60 percent of Texans suspended before high school graduation

A new study by the by the Council of State Governments finds that 60 percent of Texan students were suspended, expelled or faced in-school suspensions by the time they graduated high school.

The researchers followed every Texas seventh grader into high school, the New York Times reports, studying almost 1 million students.

Fifteen percent of the students were disciplined 11 times or more over the six years. And the more frequently a student faced suspension or expulsion, the greater the chances would be that the disciplined student would eventually drop out, according to the Council of State Governments analysis.

"African-American students and those with particular educational disabilities experience a disproportionately high rate of removal from the classroom for disciplinary reasons," study author Mike Thompson told NPR. Seventy percent of black female students were expelled or suspended, compared to 37 percent of white girls, he said.