We examine the impact of Maryland’s 2017 ban on out-of-school suspensions for grades PK-2, assessing whether a top-down state-initiated policy can influence school discipline practices. The ban, which allows suspensions only in cases where a student poses an “imminent threat,” aims to reduce exclusionary discipline. We address three questions: (1) What was the effect of the ban on discipline outcomes for students in both the targeted early grades and upper elementary grades not subject to the ban? (2) Did schools circumvent the ban by increasing in-school suspensions or by coding more incidents as threatening? (3) Were there differential effects on historically marginalized student groups who are typically suspended more frequently? Using a comparative interrupted time series strategy, we show that the ban significantly reduced, but did not eliminate, out-of-school suspensions in the targeted grades, without a corresponding increase in in-school suspensions. However, racial and other disparities in suspension rates persist.
To further explore the broader implications of school discipline, we link K-8 educational data from the Maryland State Department of Education with incident-level data from the Department of Juvenile Services, observing students’ academic and disciplinary histories leading up to their initial interactions with the juvenile justice system. This analysis tests whether out-of-school suspensions at different grade levels affect the likelihood of early entry into the juvenile justice system, focusing on disparities by race and gender. The results provide insight into the relationship between exclusionary discipline practices and juvenile arrests, contributing to a deeper understanding of the school-to-prison pipeline and the role of school-discipline strategies in shaping student outcomes.