Nathaniel Adams

Sociology 3AC

December 9, 2020

Word Count: 1944

The Disproportionate Punishment Amongst Black Students: An Ethnographic

Survey of OUSD’s Manhood Development Program

Introduction

Research indicates that black students are given heavier-handed punishments for

the same behaviors as white students. It has been demonstrated that much of this

disparity in punishment is accounted for by the implicit biases of teachers, regardless of

the teacher’s race. That is, many times “good” and “bad” students are determined by

the instructor’s implicit biases, not necessarily the students’ behaviors.

Our understanding of what environmental changes are necessary to reduce

these implicit biases is only just emerging. Once we have a better grasp on how to

control for these factors, school decision-makers will be able to create more equitable

disciplinary actions for students of color. Specifically, I seek to uncover what methods

instructors in the Manhood Development Program use to reduce the disproportionate

punishment black students face.

Literature Review

To fully know how to solve the discrepancy in punishment of black students, we

must first understand how this discrepancy develops. I initially want to know how this

punishment discrepancy occurs. How do teachers view black students and what are the

motivations that drive disproportionate punishment? Do black teachers punish black

students less than white students? The second item I will review is how teachers differ

from the general population. Are teachers less biased than non-teachers? Do we select

instructors who have similar experiences to the students?

Reviewing the literature on the topic demonstrates a clear idea: instructors,

regardless of their race or ethnicity, disproportionately punish non-white students due

to their own implicit biases. Consider the Two Strikes research conducted by Okonofua

and Eberhardt. This research conducted by the two psychologists is composed of two

separate studies. The first study obtained student records containing misbehaviors and

assigned these records to stereotypically black and white names. They then asked K-12

teachers to rate the severity of the student’s first and second infractions, how severely

their punishments should be, and to what degree the teacher considers the student a

troublemaker. The results indicate that teachers view students with stereotypically black

names as troublemakers and escalate punishments with black students more than with

white students.
 The second study performed by Okonofua and Eberhardt aimed to dig deeper

into how teachers view multiple infractions as a pattern as well as how patterns of

infractions are punished. As with the previous study, they showed K-12 teachers

student records with stereotypical names, but they also asked the teachers to “rate the

extent to which they thought the student’s misbehaviors were indicative of a pattern.”

They also asked teachers to rate “the extent to which they could imagine themselves

suspending the student at some point in the future.” The research concluded similar

results with teachers disproportionately punishing black students and viewing multiple

infractions as a pattern of connected behavior.

These two studies demonstrate that teachers view the misbehaviors of black

students as a pattern more so than with white students. Teachers also punish black

students for these misbehaviors at a higher rate than white students. According to the

October 29th lecture, these disciplinary regimes extend beyond punishment; they are

seen as central to a normalized learning environment.

Another study by Starck, Riddle, Sinclair, and Warikoo builds on this

demonstration of racial inequality with a causal explanation. The team analyzed two

datasets: the first being a comparison of implicit and explicit biases of teachers versus

non-teachers. This dataset utilized a self-administered Black-White Implicit Bias Test.

The second dataset, the nationally-representative ANES 2008 Time Series Study, was

used to control for the self-selection of the first dataset.

While the first dataset indicates a small but statistically significant difference in implicit

bias, with teachers having lower levels of bias, the second nationally-representative

study indicated there was “no significant association between occupation and level of

bias.” This similarity in levels of bias remained fairly consistent regardless of political

orientation, sex, or other factors that might be associated with lower levels of bias.

While we might look at teachers as characteristic of treating blacks and whites fairly

compared to non-teachers, this study indicates their levels of implicit bias are very

similar to non-teachers.

Significant research on how black students exhibit different behaviors than white

students has been studied in depth. Consider the ethnographic research highlighted in

Ferguson’s Bad Boys. To cope with the association of “troublemaker,” black students

embrace the identity to be associated with urban masculinity. We see black students

punished for the clothes they wear or mannerisms representative of their identity. The

academic literature paints a deeper picture of this vicious cycle: even for the same

misbehaviors, black students are disproportionately punished by teachers who are

bringing their implicit biases into the classroom. Does the cycle stop by changing

students or by changing teachers?

Methodology
 While students are the children of a community, teachers can be selected and

trained based on cultural competency. We see this through the hiring practices of the

Manhood Development Program in the Oakland Unified School District. Among many

metrics, The Manhood Development Program seeks to decrease suspensions and

incarceration. It is clear that the Manhood Development Program is very effective, and

students who participate in the program are less likely to be suspended at their

schools. As it is a new program, it’s yet to be seen if incarceration rates will drop. In my

research, I’d like to understand how their instructors view their own biases as well as

the methods they use to reduce the disproportionate punishment of black students.

