This brief examines trends in the types of reported disciplinary incidents in K–12 Missouri schools and analyzes demographic trends in the assignment of out-of-school suspensions.

Using school-level data from Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from 2005 through 2019, we explored between-school disparities in out-of-school suspensions based on school characteristics - racial composition, locality, and socioeconomic status - to track trends and see if schools have made improvements.