Is it possible that perhaps African-American students really do create more problems at schools and Asian students spend more time studying (thus getting expelled less and earning higher scores on the SATs on average)? 

Certainly, some "implicit bias" may exist on the teacher/administrator end.  But from my experience as an alumni of the public Multnomah County education system, I think there might also be some responsibility shifting taking place here in this article. 

Teachers have different teachingstyles.  Certain students will clash with certain styles.  Sure, some teaching styles may not give all students the best chances to succeed.  But sometimes students don't give themselves the best chances to succeed either.  Teaching and learning is a two-way street.

Question...If Asian students are expelled the least of the races in public schools, and they acheive consistenly high scores in standardized test (which allegedly "implicit bias"), is it possible that there is a correlation between studying more and being expelled less?

And if that's the case, shouldn't this article be more about why kids study, or don't study, and not about "implicit bias?"  And shouldn't that beg the question where are these kids getting their studying habits from?  Which further leads to the question of what kind of influences and family values do these kids have.

I think we all know where this discussion goes from here.  Let's use some common sense here folks.  Using statistics to "paint" a picture is one of the oldest tricks in the book.  Remember, "there are lies, damned lies and statistics."

I expect more out of you Multnomah County Commission on Children, Families & Community, Hannah Hoffman and Willamette Week.  Let's get to the heart of the discussion already.

Learn how to develop relationships with all students, and make routines, curriculum, and discipline culturally relevant to all students. When teachers and administrators teach racial equity by practicing what they're preaching, that's where true learning takes place. 

I would be much more interested to see any disparity in punishments between different students.  Are white kids who get caught misbehaving punished more or less than their counterparts of color?  Are there trends there? 

Having grown up in public schools and with kids there now I can tell you some clicks behave better and pay attention more than others.  Unfortunately, this often times runs along color lines (as much as we'd like to be PC and ignore that idea).  If kids are misbehaving, they should be punished.   Fixing the problem of Who is misbehaving and Why they are doing so is much more important than a statistical analysis of what group is getting caught more frequently...

Sorry, bro, this ain't news.

Look at the discipinary/achievement statistics at ANY inner city high school in America for the past 50 YEARS and the story is the same.

Throwing more money and opportunities at blacks, at the expense of the other races, serves only to further validify the false victimizaton status of blacks.

If any of our "leaders" were intellectually honest and placed the welfare of black students above their own self-interest, our leaders woiuld admit the reasons for higher disciplinary rates and lower achievememt rates for blacks lie squarely within the black community.

If you want black kids to be normal, then the bases of ghetto life must be addressed:

Young black girls having kids out of wedlock and raising those kids on welfare;

Black men impregnating multiple partners and taking no nurturing or financial support for the resulting offspring;

The anti-social sentiments held in the black community, i.e.;

We be victims;

Don't be no snitch;

Why go to work, I can make almost as much on government handouts.

Let's get one thing straight, teachers ain't professional parents nor professional social workers. Stick with the 3 Rs, teachers. You're being paid to teach, not parent.

Instead of feeling sorry for black kids, let's demand individual responsibility for them and for their "parents."

Start locking the parents up when their kids get out of line.

Carrots haven't, in 50 years, caused the black community to provide a nurturing and supportive environment for their children.

Let's try using the stick.

"The report reflects a national trend—discipline rates for minority students nationwide are much higher than their white classmates."

And so is the rate of abuse, poverty, broken homes, single parents, parents in jail/treatment, and so on.

Let's get real--and talk to teachers in the trenches every day.

No, screw that, let's start by admitting just how crucial and implicit life OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL is to student behavior and success. This is always the elephant in the room, always ignored, and always waved aside in favor of trying to find "bias" through elaborate statistical hand-waving instead.