School systems heavily suspend students and rely on police officers to handle minor behavioral complaints. Consequently, many youths find themselves in the criminal justice system due to these harsh punishments that have been implemented by schools (Advancement Project, Education Law Center, FairTest, The Forum for Education and Democracy Juvenile Law Center, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.). Students of color tend to be overrepresented in those numbers; for instance, 70 percent of students involved in “in- school” arrests or who are referred to law enforcement are Black or Latino (PBS). Additionally, 40 percent of students expelled from US schools each year are black. Moreover, black students are three and a half times more …show more content…
Anthropologists have studied a variety of factors influencing why minority students tend to drop out of school at higher rates. The behavioral and social interactions that were happening allowed anthropologists to come up with solutions to minimizing this overwhelming trend. The department of Education and Anthropology did not emerge till after the 1950s. Many great pioneers of anthropology like Margaret Mead, David Barresi, and George Spindler helped established the department. Even before the department was formally established, Spindler was eager for his students to go out and do fieldwork, especially with traditional tribes that are not often covered by anthropologist. Spindler forced his students to do less comparison but more evaluating. During their fieldwork, the anthropologists conducted many research relating to education. In these research studies, they examined the behaviors of the educators (Wolcott 36). As a result, anthropologists came to the conclusion that schooling did seem irrelevant or incidental, and in a greater need for adjustment. Their great work on educational anthropology allowed the American Anthropological Association (AAA) to opened the subdivision Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE). It was the anthropology of education that made us aware of the many problems within the education system and the work that needs to be done, especially for Blacks and Latinos in education (Wolcott