Tracking the early stages of the disciplinary gaze among students experiencing childhood adversities

The effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on children are often misinterpreted in schools as misbehavior and can impact students’ academic progress. We explore how the intersection of race and ACEs make students of color hypervisible and more likely to enter the school discipline pathway. Using tenets of critical race theory and the concept of the disciplinary gaze; we found that children of color, experiencing complex trauma, had 1.85 times the odds of receiving a call home (surveilled) for problems at school compared to their White counterparts. Implications for trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices are discussed.