Challenges in School Social Work Within South African Public Schools: A Case of the Gauteng Province · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the understanding of collaboration in school social work in South African public schools. The lack of psychosocial well-being support structures affects learners' well-being. The study aims to address this gap by exploring the nature of collaboration in school social work.

  Collaboration and Challenges in School Social Work Within South African Public Schools: A Case of the Gauteng Province · 2026 · 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

Most-cited papers in Education Discipline and Inequality

• The Color of Discipline: Sources of Racial and Gender Disproportionality in School Punishment · The Urban Review · 2002 · 1,161 citations
• Race Is Not Neutral: A National Investigation of African American and Latino Disproportionality in School Discipline · School Psychology Review · 2011 · 1,027 citations
• The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap · Educational Researcher · 2010 · 1,005 citations
• Culturally Responsive School Leadership · Review of Educational Research · 2016 · 893 citations
• Special Education for the Mildly Retarded—Is Much of it Justifiable? · Exceptional Children · 1968 · 868 citations
• Empowering Minority Students: A Framework for Intervention · Harvard Educational Review · 1986 · 693 citations
• Improving adolescents' standardized test performance: An intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · 2003 · 672 citations
• Are zero tolerance policies effective in the schools?: An evidentiary review and recommendations. · American Psychologist · 2008 · 620 citations
• Physical discipline among African American and European American mothers: Links to children's externalizing behaviors. · Developmental Psychology · 1996 · 508 citations
• The Trouble with Black Boys: · Urban Education · 2003 · 482 citations

Most recent work

• Interaction effects are only a piece of the puzzle: reintroducing MAIHDA as a powerful tool to advance understanding of intersectional inequities · American Journal of Epidemiology · 2026
• School Diversity Perspectives and Classmate Diversity Climate: Understanding High School Students' School Belonging, Well‐Being, and Intercultural Contact · Journal of Community Psychology · 2026
• Collaboration and Challenges in School Social Work Within South African Public Schools: A Case of the Gauteng Province · Education Sciences · 2026
• The R-CITY Youth Violence Preventive Intervention: Primary Outcomes from a School Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial · Prevention Science · 2026
• Relational and feminist pedagogic approaches for developing engagement and inclusion of girls at risk of exclusion in England · British Educational Research Journal · 2026
• Educational Outcomes, Culturally Responsive Practices, and Identity: A Review of Literature · School Psychology Review · 2026
• 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

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