Russell Skiba - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Russell Skiba
In addition to our appreciation of the many contributions of the APA staff named above, the Zero
Although there can be no dispute that schools must do all that can be done to ensure the safety o... more Although there can be no dispute that schools must do all that can be done to ensure the safety of learning environments, controversy has arisen about the use of zero tolerance policies and procedures to achieve those aims. In response to that controversy, and to assess the extent to which current practice benefits students and schools, the American Psychological Association convened a task force to evaluate the evidence and to make appropriate recommendations regarding zero tolerance policies and practices. An extensive review of the literature found that, despite a 20-year history of implementation, there are surprisingly few data that could directly test the assumptions of a zero tolerance approach to school discipline, and the data that are available tend to contradict those assumptions. Moreover, zero tolerance policies may negatively affect the relationship of education with juvenile justice and appear to conflict to some degree with current best knowledge concerning adolescen...
Abstract. Discipline practices in schools affect the social quality of each educational environme... more Abstract. Discipline practices in schools affect the social quality of each educational environment, and the ability of children to achieve the academic and social gains essential for success in a 21st century society. We review the documented patterns of office discipline referrals in 364 elementary and middle schools during the 2005–2006 academic year. Data were reported by school personnel through daily or weekly uploading of office discipline referrals using the Web-based School-wide Information System. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses indicate that students from African American families are 2.19 (elementary) to 3.78 (middle) times as likely to be referred to the office for problem behavior as their White peers. In addition, the results indicate that students from African American and Latino families are more likely than their White peers to receive expulsion or out of school suspension as consequences for the same or similar problem behavior. These results extend a...
Background/Context Research in the latter half of the 20th century purporting to show significant... more Background/Context Research in the latter half of the 20th century purporting to show significant racial differences in intelligence and social behavior appears to pit civil rights concerns against the freedom of scientific inquiry. The core hypotheses and presumptions of recent research on racial difference are not new, however, but spring from a two-century-old program of research that has sought to demonstrate racial differences in socially valued traits. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this review was to explore the history of racial difference research in order to (1) elucidate the central themes of that research and (2) explore the reasons for the persistence of those themes into modern racial difference research. Research Design The investigation is a historical analysis of research on racial differences from the late 18th century to the present. Conclusions/Recommendations Both the methodologies and the willingness to express the core hypoth...
There is no doubt that the safety of children in schools and in communities is paramount. Inciden... more There is no doubt that the safety of children in schools and in communities is paramount. Incidents of school violence in the United States have motivated researchers and practitioners to explore and employ effective methodologies and strategies to promote safety in classrooms and schools. Still, issues of disruptive behavior top the list of concerns about education among teachers and parents. The message of zero tolerance is intuitively appealing. When disruption and disorder threaten schools and communities, it becomes increasingly easy to accept the notion that greater authority and force are necessary in order to keep schools secure. This article suggests that exclusionary, zero tolerance approaches to school discipline are not the best way to create a safe climate for learning. Increasingly, there are sound alternatives available to schools that can promote a safe school climate conducive to learning without removing large numbers of students from the opportunity to learn or cr...
Disruptive behavior consistently tops the list of teachers' and parents' concerns about e... more Disruptive behavior consistently tops the list of teachers' and parents' concerns about education. In an effort to address this concern, many U.S. schools began adopting zero-tolerance policies in the 1990s, which led to substantial increases in out-of-school suspensions and expulsions (Wald & Losen, 2003). These policies have sparked controversy because of racial disparities in suspension and expulsion rates as well as incidents in which students have been suspended or expelled for seemingly trivial infractions, such as making a paper gun (American Psychological Association, 2006). In today's climate, principals seem to face a tough choice between keeping their school safe and ensuring that all students have continued educational opportunity. September 2008
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education
Background/Context Research in the latter half of the 20th century purporting to show significant... more Background/Context Research in the latter half of the 20th century purporting to show significant racial differences in intelligence and social behavior appears to pit civil rights concerns against the freedom of scientific inquiry. The core hypotheses and presumptions of recent research on racial difference are not new, however, but spring from a two-century-old program of research that has sought to demonstrate racial differences in socially valued traits. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this review was to explore the history of racial difference research in order to (1) elucidate the central themes of that research and (2) explore the reasons for the persistence of those themes into modern racial difference research. Research Design The investigation is a historical analysis of research on racial differences from the late 18th century to the present. Conclusions/Recommendations Both the methodologies and the willingness to express the core hypoth...
