Policy Brief

Reducing Student Suspension Rates

Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap

Elementary student enthusiastically raising his hand in class.
Stephen Kostyo, Jessica Cardichon, and Linda Darling-Hammond
October 2018 | Learning Policy Institute
Elementary student enthusiastically raising his hand in class.

This policy brief from the Learning Policy Institute focuses on state efforts to reduce student suspension rates. This brief is part of a larger research report, Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap, that describes various ways states are using opportunities in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to better support historically underserved students through the thoughtful selection of specific equity measures in their accountability and improvement systems.