Researchers from the Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic, working in partnership with Maryland’s education department, have found that “in all 24 Maryland school systems, black students received out-of-school suspensions or expulsions at more than twice the rate of white students” from 2009 to 2012.
The report, released last week also shows higher rates of classroom removal for special education students, and researchers found that black students had higher rates of out-of-school suspensions or expulsions than did Hispanic or white students.
The state recently adopted a rule that requires districts to write new policies by the 2014-15 school year. Under the new rule, schools with disciplinary procedures that the education department finds have a “disproportionate impact on minority students or a discrepant impact on special education students” will be required to create a plan “to reduce the impact within one year and eliminate it within three years.”
