UCLA - K-12 Racial Disparities in School Discipline - Title - Update to Lost Instruction Time in California Schools

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys

Update analyzes California lost instruction time related to out-of-school suspensions, emphasizing a dramatic rise in disciplinary exclusion of homeless youth. Using recently released 2023 statewide data, it documents reversal of a multi-year downward trend and shows increases across demographics. Findings indicate substantially larger increases for Black and Native American homeless youth than for other groups, and argue that suspension practices are punitive rather than constructive, creating direct educational and long-term economic harms.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Key updates and statewide trends

Lost instruction rates and demographic changes

Disparate impact on homeless youth

Limits of suspension-related data

Harms and research evidence

UCLA K-12 Racial Disparities in School Discipline Title Update to Lost Instruction Time in California Schools Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7xv434vq](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7xv434vq) Authors Flores, Ramon Losen, Daniel J Publication Date 2024-01-08 Data Availability The data associated with this publication are within the manuscript. Copyright Information This work is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike License, available at [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc)sa/4 .0/ [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Jan. 8, 2024 New data: California school administrators dramatically increased disciplinary exclusion of homeless youth to the highest rate in 6 years *An Update to Lost Instruction Time in California Schools by Ramon Flores and Dan Losen Many educators in California are unaware of just how harmful out of school suspensions can be. When suspended students are barred from attending school, more often than not, the rule broken was some form of minor misconduct. Today’s update of Lost Instruction Time in California Schools 1 demonstrates that despite the important efforts by the state of California to reduce suspensions, those efforts are seriously insufficient. We know this because the most recent statewide rates of lost instruction due to out of school suspensions 2 show a widespread increase in the days lost per 100 students. The increase in these lost instruction rates, is not large for every group, but the 2023 data reverses a consistent downward 6-year trend. 3 In 2023, nearly every racial and ethnic group, as well as students with disabilities, experienced an increase over their rate of lost instruction from the prior year. In our report released on October 28, 2023, that covered trends through the 2021-22 school year, the state level analysis showed that progress had slowed to a near stand-still, and that atthe district level, many districts with high rates were showing increases in those rates. This update of the statewide numbers documents the first overall increase in rates of lost instruction.4 This increase in rates cries out for attention, especially considering looming school budget shortfalls for the 2024-25 school year. Our updated findings, using the recently released data for 2023, show that not only are the rates for homeless youth increasing for every demographic, but they increased far more for Black and Native American homeless youth than any other groups. Specifically, Black homeless youth are losing an average of 90 school days per 100 enrolled students due to disciplinary removals in the academic year ending in 2023 —an increase of 21 days from the year before (69 days, as reported in our Lost Instruction Report) . Native American homeless youth lost 75 days per 100 enrolled in 2023 —an increase of 17 days from the 2022 rate (58 days) . These rates of lost instruction are 7 to 10 times higher than the state average for all students, which also increased in 2023. Our analyses of the data for each racial group demonstrate the large and racially disparate impact on the opportunity to learn for homeless youth, and points to the absurdity of using suspensions frequently to address a wide range of non-criminal non-dangerous misconduct. It is important to keep in mind that these rates of lost instruction only reflect lost days from out-ofschool suspensions and do not included days lost due to expulsions, arrests, or disciplinary transfers. These longer types of removals may also be unjustified, but they are more likely than suspensions to be the response to students who engage in serious crimes at school or who posean ongoing threat to self or others. We issue this brief update now in hopes that state and local school officials begin 2024, and the process of budgetin

FAQs

What is the main finding of this update regarding California school discipline?

California administrators increased disciplinary exclusion of homeless youth to the highest rate in six years, reversing a prior multi-year downward trend in lost instruction time.

How do the 2023 lost instruction rates differ for Black and Native American homeless youth?

Black homeless youth lost an average of 90 school days per 100 students, and Native American homeless youth lost 75 days per 100 students in 2023, with increases of 21 and 17 days respectively from the prior year.

Why does the report argue that suspensions are especially problematic?

Suspensions are described as punitive rather than constructive interventions, deny students the opportunity to learn, and are supported by cited research showing negative outcomes such as lower graduation rates and increased involvement in juvenile justice systems.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys