Graduation Rates and Long-Term Suspension Recovery Programs

Abstract

This study used student suspension data from one suburban and one rural school district in Missouri to describe the relationship between participation in long-term suspension credit-recovery programs and graduation rates of those same suspended students. Students who participated in a long-term suspension credit recovery program were 8.8 times more likely to graduate than students who served a long-term out of school suspension. The study used Chi-Square analysis to assess the correlation between graduation and variables that included: gender, race, free/reduced lunch status, 10th grade reading proficiency, participation in a long-term suspension credit recovery program, and the duration of the suspensions. A binary logistical regression was then used to analyze the likelihood of graduation with each of the same variables taken into account. The findings suggested that when a student participated in a long-term suspension credit recovery program, he/she was 8.8 times more likely to graduate than a student who was suspended out of school. The findings also suggested that students who were assessed as proficient on state standardized testing in the 10th grade were 3.3 time more likely to graduate if they had been suspended long-term than students who were not reading proficiently. Finally, the findings suggested that students suspended for a duration of 180 days were 30 percent less likely to graduate than students suspended for 45 days. These findings are consistent with existing research regarding zero-tolerance policies, the ineffectiveness of exclusionary suspensions, and school climate as a contributing factor to exclusionary suspension. The research provides empirical evidence in support of the recommendation to investigate, develop, and implement long-term-suspension credit-recovery programs as an alternative to long-term out of school suspensions.