School Psychology Review
Discipline practices in schools affect the social quality of each educational environment, and th... more Discipline practices in schools affect the social quality of each educational environment, and the ability of children to achieve the academic and social gains essential for success in a 21st century society. We review the documented patterns of office discipline referrals in 364 elementary and middle schools during the 2005-2006 academic year. Data were reported by school personnel through daily or weekly uploading of office discipline referrals using the Web-based School-wide Information System. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses indicate that students from African American families are 2.19 (elementary) to 3.78 (middle) times as likely to be referred to the office for problem behavior as their White peers. In addition, the results indicate that students from African American and Latino families are more likely than their White peers to receive expulsion or out of school suspension as consequences for the same or similar problem behavior. These results extend and are consistent with a long history of similar findings, and argue for direct efforts in policy, practice, and research to address ubiquitous racial and ethnic disparities in school discipline. The Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 set the nation on a path toward equalizing educational opportunity for all children. The right not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or national origin was explicitly guaranteed by This research was supported in part by U.S. Department of Education Grant H326S980003. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Education, and no official endorsement by the Department should be inferred.
School Psychology Review
Abstract 1. Presents research findings showing comorbidity of externalizing (aggression and delin... more Abstract 1. Presents research findings showing comorbidity of externalizing (aggression and delinquency), internalizing (anxiety, depression, somatic complaints, and withdrawal), and attention problems. Comorbidity is discussed within the conceptual framework of the ...
Behavioral Disorders
This document provides policy recommendations of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorde... more This document provides policy recommendations of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD) regarding disproportionality in special education and the need for federal policy driving state regulations to support efforts to eliminate this outcome in schools. CCBD is committed to advancing knowledge, effective instruction, and advocacy for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities, a special education population particularly vulnerable to disproportionate practices. Monitoring requirements in the 1997 and 2004 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) acknowledged the extent of racial and ethnic disproportionality in special education, especially when Congress designated this concern among the top three priority areas for monitoring and enforcement in IDEA 2004. However, federal interpretations of the 2004 requirements by the US Department of Education have created confusion at the State (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) levels. ...
American Educational Research Journal
This study examined the effectiveness of participating in special education on the academic outco... more This study examined the effectiveness of participating in special education on the academic outcomes of students with disabilities. A sample of 575 students from a large, urban school district were followed longitudinally as they transitioned between general and special education to evaluate whether receiving special education services was associated with improvements in academic trajectories. Using student fixed effects models of within-person change over time, individuals’ performance on standardized tests were compared before, during, and/or after special education placement. Results indicate that test scores of students with disabilities improved after being enrolled in special education. Additionally, students exiting special education exhibited a sustained trajectory of academic growth, suggesting that participation in special education in this district was associated with enduring improvements over time.
Behavioral Disorders
... dispropor-tionately by schools that decided providing services was too costly, time consuming... more ... dispropor-tionately by schools that decided providing services was too costly, time consuming or inconvenient, states Kevin Dwyer, Past Presi ... minor offenses, such as disobedi-ence and disrespect (Cooley, 1995; Skiba et al., 1997), attendance problems (Kaeser, 1979; Morgan ...
Exceptional Children
Archival data from an elementary school self-contained program for students labeled severely beha... more Archival data from an elementary school self-contained program for students labeled severely behaviorally disordered were examined to investigate the relationship between timeout usage and academic achievement. Results indicated that timeout use was low to moderate for the majority of students in the program, although a few students were placed in the timeout area at much higher levels. Considerably less instructional time was lost to timeout than to other sources of classroom absence, such as suspension or truancy. Correlations between indicators of timeout usage and curriculum-based measures of academic achievement disclosed little evidence of a relationship between timeout use and achievement. In contrast, measures of school absence, in particular truancy, appeared to be consistently correlated with poor academic performance.
