The effect of school suspension on academic achievement
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation research was to determine whether school suspension had a statistically significant relationship with student achievement as measured by the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) total battery score. The study included 532 students in grades 6 through 11 that attended two middle and two high schools in the Huntsville City School System during the 2000–2001 school year and for whom suspension records and Stanford Achievement Test scores could be matched. Data analysis pertaining to level of suspension, gender, ethnicity, grade level and individual school attended was included. A slightly negative but statistically significant correlation was found to exist between disciplinary suspension and academic achievement. The correlation values were tested at the .05 level of significance as determined by the sample size. Suspension was found to have a statistically significant negative relationship with academic achievement in most of the analyses conducted. In the areas of gender and school attended, the relationship was not found to be statistically significant. The levels of suspension, non-excessive (one to ten days of suspension) and excessive (more than ten days of suspension) were utilized to determine whether a statistically significant relationship existed between level of suspension and academic achievement. A statistically significant relationship was found to exist between level of suspension and academic achievement. The difference in achievement between the two levels of suspension was not found to have been significantly impacted by gender or school attended. However, ethnicity was determined to have a statistically significant relationship between level of suspension and academic achievement. It was concluded that level of suspension, and ethnicity, were found to have significant individual impact on student achievement as measured by the Stanford Achievement Test.
Subject Area
School administration|Academic guidance counseling
Recommended Citation
Ava Ruth Waters-Maze,
"The effect of school suspension on academic achievement"
(2002).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3061765.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3061765