U.S. Public Schools’ Use of Expulsion as a Disciplinary Action.

Today, the National Center for Education Statistics released a new Data Point, Expulsion from School as a Disciplinary Action. This report examines the percentage of U.S. public elementary and secondary schools allowed to remove students from school for at least the remainder of the school year, commonly known as expulsion, as a disciplinary action and the percentage of schools that used this action during the current school year.

Findings include the following:

• In 2017–18, 46 percent of U.S. public schools reported that they were allowed to remove students from school with continuing services, a decrease from 62 percent in 2003–04.
• The percentage of schools allowed to remove students without continuing services decreased from 51 percent in 2003–04 to 35 percent in 2017–18.
• Among schools that reported being allowed to remove students without continuing services, a higher percentage of schools with high minority enrollment used this disciplinary action in school year 2017–18 than did schools with low minority enrollment (31 percent versus 12 percent).

This report draws from the School Survey on Crime and Safety, a nationally representative survey of public schools that collects detailed information from the schools’ perspective on the incidence, frequency, seriousness, and nature of violence affecting students and school personnel, as well as on the practices and programs schools have implemented to promote school safety.