Exceptional Children
This study investigated the extent to which the overrepresentation of African American students i... more This study investigated the extent to which the overrepresentation of African American students in more restrictive special education settings is attributable to their overrepresentation in disability categories more likely to be served in more restrictive educational environments. Within 5 disability categories (emotional disturbance, mild mental retardation, moderate mental retardation, learning disabilities, and speech and language), African American students were overrepresented in more restrictive educational environments and underrepresented in less restrictive environments relative to all other students with the same disability. Disproportionality was most evident in those disability categories served primarily in general education settings. Given the social consensus regarding inclusion, disproportionality in restrictiveness of educational environment may represent a more serious challenge than disproportionality in disability categories.
Journal of Disability Policy Studies
Monitoring requirements in the 1997 amendments to and 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals wit... more Monitoring requirements in the 1997 amendments to and 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) acknowledged the existence and extent of racial/ethnic disproportionality in special education, especially when, in 2004, Congress designated this concern among the top three priority areas for monitoring and enforcement of the law. However, federal interpretations of the 2004 requirements have created confusion at the State (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) levels. This article analyzes data from state Annual Performance Reports to assess the progress made in identifying disproportionality. Though high levels of disproportionality remain, an increasing number of states are finding no LEAs with disproportionality when it must be shown that the disproportionality was caused by inappropriate identification. The analyses provided suggest that federal interpretations of IDEA 2004 have not been effective in addressing disproportionate representation in...
Urban Education, 2017
Racial/ethnic stereotypes are deep rooted in our history; among these, the dangerous Black male s... more Racial/ethnic stereotypes are deep rooted in our history; among these, the dangerous Black male stereotype is especially relevant to issues of differential school discipline today. Although integration in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education was intended to counteract stereotype and bias, resegregation has allowed little true integration. Thus, old patterns continue to be reinforced through the ongoing processes of implicit bias, micro-aggression, and colorblindness. Thus, to effectively address inequity, the role of race must be explicitly acknowledged in addressing racial disparities in discipline. We close with a set of recommendations for talking about and acting on racial disparities.
Center For Evaluation and Education Policy Indiana University, 2006
Center For Evaluation and Education Policy Indiana University, Jul 1, 2004
In addition to our appreciation of the many contributions of the APA staff named above, the Zero
Although there can be no dispute that schools must do all that can be done to ensure the safety o... more Although there can be no dispute that schools must do all that can be done to ensure the safety of learning environments, controversy has arisen about the use of zero tolerance policies and procedures to achieve those aims. In response to that controversy, and to assess the extent to which current practice benefits students and schools, the American Psychological Association convened a task force to evaluate the evidence and to make appropriate recommendations regarding zero tolerance policies and practices. An extensive review of the literature found that, despite a 20-year history of implementation, there are surprisingly few data that could directly test the assumptions of a zero tolerance approach to school discipline, and the data that are available tend to contradict those assumptions. Moreover, zero tolerance policies may negatively affect the relationship of education with juvenile justice and appear to conflict to some degree with current best knowledge concerning adolescen...
Abstract. Discipline practices in schools affect the social quality of each educational environme... more Abstract. Discipline practices in schools affect the social quality of each educational environment, and the ability of children to achieve the academic and social gains essential for success in a 21st century society. We review the documented patterns of office discipline referrals in 364 elementary and middle schools during the 2005–2006 academic year. Data were reported by school personnel through daily or weekly uploading of office discipline referrals using the Web-based School-wide Information System. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses indicate that students from African American families are 2.19 (elementary) to 3.78 (middle) times as likely to be referred to the office for problem behavior as their White peers. In addition, the results indicate that students from African American and Latino families are more likely than their White peers to receive expulsion or out of school suspension as consequences for the same or similar problem behavior. These results extend a...
Background/Context Research in the latter half of the 20th century purporting to show significant... more Background/Context Research in the latter half of the 20th century purporting to show significant racial differences in intelligence and social behavior appears to pit civil rights concerns against the freedom of scientific inquiry. The core hypotheses and presumptions of recent research on racial difference are not new, however, but spring from a two-century-old program of research that has sought to demonstrate racial differences in socially valued traits. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this review was to explore the history of racial difference research in order to (1) elucidate the central themes of that research and (2) explore the reasons for the persistence of those themes into modern racial difference research. Research Design The investigation is a historical analysis of research on racial differences from the late 18th century to the present. Conclusions/Recommendations Both the methodologies and the willingness to express the core hypoth...
