| Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which discipline referrals assigned to Hispanic and White students enrolled in Texas middle schools were related to student performance on the TAKS Reading and Math tests. Furthermore, a comparison of a previous year's data to current data allowed the identification of trends in discipline consequence type by ethnic membership and the impact of such consequences on TAKS Reading and Math achievement.;Method: A causal-comparative research design was used in this quantitative study. Archival data from the Texas Education Agency Public Education Information Management System were obtained for Grade 6, Grade 7, and Grade 8 Texas Hispanic and White middle school students for the 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 school years for this investigation. Middle school enrollment for the 2008-2009 school year was 809,765. In 2010-2011 middle school enrollment increased to 1,073,250. Data from the 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 school years were analyzed independently, and then compared to determine the extent to which a trend might be present in the results. Scaled scores from the 2008-2009 school year and raw scores from the 2010-2011 TAKS Reading and Math examinations and disciplinary referral data were acquired for Texas middle school students whose test score data were analyzed in this study.;Findings: Hispanic and White Texas middle school students who received in-school suspension (ISS), out-of-school suspension (OSS), or a discipline alternative education program (DAEP) placement had statistically significantly lower TAKS Reading and Math scaled and raw scores than their peers who did not receive discipline consequences during the 2008-2009 school year and in the 2010-2011 school year. During both school years, as many as 5.6% to 9.3% more Hispanic students were assigned to ISS than White students in Grades 6, 7, and 8. Hispanic students were assigned to OSS and to DAEP placements twice as often as White students. Given the lack of evidence that Hispanic students commit more misbehaviors than do White students, serious concern over the equity of disciplinary consequences, and how exclusionary discipline consequences impacts academic achievement, should be at the forefront of educational reform.;KEY WORDS: Discipline, Middle school, Ethnic membership, Discipline gap, Achievement gap. |
