Suspension and Expulsion Policies and Practices and Related Student Mental Health Issues in California Schools

This report includes a review of the domestic and international literature on suspension and expulsion, an analysis of California schools’ current approaches to reducing suspensions and expulsions, and recommendations for practitioners and policymakers. The school analysis included an online survey exploring the suspension and expulsion policies and practices of 18 California school districts and in-depth interviews with multidisciplinary community teams in 3 of the 18 school districts. Underlying all of the recommendations is the understanding that communities must focus more resources on prevention and providing services in early childhood to prevent problems from emerging later on.

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