There is no doubt that the safety of children in schools and in communities is paramount. Inciden... more There is no doubt that the safety of children in schools and in communities is paramount. Incidents of school violence in the United States have motivated researchers and practitioners to explore and employ effective methodologies and strategies to promote safety in classrooms and schools. Still, issues of disruptive behavior top the list of concerns about education among teachers and parents. The message of zero tolerance is intuitively appealing. When disruption and disorder threaten schools and communities, it becomes increasingly easy to accept the notion that greater authority and force are necessary in order to keep schools secure. This article suggests that exclusionary, zero tolerance approaches to school discipline are not the best way to create a safe climate for learning. Increasingly, there are sound alternatives available to schools that can promote a safe school climate conducive to learning without removing large numbers of students from the opportunity to learn or cr...
Disruptive behavior consistently tops the list of teachers' and parents' concerns about e... more Disruptive behavior consistently tops the list of teachers' and parents' concerns about education. In an effort to address this concern, many U.S. schools began adopting zero-tolerance policies in the 1990s, which led to substantial increases in out-of-school suspensions and expulsions (Wald & Losen, 2003). These policies have sparked controversy because of racial disparities in suspension and expulsion rates as well as incidents in which students have been suspended or expelled for seemingly trivial infractions, such as making a paper gun (American Psychological Association, 2006). In today's climate, principals seem to face a tough choice between keeping their school safe and ensuring that all students have continued educational opportunity. September 2008
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education
Background/Context Research in the latter half of the 20th century purporting to show significant... more Background/Context Research in the latter half of the 20th century purporting to show significant racial differences in intelligence and social behavior appears to pit civil rights concerns against the freedom of scientific inquiry. The core hypotheses and presumptions of recent research on racial difference are not new, however, but spring from a two-century-old program of research that has sought to demonstrate racial differences in socially valued traits. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this review was to explore the history of racial difference research in order to (1) elucidate the central themes of that research and (2) explore the reasons for the persistence of those themes into modern racial difference research. Research Design The investigation is a historical analysis of research on racial differences from the late 18th century to the present. Conclusions/Recommendations Both the methodologies and the willingness to express the core hypoth...
School Psychology Review
Discipline practices in schools affect the social quality of each educational environment, and th... more Discipline practices in schools affect the social quality of each educational environment, and the ability of children to achieve the academic and social gains essential for success in a 21st century society. We review the documented patterns of office discipline referrals in 364 elementary and middle schools during the 2005-2006 academic year. Data were reported by school personnel through daily or weekly uploading of office discipline referrals using the Web-based School-wide Information System. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses indicate that students from African American families are 2.19 (elementary) to 3.78 (middle) times as likely to be referred to the office for problem behavior as their White peers. In addition, the results indicate that students from African American and Latino families are more likely than their White peers to receive expulsion or out of school suspension as consequences for the same or similar problem behavior. These results extend and are consistent with a long history of similar findings, and argue for direct efforts in policy, practice, and research to address ubiquitous racial and ethnic disparities in school discipline. The Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 set the nation on a path toward equalizing educational opportunity for all children. The right not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or national origin was explicitly guaranteed by This research was supported in part by U.S. Department of Education Grant H326S980003. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the policy of the Department of Education, and no official endorsement by the Department should be inferred.
School Psychology Review
Abstract 1. Presents research findings showing comorbidity of externalizing (aggression and delin... more Abstract 1. Presents research findings showing comorbidity of externalizing (aggression and delinquency), internalizing (anxiety, depression, somatic complaints, and withdrawal), and attention problems. Comorbidity is discussed within the conceptual framework of the ...
Behavioral Disorders
This document provides policy recommendations of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorde... more This document provides policy recommendations of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD) regarding disproportionality in special education and the need for federal policy driving state regulations to support efforts to eliminate this outcome in schools. CCBD is committed to advancing knowledge, effective instruction, and advocacy for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities, a special education population particularly vulnerable to disproportionate practices. Monitoring requirements in the 1997 and 2004 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) acknowledged the extent of racial and ethnic disproportionality in special education, especially when Congress designated this concern among the top three priority areas for monitoring and enforcement in IDEA 2004. However, federal interpretations of the 2004 requirements by the US Department of Education have created confusion at the State (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) levels. ...
