Date of Award

Spring 2022

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Leadership and Policies

First Advisor

Peter Moyi

Abstract

For many years, school discipline has been a research focus, particularly the disparities in discipline between Black and White males. Black girls are suspended at a rate that is 5.3 times that of White girls and approximately the same rate as Black boys. Black girls represent the fastest growing group of students who receive discipline disparities. The goal of this case study was to explore if and how principals and assistant principals contribute to discipline disparities faced by Black girls. I discussed the lived experiences of high school administrators to capture their encounters with race, gender, and the implementation of school discipline policies. In addition, I analyzed and reported the findings from one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with high school administrators. Further, I analyzed the school discipline data and the school discipline policies. The findings added to current educational knowledge concerning Black girls and school discipline inequalities by bringing school administrators' experiences to the heart of discipline disparities faced by Black girls through the perspective of implementation methods. This study discovered school administrators negatively or positively influenced the impact of discipline disparities experienced by Black girls. School administrators influenced disciplinary outcomes for Black children in general and Black girls in particular when they allowed positive and culturally informed professional and personal experiences to govern how they approached school punishment policies. Furthermore, school administrators who attempt to handle school discipline offenses with resources such as counseling and restorative practices rather than punitive and exclusionary sanctions can ensure that school policies do not promote the push out of Black girls.

Rights

© 2022, LeCinda R. Jennings

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