Exclusionary Discipline for English Learners: A National Analysis

Exclusionary discipline disproportionally effect students from underrepresented groups and English Learners are one group that has received minimal attention in this area. Using data from the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection, we examined exclusionary discipline practices (i.e., suspensions and expulsions) involving English Learners with and without disabilities. English Learners comprised 10.1% of the student population. Nationally, odds of exclusion for English Learners with and without disabilities ranged from OR = 0.02 to OR = 0.05, but varied drastically by individual states (range: OR = 0.08 to OR = 7.79). Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.