American Educational Research Journal
This study examined the effectiveness of participating in special education on the academic outco... more This study examined the effectiveness of participating in special education on the academic outcomes of students with disabilities. A sample of 575 students from a large, urban school district were followed longitudinally as they transitioned between general and special education to evaluate whether receiving special education services was associated with improvements in academic trajectories. Using student fixed effects models of within-person change over time, individuals’ performance on standardized tests were compared before, during, and/or after special education placement. Results indicate that test scores of students with disabilities improved after being enrolled in special education. Additionally, students exiting special education exhibited a sustained trajectory of academic growth, suggesting that participation in special education in this district was associated with enduring improvements over time.
Behavioral Disorders
... dispropor-tionately by schools that decided providing services was too costly, time consuming... more ... dispropor-tionately by schools that decided providing services was too costly, time consuming or inconvenient, states Kevin Dwyer, Past Presi ... minor offenses, such as disobedi-ence and disrespect (Cooley, 1995; Skiba et al., 1997), attendance problems (Kaeser, 1979; Morgan ...
Exceptional Children
Archival data from an elementary school self-contained program for students labeled severely beha... more Archival data from an elementary school self-contained program for students labeled severely behaviorally disordered were examined to investigate the relationship between timeout usage and academic achievement. Results indicated that timeout use was low to moderate for the majority of students in the program, although a few students were placed in the timeout area at much higher levels. Considerably less instructional time was lost to timeout than to other sources of classroom absence, such as suspension or truancy. Correlations between indicators of timeout usage and curriculum-based measures of academic achievement disclosed little evidence of a relationship between timeout use and achievement. In contrast, measures of school absence, in particular truancy, appeared to be consistently correlated with poor academic performance.
Exceptional Children
This study investigated the extent to which the overrepresentation of African American students i... more This study investigated the extent to which the overrepresentation of African American students in more restrictive special education settings is attributable to their overrepresentation in disability categories more likely to be served in more restrictive educational environments. Within 5 disability categories (emotional disturbance, mild mental retardation, moderate mental retardation, learning disabilities, and speech and language), African American students were overrepresented in more restrictive educational environments and underrepresented in less restrictive environments relative to all other students with the same disability. Disproportionality was most evident in those disability categories served primarily in general education settings. Given the social consensus regarding inclusion, disproportionality in restrictiveness of educational environment may represent a more serious challenge than disproportionality in disability categories.
Journal of Disability Policy Studies
Monitoring requirements in the 1997 amendments to and 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals wit... more Monitoring requirements in the 1997 amendments to and 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) acknowledged the existence and extent of racial/ethnic disproportionality in special education, especially when, in 2004, Congress designated this concern among the top three priority areas for monitoring and enforcement of the law. However, federal interpretations of the 2004 requirements have created confusion at the State (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) levels. This article analyzes data from state Annual Performance Reports to assess the progress made in identifying disproportionality. Though high levels of disproportionality remain, an increasing number of states are finding no LEAs with disproportionality when it must be shown that the disproportionality was caused by inappropriate identification. The analyses provided suggest that federal interpretations of IDEA 2004 have not been effective in addressing disproportionate representation in...
Urban Education, 2017
Racial/ethnic stereotypes are deep rooted in our history; among these, the dangerous Black male s... more Racial/ethnic stereotypes are deep rooted in our history; among these, the dangerous Black male stereotype is especially relevant to issues of differential school discipline today. Although integration in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education was intended to counteract stereotype and bias, resegregation has allowed little true integration. Thus, old patterns continue to be reinforced through the ongoing processes of implicit bias, micro-aggression, and colorblindness. Thus, to effectively address inequity, the role of race must be explicitly acknowledged in addressing racial disparities in discipline. We close with a set of recommendations for talking about and acting on racial disparities.
Center For Evaluation and Education Policy Indiana University, 2006
Center For Evaluation and Education Policy Indiana University, Jul 1, 2004