Restorative for All? Racial Disproportionality and School Discipline Under Restorative Justice

A growing number of schools are adopting restorative justice (RJ) practices that de–emphasize exclusionary discipline and aim for racial equity. We examine student discipline as RJ programs matured in Meadowview Public Schools from 2008 to 2017. Our difference–in–difference estimates show that students in RJ schools experienced a profound decline in their suspension rates during the first 5 years of implementation. However, the benefits of RJ were not shared by all students, as disciplinary outcomes for Black students were largely unchanged. While the overall effects of RJ in this context are promising, racial disproportionality widened. Our results suggest that the racial equity intentions of RJ may be diluted as schools integrate RJ into their existing practices.

A DisCrit-Informed Critique of the Difference vs. Disorder Approach in Speech-Language Pathology

The disproportionate representation of students of color in special education is among the most longstanding and intractable problems in education. In this chapter, the authors examine the phenomenon of racial disproportionality through the theoretical framework of disability studies and critical race theory (DisCrit). They argue that a DisCrit-informed lens challenges the current framing of racial disproportionality in speech-language pathology as merely resulting from a failure to distinguish between differences and disorders. Rather, racial disproportionality is a predictable outcome of the institutionalized segregation of students based on perceived deviations from normative standards, a process grounded in the mutually reinforcing mechanisms of systemic ableism and systemic racism.