Levels of Use of Exclusionary Discipline in U.S. Public Elementary Schools: Patterns Over Time and Relations with Chronic Student Absenteeism

Richard Fabes^1*Zuchao Shen²Ashley McDonald¹Evandra Catherine¹

• ¹Arizona State University, Tempe, United States
• ²University of Georgia, Athens, United States

Exclusionary discipline (ExD)—including out-of-school suspensions and expulsions—remains widely used in U.S. public schools despite evidence of its ineffectiveness and disproportionate application. Although prior research has linked ExD to a range of adverse student outcomes, far less is known about whether schools' consistent use of ExD over time predicts chronic student absenteeism (CSA), a major indicator of student disengagement and academic risk. The present study used three waves of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) data (2013–14, 2015–16, 2017– 18) to examine longitudinal patterns of ExD use in 15,354 U.S. public elementary schools. Schools were categorized into four groups—no-use, low-use, moderate-use, and high-use— based on their stable rates of use of ExD across all three data collections. The results of multilevel models indicated significant and increasing differences in rates of CSA across ExD groups: schools that consistently avoided ExD demonstrated the lowest CSA rates, whereas high ExD-use schools exhibited substantially higher chronic absenteeism. ExD use remained a significant positive predictor of CSA after adjusting for covariates, suggesting that punitive disciplinary climates may contribute to higher schoolwide student disengagement. These findings provide evidence that reducing the use of ExD—particularly in elementary schools— may be an important strategy for improving attendance and fostering more supportive, engaging school environments.