Courtney and Dennis, two African American male students at McDowell High, were arrested at school for throwing water balloons during senior prank week. The principal assigned two police officers to the magnet school to oversee the implementation of a new discipline protocol. However, several members of the school staff were ill-informed about the policy, and the use of security officers in disciplining students. This case considers the punitive consequences two Black male students encountered at an urban high school by examining how an administrator, teachers, and two police officers observed, interpreted, and instituted a discipline protocol on the front lines.
DavisD. M. (2002). Toward democratic education: The importance of culturally responsive leadership in 21st Century schools. Trotter Review, 14(1).
2.
FabeloT.ThompsonM. D.PlotkinM.CarmichaelD.MarchbanksM. P.IIIBoothE. A. (2011). Breaking schools’ rules: A statewide study of how school discipline relates to students’ success and juvenile justice involvement. New York: Council of State of Governments Justice Center
3.
FenningP.RoseJ. (2007). Overrepresentation of African American students in exclusionary discipline: The role of school policy. Urban Education, 42, 536-559.
4.
GayG. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.
5.
GregoryA.SkibaR. J.NogueraP. A. (2010). The achievement gap and the discipline gap: Two sides of the same coin?Educational Researcher, 39, 59-68.
6.
HirschfieldP. J. (2008). Preparing for prison? The criminalization of school discipline in the USA. Theoretical Criminology, 12, 79-101.
7.
HorsfordS. D.GroslandT.GunnK. M. (2011). Pedagogy of the personal and professional: Toward a framework for culturally relevant leadership. Journal of School Leadership, 21, 582-606.
8.
HowardT. (2003). Culturally relevant pedagogy: Ingredients for critical teacher reflection. Theory Into Practice, 42, 195-202.
9.
HowardT. (2008). Who really cares? The disenfranchisement of African American males in preK-12 schools: A critical race theory perspective. Teachers College Record, 110, 954-985.
10.
JohnsonL. (2007). Rethinking successful school leadership in challenging US schools: Culturally responsive practices in school-community relationships. International Studies in Educational Administration, 35(3), 49-57.
11.
JohnsonS. L.BurkeJ. G.GielenA. C. (2012). Urban students’ perceptions of the school environment’s influence on school violence. Children & Schools, 34, 92-102.
12.
Ladson-BillingsG. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 465-491.
13.
LewisC.MooreJ. (2013). Advances in race and ethnicity in education. UK: Emerald Insight.
14.
NasirN. S.RossK. M.de RoystonM. M.GivensJ.BryantJ. N. (2013). Dirt on my record: Rethinking disciplinary practices in an all-black, all-male alternative class. Harvard Educational Review, 83, 489-912.
15.
NietoS. (2000). Placing equity front and center: Some thoughts on transforming teacher education for a new century. Journal of Teacher Education, 51, 180-187.
16.
NogueraP. A. (2003). The trouble with Black boys: The role and influence of environmental and cultural factors on the academic performance of African American males. Urban Education, 38, 431-459.
17.
PriceP. (2009). When is a police officer an officer of the law? The status of police officers in schools. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 99, 541-570.
18.
RiehlC. J. (2000). The principal’s role in creating inclusive schools for diverse students: A review of normative, empirical, and critical literature on the practice of educational administration. Review of Educational Research, 70(1), 55-81.
19.
SkibaR. J.MichaelR. S.NardoA. C.PetersonR. L. (2002). The color of discipline: Sources of racial and gender disproportionality in school punishment. The Urban Review, 34, 317-342.
20.
SkibaR. J.PetersonR. (2003). Teaching the social curriculum: School discipline as instruction. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 47, 66-73.
