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The School to Prison Pipeline: Long-Run Impacts of School Suspensions on Adult Crime

Author

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  • Andrew Bacher-Hicks
  • Stephen B. Billings
  • David J. Deming

Abstract

Schools face important policy tradeoffs in monitoring and managing student behavior. Strict discipline policies may stigmatize suspended students and expose them to the criminal justice system at a young age. On the other hand, strict discipline acts as a deterrent and limits harmful spillovers of misbehavior onto other students. This paper estimates the net impact of school discipline on student achievement, educational attainment and adult criminal activity. Using exogenous variation in school assignment caused by a large and sudden boundary change and a supplementary design based on principal switches, we show that schools with higher suspension rates have substantial negative long-run impacts. Students assigned to a school that has a one standard deviation higher suspension rate are 15 to 20 percent more likely to be arrested and incarcerated as adults. We also find negative impacts on educational attainment. The negative impacts of attending a high suspension school are largest for males and minorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Bacher-Hicks & Stephen B. Billings & David J. Deming, 2019. "The School to Prison Pipeline: Long-Run Impacts of School Suspensions on Adult Crime," NBER Working Papers 26257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26257
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    Cited by:

    1. Acton, Riley & Khafaji-King, Jo Al & Smith, Austin C., 2023. "Suspended from Work and School? Impacts of Layoff Events and Unemployment Insurance on Student Disciplinary Incidence," IZA Discussion Papers 16423, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Beatton, Tony & Kidd, Michael P. & Sandi, Matteo, 2020. "School indiscipline and crime," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108475, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Craig, Ashley C & Martin, David, 2023. "Discipline Reform, School Culture, and Student Achievement," IZA Discussion Papers 15906, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Noah Hirschl & Christian Michael Smith, 2020. "Well-Placed: The Geography of Opportunity and High School Effects on College Attendance," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(5), pages 567-587, August.
    5. Bennett, Fidel & Contreras, Dante & Morales Cerda, Matías, 2022. "The consequences of exclusionary discipline on school dropout: Evidence from Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Liu, Jing & Hayes, Michael S. & Gershenson, Seth, 2021. "From Referrals to Suspensions: New Evidence on Racial Disparities in Exclusionary Discipline," IZA Discussion Papers 14619, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Gershenson, Seth & Lindsay, Constance A. & Papageorge, Nicholas W. & Campbell, Romaine A. & Rendon, Jessica H., 2023. "Spillover Effects of Black Teachers on White Teachers' Racial Competency: Mixed Methods Evidence from North Carolina," IZA Discussion Papers 16258, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Shi, Ying & Zhu, Maria, 2022. "Equal time for equal crime? Racial bias in school discipline," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Cattan, Sarah & Lereya, Suzet Tanya & Yoon, Yeosun & Gilbert, Ruth & Deighton, Jessica, 2023. "The impact of area level mental health interventions on outcomes for secondary school pupils: Evidence from the HeadStart programme in England," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    10. Cowan, Benjamin & Jones, Todd R. & Swigert, Jeffrey, 2024. "Parental and Student Time Use Around the Academic Year," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 66-110.
    11. Welsh, Richard O., 2023. "Up the down escalator? Examining a decade of school discipline reforms," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    12. Liu, Jing & Hayes, Michael S. & Gershenson, Seth, 2024. "JUE Insight: From referrals to suspensions: New evidence on racial disparities in exclusionary discipline," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    13. Buell, Martha & Fidel, Rachel & Hustedt, Jason T. & Kuntz, Stephanie & Slicker, Gerilyn, 2022. "From time-out to expulsion: A national review of states’ center-based child care licensing exclusionary discipline regulations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    14. Nasreen Nawaz & Omer Saeed, 2022. "An Optimal Crime Control Policy in a Dynamic Setting," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 20(4), pages 827-880, December.
    15. Thurston Domina & Deven Carlson & James Carter & Matthew Lenard & Andrew McEachin & Rachel Perera, 2021. "The Kids on the Bus: The Academic Consequences of Diversity‐Driven School Reassignments," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 1197-1229, September.
    16. Bubonya, Melisa & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2021. "Pathways of Disadvantage: Unpacking the Intergenerational Correlation in Welfare," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    17. Chin, Mark J., 2024. "JUE Insight: Desegregated but still separated? The impact of school integration on student suspensions and special education classification," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    18. Gilleskie, Donna B. & Li, Chunxiao, 2022. "The equity of exclusionary school discipline," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    19. Benjamin Hansen & Joseph J. Sabia & Jessamyn Schaller, 2022. "In-Person Schooling and Youth Suicide: Evidence from School Calendars and Pandemic School Closures," NBER Working Papers 30795, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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