Is There an Educational Penalty for Being Suspended from School?

Deborah Cobb-Clark, Sonja C. Kassenboehmer, Trinh Le, Duncan McVicar and Rong Zhang
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Sonja C. Kassenboehmer: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Rong Zhang: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Sonja Cornelia de New

Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: Suspension from school is a commonly-used, yet controversial, school disciplinary measure. This paper uses unique survey data to estimate the impact of suspension on the educational outcomes of those suspended. It finds that while suspension is strongly associated with educational outcomes, the relationship is unlikely to be causal, but rather stems from differences in the characteristics of those suspended compared to those not suspended. Moreover, there is no evidence that suspension is associated with larger educational penalties for young people from disadvantaged family backgrounds compared to those from more advantaged family backgrounds. These results hold regardless of whether self-reported suspension or mother-reported suspension is considered. The absence of a negative causal impact of suspension on educational outcomes suggests that suspension may continue to play a role in school discipline without harming the educational prospects of those sanctioned.

Keywords: School suspension; school discipline; educational achievement; educational attainment; causal effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33pp
Date: 2013-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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http://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/downloads ... series/wp2013n36.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Is there an educational penalty for being suspended from school? (2015)
Working Paper: Is There an Educational Penalty for Being Suspended from School? (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2013n36

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