Predictors of student disciplinary placement in urban and suburban districts in North Texas

The purpose of this study is to explore how student factors vary across school factors regarding disciplinary actions in Texas schools. This research used information from secondary data to answer research questions in this study. Information about the school factors were obtained from The Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR) for school year 2012 – 2013. Three Texas schools were selected for this study. The study variables include one criterion variable (disciplinary placement rate) and 20 predictors (individual- and school-level variables). The relationship between student and school variables with two different school types was examined. The results comparing two types of school districts (suburban and urban) provided similarities and differences in results, indicating that disciplinary practices related to school size may influence how districts respond to behavior. These findings highlighted the importance of examining student and school characteristics that may influence disciplinary placement. The results of this study provide further insight into the disproportionality issue for educators related to disciplinary procedures in urban and suburban school districts.