In 2006, larger percentages of Black students were suspended and expelled from school than their White, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaskan Native peers.

In 2006, about 1 out of every 14 students (or 7 percent) was suspended from school at least once during the year (see table A-28-1). Suspensions were for disciplinary reasons and do not include in-school detentions. Although the number of students who were suspended increased from 2002 and 2006, from 3.1 to 3.3 million, the percentage of these students remained around 7 percent during this period. During 2006, about 1 out of every 476 students (or 0.2 percent) was expelled from school. Expulsions exclude students from school for disciplinary reasons and remove students from the attendance rolls. The number of students expelled from school in 2006 (102,100) was greater than the number expelled in 2002 (89,100), but it was not measurably different from the number in 2004 (106,200).

For each year presented, student suspension and expulsion rates were higher for males than for females. In 2006, the percentage of males suspended from school was 9 percent, compared with 4 percent for females, and the number of males who were suspended (2.3 million) was more than twice the number of females who were suspended (1.1 million). For both males and females, the number of students who were suspended increased from 2002 to 2006. In 2006, about 0.3 percent of all males were expelled from school, compared with 0.1 percent of females. The number of males expelled was about three times larger than the number of females (76,400 vs. 25,700).

Student suspension and expulsion rates varied by race/ethnicity. Across all years presented, greater percentages of Black students were suspended and expelled from school than their White, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaskan Native peers. For example, in 2006, about 15 percent of Black students were suspended, compared with 8 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native students, 7 percent of Hispanic students, 5 percent of White students, and 3 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students. Student expulsion rates in 2006 show that about 0.5 percent of Blacks were expelled from school, compared with 0.3 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native students, 0.2 percent of Hispanic students, 0.1 percent of White students, and 0.1 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students.

Technical Notes

Suspension refers to an out-of-school suspension, during which a student is excluded from school for disciplinary reasons for 1 school day or longer; it does not include students who served their suspension in the school. Expulsion is defined as the exclusion of a student from school for disciplinary reasons that results in the student's removal from school attendance rolls or that meets the criteria for expulsion as defined by the appropriate state or local school authority. Students are counted only once regardless of the number of times they were suspended or expelled, but they may appear in both categories. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For more information on race/ethnicity, see supplemental note 1.