Navigating School Disciplinary Practices: A Grounded Theory Study of Black Students' Experiences

Background and Purpose: School disciplinary practices have led to more suspensions and expulsions for minoritized students, particularly Black students. As result, Black students are more likely to encounter consequences such as academic disengagement, delinquency, dropout, and juvenile incarceration. Studies have shown that school disciplinary practices contribute to school-to-prison pipeline, as Black students are channeled from public schools into the criminal justice system. Despite the number of studies on the school-to-prison pipeline, there is limited understanding on how Black students make sense of navigating school disciplinary practices.

This paper adds to the literature by exploring how Black students navigate school disciplinary practices. Understanding how Black students navigate school disciplinary practices may inform the literature on protective factors that Black students utilize to navigate school disciplinary practices. This study seeks to expand the literature on how Black students make meanings of their experiences to inform school-based policies.

Methods: The study drew on constructivist grounded theory methodology to elicit how Black students construct meanings on navigating school disciplinary practices. Nine high school graduates were purposively and theoretically sampled. Interviews were in-depth and semi-structured. Interviews lasted an hour per participant. Interviews were centered on retrospectively exploring how they navigated school disciplinary practices. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and inductively analyzed using constructivist grounded theory coding. Interviews and data analysis were conducted simultaneously.

Findings: Four themes were discovered from the analysis. Black students navigating the school system, navigating their Black identity, navigating their environment, and navigating with resiliency. The data suggest Black students acknowledged their Black identity as a strategy to better understand themselves and their experiences. Black students connected with peers to go through high school, and they identified utilizing different forms of support as part of their high school experiences.

Conclusions: Ensuring Black students have access to social support and ways to develop their sense of motivation will equip Black students for the systemic barriers they face in schools. Funding opportunities and policies that emphasize resources for resiliency are recommended to support the success of Black students.