Date of Conferral
4-21-2026
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Public Policy and Administration
Advisor
Donna Christy
Abstract
Zero tolerance policies disproportionately affect African American female students and contribute to their accelerated entry into the school-to-prison pipeline. Existing literature indicated that these policies subject African American female students to harsher disciplinary practices and that their behaviors were often misunderstood by school administrators. However, there is limited research on how school administrators’ discretionary implementation of zero-tolerance policies contributes to these disparities. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to explore how school administrators interpret and exercise discretion when implementing zero tolerance policies affecting African American female students through the lens of Lipsky’s street-level bureaucracy theory. Four themes were identified, which were: constrained discretion under policy mandates, discretion as situational judgment, organizational culture and policy implementation, and racial disparities in enforcement. Findings indicated that zero tolerance policies exacerbated racial and gender inequities by restricting discretion in state-mandated situations while allowing flexibility in nonmandated cases. Administrators’ discretionary decision-making influenced disciplinary outcomes for African American female students. The implications for positive social change include promoting changes to administrative practices, such the use of collaborative disciplinary practices such as student involvement in decision-making, stakeholder dialogue, implicit bias professional development, and restorative justice approaches.
Recommended Citation
Knight, Keysha D., "Exploring School Administrators' Perceptions of Zero Tolerance Policies for African American Female Students" (2026). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 19824.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/19824
