| This proposed research will seek to understand the relationship between zero-tolerance school discipline policies, specifically out-of-school suspensions, and student perceptions of school climate in New York City (NYC) public schools. School climate is defined as the perceptions of students, teachers, and administrators of their school environment and is considered one of the key determinants of academic, social, and emotional success within a school. Using data from the NYC Annual School Survey and U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights and Ordinal Logit modeling, this paper will analyze the relationship between high discipline rates and the key school climate measures --- safety, communications, engagement, and academic expectations --- understood through student-level survey data. This proposed research will build off previous, less quantitatively rigorous analysis which found a negative relationship between suspensions and expulsions and perceptions of school climate. |
