Going to the Principal’s Office, in Black or White

Pacific Standard:

Despite decades of political debate, racial disparities continue to run rampant in American schools. One particularly important imbalance: the race gap in school discipline, especially suspension rates. Now, researchers have discovered an unfortunate revelation: Teachers come down harder on black students than whites for the same infractions.

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But an explanation for the gap remained elusive, and without knowing what specific factors were behind the disparity, there wasn’t much either researchers or educators could do about it, Stanford psychology graduate student Jason Okofonua writes in an email.

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With that in mind, he and Stanford social psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt contacted 57 teachers nationwide and asked them to review a disciplinary record for a student named either Darnell, Deshawn, Greg, or Jake—in other words, stereotypically black or white names.

Read the whole story: Pacific Standard