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Digest of Education Statistics
2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 233.28. Percentage of students receiving selected disciplinary actions in public elementary and secondary schools, by type of disciplinary action, disability status, sex, and race/ethnicity: 2011-12
Disability status, sex, and race/ethnicity Corporal punish-ment1 One or more
in-school suspension2
Out-of-school suspensions3 Expulsions4 Referral to law enforce-ment5 School-related arrest6
Total Only one More than one Total7 With educational services Without educational services
All expul-sions Under zero-tolerance policies8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
All students                      
Total 0.34 6.83 6.40 3.53 2.86 0.22 0.06 0.14 0.08 0.50 0.13
Sex                      
Male 0.51 8.91 8.69 4.68 4.01 0.33 0.09 0.21 0.12 0.70 0.18
Female 0.15 4.62 3.97 2.32 1.65 0.12 0.03 0.07 0.04 0.30 0.08
                       
Race/ethnicity9                      
White 0.35 5.49 4.31 2.54 1.77 0.16 0.05 0.10 0.06 0.42 0.10
Black 0.74 13.43 15.43 7.66 7.76 0.51 0.09 0.29 0.22 0.87 0.25
Hispanic 0.12 6.53 5.95 3.46 2.49 0.20 0.08 0.15 0.05 0.52 0.13
Asian 0.02 1.50 1.50 1.06 0.43 0.05 0.02 0.04 0.01 0.15 0.03
Pacific Islander 0.04 2.52 3.75 2.37 1.38 0.12 0.10 0.08 0.04 0.23 0.09
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.69 7.70 7.85 4.59 3.26 0.43 0.09 0.24 0.19 0.98 0.24
Two or more races 0.16 6.34 6.37 3.44 2.92 0.22 0.07 0.13 0.10 0.44 0.13
                       
Race/ethnicity by sex9                      
Male                      
White 0.55 7.56 6.24 3.60 2.65 0.24 0.07 0.15 0.09 0.59 0.14
Black 1.06 16.42 19.57 9.38 10.19 0.71 0.13 0.41 0.30 1.15 0.33
Hispanic 0.19 8.49 8.24 4.62 3.62 0.31 0.11 0.23 0.08 0.73 0.19
Asian 0.03 2.17 2.31 1.62 0.69 0.08 0.02 0.06 0.02 0.22 0.05
Pacific Islander 0.06 3.38 5.22 3.23 1.99 0.17 0.16 0.13 0.04 0.33 0.13
American Indian/Alaska Native 1.05 9.82 10.46 5.94 4.52 0.60 0.13 0.34 0.27 1.34 0.32
Two or more races 0.26 8.24 8.81 4.64 4.17 0.32 0.10 0.19 0.14 0.61 0.17
Female                      
White 0.13 3.30 2.26 1.43 0.83 0.07 0.02 0.05 0.03 0.23 0.05
Black 0.39 10.33 11.12 5.88 5.24 0.30 0.04 0.17 0.13 0.58 0.16
Hispanic 0.05 4.48 3.55 2.24 1.31 0.09 0.04 0.07 0.02 0.30 0.07
Asian 0.01 0.81 0.66 0.49 0.17 0.02 0.01 0.01 # 0.06 0.01
Pacific Islander 0.02 1.60 2.19 1.46 0.73 0.06 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.13 0.05
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.31 5.46 5.11 3.17 1.94 0.25 0.05 0.13 0.12 0.62 0.15
Two or more races 0.07 4.41 3.88 2.22 1.66 0.13 0.03 0.07 0.06 0.27 0.08
                       
Students with disabilities                      
Total 0.42 10.95 11.84 5.93 5.92 0.38 0.10 0.29 0.09 0.97 0.27
Sex                      
Male 0.53 12.59 14.04 6.87 7.17 0.47 0.13 0.35 0.11 1.16 0.32
Female 0.20 7.67 7.45 4.05 3.40 0.20 0.06 0.15 0.05 0.59 0.17
                       
Race/ethnicity9                      
White 0.41 8.71 8.51 4.47 4.05 0.26 0.08 0.20 0.06 0.79 0.20
Black 0.67 16.57 20.52 9.54 10.99 0.65 0.12 0.48 0.17 1.36 0.43
Hispanic 0.15 9.57 10.70 5.29 5.41 0.32 0.11 0.25 0.07 0.96 0.27
Asian 0.03 2.61 3.62 2.26 1.36 0.10 0.05 0.08 0.02 0.33 0.11
Pacific Islander 0.04 4.74 10.28 5.90 4.38 0.20 0.73 0.15 0.05 0.38 0.46
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.79 10.32 12.14 6.63 5.50 0.69 0.13 0.45 0.24 1.39 0.37
Two or more races 0.25 10.64 13.24 6.37 6.88 0.42 0.16 0.27 0.15 0.89 0.31
                       
