School To Prison Literature Review

The public school to prison pipeline was examined in the literature review through zero-tolerance policies and the effects it has played on graduation rates. Zero-tolerance policies have dramatically increased students being recommended to the court system according to the literature review. The literature review has shown a need for school districts to examine zero-tolerance policies and the negative effects that it has caused on students. Fran Silverman (2005) discusses students being punished under zero-tolerance and says, “The students were disciplined under their school’s zero tolerance policy and some advocates are saying these codes of conduct have become so strict that schools are turning into criminal justice systems, or worse, jailhouses” (pg. 54). Therefore zero-tolerance policies have not had the outcome that politicians have hoped for and should be examined for the effects that they have had on our students. The purpose of this study will be to examine discipline suspensions and expulsions, attendance, and poverty to determine if there is a correlation between these and the graduation rates. In an article by Nirvi Shah (2011), there is discussion about the effects of zero-tolerance policies. Nirvi Shah continues by saying, “Over the past two years, an increasing number of reports and initiatives have pointed out

The literature review clearly has shown that there is a phenomenon called School to Prison, Schoolhouse to Jailhouse, or Public Education to Prison Pipeline. Therefore, Jeremy Thompson (2016) says, “Zero-tolerance policies in schools result in high suspension rates and expulsion rates among students in general, but disproportionately affect minority students, especially African-Americans because students who have been suspended or expelled are more likely than not to end up in the Criminal Justice