My ethnographic study would follow instructors in the Manhood Development

Program. The first half of the study would learn the backgrounds of the instructors to

bring context to who they are and why they were carefully selected to be part of the

program. The second half of the study would learn how they interact with their

students to reduce in-school punishments.

The Manhood Development Program’s instructors are black male teachers hired

based on their “cultural competency, understanding of youth development, and past

teaching experience.” Intuitively, it makes sense that black male students in the

Manhood Development Program should be mentored by black male teachers as they

will have the most relatable experience. However, the aforementioned Two Strikes

study demonstrated that black teachers might be as likely to harbor implicit biases
against black students as white teachers. Considering this, do these teachers have the

same implicit biases as other black teachers? If they do not, has their teaching

background, cultural competency, or understanding of youth development influenced

their reduced implicit biases?

For this half of the study, I would request to interview the current thirteen

instructors at the various schools that participate in the Manhood Development

Program. After receiving the consent of the instructors, I would ask if they would take

the Black-White Implicit Bias Test to compare against the ANES 2008 dataset.

Additionally, I would survey their experience in these three categories as well as their

academic background. A few of the questions I might ask them include: How has their

academic background affected their teaching? How conscious do they believe they are

of their implicit biases? Do they believe their biases influence how they treat students?

How much time have they invested in understanding youth development? How has the

Manhood Development Program empowered them to empower the students? These

questions would help build a picture of how these instructors view their own biases

compared to other teachers. Additionally, it would help identify any other systemic

factors that influence these instructors’ teaching methodology.

In addition to learning the instructors’ backgrounds, I would also try to

understand the methods used to hire instructors for the Manhood Development

Program. Depending on their interview and hiring process, I would aim to speak with
three of the central office staff involved in hiring to better understand the methods they

use to select program instructors. Specifically, what questions do the hiring staff use to

determine an instructor’s cultural competency, knowledge of youth development, or

past teaching experience? If the factors that go into hiring can reduce the implicit

biases of instructors, then the Manhood Development Program’s hiring methodology

can be used in schools across the nation to help foster a community of teachers that

improve the outcomes of black students.

After getting a broader understanding of the way the instructors are selected

and how the instructor’s past experiences inform their teaching styles, I would move on

to the second half of the study which would be conducted over the course of a year.

Throughout this part of the study, I would follow the cohort of the thirteen instructors in

their classes to see how they interact with their students. How do they handle disputes?

What punishment or rehabilitation methods do they use with students during their time

together? How do their perceptions of students who misbehave multiple times

change? Understanding how instructors interact with and treat perceived misbehaviors

is important in explaining how the instructors differ from teachers in other institutions.

This difference can help explain how instructors can view situations with black students

in the context of their experience without creating worse outcomes for them than with

white students.
 The ethnographic data from the instructor cohort would be formulated in a way

to be quantifiable over the duration of the year. This would allow an understanding of

how these relationships transform over time and how multiple misbehaviors are

perceived compared to the student records in the Two Strikes study. Each question

would be rated on a scale so their values could be compared over time.

The combined data—Implicit Bias Test results, the surveys from the Manhood

Development Program instructors and administrators, and the year-long ethnographic

study of program instructors—can explain what the methods are that make the

Manhood Development Program effective in mitigating the disproportionate

punishment of black students.

Conclusion

Our education system is a powerful tool that can uplift students out of poverty

and provide them with the cultural capital needed to succeed. However, it can also be

used as a system to inhibit students, particularly black students, from succeeding.

While much of the research has explored student outcomes from the perspective of the

student, much of the literature on the topic indicates that the implicit biases of the

teachers and the systemic problems embedded in the school system influence the

student’s outcomes.
 The systemic problems of disproportionate punishment are well-formed through

past research, and I’d hope my ethnographic study could help glean on how we can

begin solving these problems. The information provided by this study could transform

classroom instruction to allow black students to embrace their identities and to

minimize disproportionate punishment. Programs such as the Manhood Development

Program have seen success in reducing suspensions among participating students. If

we can understand the methods these instructors use to reduce the disproportionate

punishment black students face, we can apply them to schools everywhere and create

more equitable outcomes.

Works Cited

Okonofua, Jason A., and Jennifer L. Eberhardt. "Two strikes: Race and the disciplining

of young students." Psychological science 26.5. 2015.

Mary E. Kelsey, Ph.D. “Bad Boys Chs 3 and 4.” October 29, 2020. Lecture.

Starck, Jordan G., et al. "Teachers are people too: Examining the racial bias of teachers

compared to other American adults." Educational Researcher. 2020.

Ferguson, Ann Arnett. Bad boys: Public schools in the making of black masculinity.

University of Michigan Press. 2020.

Watson, V. “The Black Sonrise: Oakland Unified School District’s Commitment to

Address and Eliminate Institutionalized Racism.” 2014. https://www.ousd.org/cms/lib/

CA01001176/Centricity/Domain/78/MDPreportWEBV14d.pdf