An examination of the experiences of five African American male students with regard to school discipline practices

There are numerous studies that address the issue of discipline practices in schools. Within the last decade there have been an increasing number of scholars and school district personnel who have written about discipline, and more specifically, the discipline of specific populations of students such as African Americans. Although many of these studies address the disparate disciplinary practices that occur in many school districts, little attention is devoted to how students understand these practices in the larger context of their general school experiences. This research intends to fill the void in the literature that utilizes the experiences of students to understand inequitable discipline practices. The primary purpose of this study is to examine a selected group of at-risk African American male students\u27 experiences and beliefs about disciplinary practices used in school