Race/ethnicity by sex9                      
Male                      
White 0.53 10.32 10.48 5.36 5.11 0.32 0.10 0.25 0.07 0.96 0.24
Black 0.83 18.24 23.19 10.48 12.72 0.78 0.14 0.58 0.20 1.57 0.49
Hispanic 0.19 10.98 12.70 6.15 6.55 0.41 0.13 0.32 0.09 1.14 0.33
Asian 0.03 3.10 4.52 2.80 1.72 0.12 0.06 0.10 0.03 0.41 0.12
Pacific Islander 0.05 5.55 12.01 6.73 5.28 0.23 0.87 0.18 0.05 0.41 0.47
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.98 11.85 14.40 7.66 6.74 0.85 0.16 0.56 0.29 1.66 0.45
Two or more races 0.32 12.12 15.79 7.40 8.40 0.52 0.19 0.34 0.18 1.06 0.38
Female                      
White 0.18 5.49 4.62 2.69 1.94 0.14 0.04 0.10 0.03 0.44 0.12
Black 0.37 13.17 15.06 7.61 7.45 0.40 0.06 0.29 0.10 0.93 0.31
Hispanic 0.08 6.76 6.73 3.59 3.13 0.14 0.06 0.11 0.03 0.58 0.16
Asian 0.02 1.57 1.73 1.13 0.60 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.16 0.07
Pacific Islander 0.01-0.04 2.99 6.55 4.11 2.44 0.14 0.41 0.08 0.05 0.31 0.44
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.42 7.42 7.84 4.68 3.14 0.39 0.06 0.25 0.14 0.88 0.22
Two or more races 0.12 7.73 8.19 4.33 3.88 0.23 0.09 0.12 0.10 0.54 0.18
#Rounds to zero.
1 Corporal punishment is paddling, spanking, or other forms of physical punishment imposed on a student.
2 An in-school suspension is an instance in which a student is temporarily removed from his or her regular classroom(s) for at least half a day but remains under the direct supervision of school personnel.
3 For students without disabilities and students with disabilities served only under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, out-of-school suspensions are instances in which a student is excluded from school for disciplinary reasons for 1 school day or longer. This does not include students who served their suspension in the school. For students with disabilities served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), out-of-school suspensions are instances in which a student is temporarily removed from his or her regular school for disciplinary purposes to another setting (e.g., home, behavior center). This includes both removals in which no Individualized Education Program (IEP) services are provided because the removal is 10 days or less and removals in which IEP services continue to be provided.
4 Expulsions are actions taken by a local education agency that result in the removal of a student from his or her regular school for disciplinary purposes for the remainder of the school year or longer in accordance with local education agency policy. Expulsions also include removals resulting from violations of the Gun Free Schools Act that are modified to less than 365 days.
5 Referral to law enforcement is an action by which a student is reported to any law enforcement agency or official, including a school police unit, for an incident that occurs on school grounds, during school-related events, or while taking school transportation, regardless of whether official action is taken.
6 A school-related arrest is an arrest of a student for any activity conducted on school grounds, during off-campus school activities (including while taking school transportation), or due to a referral by any school official.
7 Totals include expulsions with and without educational services.
8 Includes all expulsions under zero-tolerance policies, including expulsions with and without educational services. A zero-tolerance policy results in mandatory expulsion of any student who commits one or more specified offenses (for example, offenses involving guns, other weapons, violence, or similar factors, or combinations of these factors). A policy is considered “zero tolerance” even if there are some exceptions to the mandatory aspect of the expulsion, such as allowing the chief administering officer of a local education agency to modify the expulsion on a case-by-case basis.
9 Data by race/ethnicity exclude data for students with disabilities served only under Section 504 (not receiving services under IDEA).
NOTE: The percentage of students receiving a disciplinary action is calculated by dividing the cumulative number of students receiving that type of disciplinary action for the entire 2011-12 school year by the student enrollment based on a count of students taken on a single day between September 27 and December 31. Percentages based on disciplinary action counts of between 1 and 3 students are displayed as ranges to protect student privacy. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection, "2011-12 Discipline Estimations by State" and "2011-12 Estimations for Enrollment." (This table was prepared January 2016.)

2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest