Title: It’s About Timing: Schools, Suspensions, and Juvenile Crime
Presenters: Jane Lincove, PhD, MPP, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Jo R. King, PhD, MA, Boston University
Date and Time: Friday, Oct. 16, Noon-1 p.m.
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Abstract:
We examine the timing of juvenile arrests relative to school enrollment calendars and suspensions using linked longitudinal data from the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS). We find that Maryland juveniles are more likely to be arrested on school days, with a large spike on the day they are suspended from school. After that day, there is only a slightly elevated probability of arrest on subsequent days serving out-of-school suspensions. Arrests on suspension days are due to both criminal activity within school and also unrelated crimes committed outside of school. Thus, we suggest that the school-to-prison pipeline operates more quickly than a long-term spiral from a suspension event into juvenile delinquency. School discipline policies should respond with strategies to immediately de-escalate behavior after suspensions occur.
Speaker Bios:
Jane Lincove, PhD, MPP, is an investigator with the MLDS Center and a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is also a research fellow at the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans at Tulane University. Her research focuses on the implementation and effects of market-based policy in public education, with a particular interest in the equity effects on low-income families, minorities, and girls. Lincove earned her PhD in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.
Jo R. King, PhD, MA, is an assistant professor of education policy at Boston University. King’s research focuses on K-12 education policy in the U.S., with an emphasis on how schools discipline and control student behavior, whether through suspension, special education classification, or police in schools. King earned their PhD in Public Policy from New York University.
Visit here to learn more about the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS).