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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annotated Bibliography: School-to-Prison-Pipeline

Alexander W. LaForest

School of EDD: Administration and Supervision: Educational Leadership, Liberty University

EDUC701: Advanced Learning Theory and Research

Dr. Ellen Black

January 30, 2022

Author Note

Alexander W. LaForest

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Alexander LaForest.

Email: alaforest@liberty.edu
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Annotated Bibliography: School-to-Prison-Pipeline

Bacher-Hicks, A., Billings, S. B., & Deming, D. J. (2021). Proving the School-to-Prison

Pipeline: Stricter middle schools raise the risk of adult arrests. Education Next, 21(4), 52–

57.

This article examines if there is a connection between stricter middle school discipline

and the incarceration of students as adults. Bacher-Hicks, Billings, and Demming assess

the historical relevance of desegregation and the affects that rezoning has had on the

shifting of students between varying schools. This allowed them to conduct an

experiment to observe the disparities between two middle schools, and how a 12%

difference in suspension rates has impacted future arrests and incarceration. Bacher-

Hicks, Billings, and Demming found that a school that is slightly stricter regarding out of

school suspensions has a direct correlation to an increase in drop-out rates and decreases

the probability of the student attending college. Student achievement and teacher turnover

were also surveyed to see if there is any connection between the two and the school-to-

prison-pipeline, according to the research, only school disciplinary strictness is a

predictor of a students’ potential criminal involvement. Overall, Bacher-Hicks, Billings,

and Deming conduct a forthright study to prove that the school-to-prison-pipeline, not

only exists, but can be predicted. However, there is still research that needs to be done

into deviations away from the standard school disciplinary procedures.

Dutil, S. (2020). Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline: A Trauma-Informed, Critical Race

perspective on school discipline. Children & Schools, 42(3), 171–178.

This article proposes the notion of using trauma informed practices to potentially avoid

disciplinary issues with students of color. Dutil offers up the idea that school discipline is
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a sense of trauma for students, especially those of color. She found that students of color

were continually misrepresented in out of school suspensions and other disciplinary

actions. A trauma informed based approach works to recognize student behaviors and

find the why behind the action. Dutil even goes so far as to offer up that the school-to-

prison-pipeline is a tool of white supremacy training children of color for a life in the

criminal system. Critical Race Theory is a reoccurring proposed practice throughout the

article. Dutil acknowledges the issue of color blindness and how it is a faulted method of

equality, stripping minorities of their culture. This is where Critical Race Theory is

offered as a basis of Trauma Informed Practices. Dutil does a good job highlighting the

issues behind student-based trauma and the school-to-prison-pipeline, acknowledging the

previous efforts made, and proposing Trauma Informed Practices to continue making

strides forward.

Henry, L. A., & Stahl, N. A. (2017). Dismantling the developmental education pipeline: Potent

pedagogies and promising practices that address the college readiness gap. Journal of

Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 60(6), 611–616. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.640

This article examines the impact of changing pedagogies and the impact on student

college and career readiness. Henry and Stahl acknowledge that there are multiple factors

that should be considered when trying to understand college and career readiness. Just

because a student holds a high school diploma, that does not mean that they are ready for

the increase in college level workload or to enter the workforce. Programs such as,

Bridge programs, Transition programs, Acceleration programs, and Alliance programs

are all identified as helping students in the transition out of high school. Henry and Stahl

submit the readiness is relative to the student as well as the institution. They also
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acknowledge that with the implementation of No Child Left Behind and Common Core

the school dropout rate has made minor improvement, but still has a long way to go.

While proposing great ideas and research regarding the evolution of the education

pipeline, there is still much left uncovered. Henry and Stahl provide an overview of the

country at a whole without looking at the breakdown of cultural barriers and race.

Kostyo, S., Cardichon, J., Darling-Hammond, L., & Learning Policy Institute. (2018). Making

ESSA’s equity promise real: State strategies to close the opportunity gap. A follow-up

report to “Advancing equity for underserved youth.” Learning Policy Institute.

This article proposes ways to improve upon Every Student Succeeds Act within the

implementation of new policies and procedures. Kostyo, Cardichon, and Darling-

Hammond, acknowledge how Every Student Succeeds Act has given school districts

liberty to choose varying factors to assess school improvement success. However, they

also point out that factors like, expulsions, suspension, and school-related arrests are

required on their reporting. In contrast to the requirement, Kostyo, Cardichon, and

Darling-Hammond offer several ways to retool the policy of Every Student Succeeds Act

for a smoother implementation and potential better student and school success. They

offer the notion of eliminating zero-tolerance policies, establishing restorative justice

programs, providing training on implicit bias for school staff, and creating programs to

identify patterns in suspension. All of Kostyo, Cardichon, and Darling-Hammond’s

proposed ideas are reminiscent with breaking down racial barriers and deconstructing the

school-to-prison-pipeline. Their article offers a breakdown into how three states,

California, Rhode Island, and West Virginia, are utilizing the reporting of school

suspension rates as a part of their indicators for school improvement. By examining

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school districts across the country, they can better provide a nation-wide picture of how

Every Student Succeeds Act can be used to propose equity in education.

Winn, M. T., & Behizadeh, N. (2011). The right to be literate: Literacy, education, and the

School-to-Prison Pipeline. Review of Research in Education, 35(1), 147–173.

https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X10387395

This article studies the policies that have contributed to the school-to-prison-pipeline.

Additionally, students affected by the school-to-prison-pipeline learn that their lives are

disposable and that they are destined for the prison system. Winn and Behizadeh argue

that using literacy methods and tactics, not only can students avoid the school-to-prison-

pipeline, but they can also find their voice. Through critical literacy, performing,

researching, communicating, students can work with adult allies to dismantle the

pipeline. Winn and Behizadeh continually revisit the notion of students working with

adult allies. This mentality of including students in the discussion helps proposed their

belief that everyone has the right to be literate. Conversations surrounding the idea of

dismantling the pipeline for students should include said students. Winn and Behizadeh

conducted extensive research through Youth Participatory Action Research projects to

understand how students are feeling about education and issues in their community. This

type of research offers a lens that examines how students are not only performing but also

their impression of school. The research and findings within this article set a good

baseline for research yet to be done regarding how classroom management and the

school-to-prison-pipeline interact.