Examination of American Indian/Alaska native school discipline disproportionality using the vulnerable decision points approach

Abstract

The present study examined the extent to which racial disproportionality in office discipline referrals (ODRs) exists between American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) and White students in elementary (n = 140), middle (n = 67), and high (n = 48) schools. A multilevel logistic regression model was applied to examine overall levels of ODR disproportionality. For school levels with significant disproportionality, patterns of ODRs were analyzed to examine disproportionality of subjectively defined ODRs within the contexts of (a) student ethnicity, (b) time of day, (c) location, (d) severity of problem behavior, and (e) student gender. Results showed a sizable difference in subjective ODRs between AIAN and White students at the high school level.