Regional trends and the role of school support staff in suspensions of students with disabilities

Racial disproportionality in school discipline and its related adverse outcomes remain one of the biggest challenges in education, particularly among students with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore regional differences in the suspension of racially and ethnically diverse students with disabilities, as well as the predictive role of school support staff. Using Poisson regression to analyze a national dataset (N = 97,763), results show that Black students with disabilities in the Southern United States were subjugated to all types of suspension at higher rates than their peers in the Northern United States. Additionally, there is an inverse relationship between the number of school psychologists and social workers and the rate of students with disabilities subjected to suspension, but the results vary by race and type of suspension. This information has the potential to improve collaboration among educators, practitioners, and policymakers and encourage the development of a restorative approach to school discipline.