A 45-minute teacher exercise cut the racial suspension gap by 45%

A brief online exercise focused on empathy and teacher–pupil relationships was linked to fewer suspensions, with benefits for Black and Hispanic pupils persisting into the following school year.

A brief professional development exercise that encouraged teachers to think more deeply about students’ experiences may have helped cut suspension gaps in middle school classrooms, according to research published in Science Advances and later summarised by the Institute of Education Sciences.

The study, led by Jason A. Okonofua and colleagues, asked middle school maths teachers to complete a 45- to 70-minute online exercise. Teachers read research on the value of listening to students’ views, building relationships and responding to misbehaviour in ways that preserve trust. They also read short essays from pupils describing how individual teachers had shaped their lives, then reflected on how they currently build relationships and what more they could do in future.

Researchers found that the intervention was associated with fewer suspensions, especially for Black and Hispanic students. The racial gap in suspension rates fell by 45% over the school year, according to the study summaries. Just as striking, the effect did not disappear once students moved on to different teachers the following year, suggesting that a single positive interaction during a critical period may help alter a pupil’s trajectory.

The findings add to a growing body of work on school discipline that questions whether exclusionary punishments improve behaviour in the long term. Instead, the study points to a simpler idea: when teachers are prompted to approach students with greater empathy and an eye towards relationship-building, even a short intervention can have measurable consequences for school climate. For schools weighing professional development options, the work offers a relatively low-cost strategy that appears to be more than a one-off morale exercise.