Policy Notes

About Dress Codes and School Uniforms*

Major points made by proponents include the claim that dress codes and school uniforms help
• reduce discipline problems and on campus gang formation
• protect students from clothing that includes hateful messages or promotes drug and
alcohol use
• enhance a positive school climate (e.g., a sense of belonging, unity, and school pride)
• decrease pressure to buy “trendy” clothes and reduce signs of economic and social
differences among students
• identify intruders on campus

There are also claims that academic performance and attendance are improved.
Opponents assert that dress codes and school uniforms
• violate freedom of expression, promote conformity, and negatively effect self-image
• do little to enhance school safety and worse make students targets (e.g., for bullies from
other schools; for sexual advances from those who find classic school uniforms sexually
seductive)
• are a financial burden for poor families and a expense that is inconsistent with a tax-
based free public education
• are an added enforcement problem for school staff
• can be sexist (e.g., require girls to wear skirts)
• take attention away from making fundamental school improvements

Dress codes often ban clothes that have images or writing. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that
attempts to protect students from clothing that conveys a political message about drug and alcohol
use or uses hateful speech violates a student’s right to free speech.
With respect to uniforms, litigation has raised issues about free speech, costs, and more. Decisions
have been mixed.
Available data suggest that uniforms are mandated in about a quarter of all elementary schools and
about half that many middle and high schools. Consensus is that the difference is due to the
resistance of older students and many parents to dress codes.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics’ data from U.S. public schools:
• In 2013-14,, about 20 percent of schools mandated uniforms; this was up from about 12
percent in 1999-2000.
• Schools with a minority student population of 50% or more are four times as likely to require
uniforms than schools with a minority population of 20-49%, and 24 times more likely than
schools with minority populations of 5%-19%.
• Around $1 billion per year is spent on school uniforms.

It is noteworthy that there are proposals to establish dress codes for teachers.

*The material in this document reflects work done by Ciara Martin as part of her involvement
with the national Center for MH in Schools and Student/Learning Supports at UCLA.
The center is co-directed by Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor in the Dept. of Psychology, UCLA,
Website: [Link] Send comments to ltaylor@[Link]

1
 Some Research
The following are reported by Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media,
Politics and Public Policy.
[Link]

>Dressed for Success? The Effect of School Uniforms on Student Achievement and
Behavior Gentile, E., & Imberman, S.A. (2012). Journal of Urban Economics, 71, 1-17.
[Link]
Abstract: Uniform use in public schools is rising, but we know little about how they affect
students. Using a unique dataset from a large urban school district in the southwest
United States, we assess how uniforms affect behavior, achievement and other
outcomes. Each school in the district determines adoption independently, providing
variation over schools and time. By including student and school fixed-effects we find
evidence that uniform adoption improves attendance in secondary grades, while in
elementary schools they generate large increases in teacher retention.
>Are School Uniforms a Good Fit? Results from the ECLS-K and the NELS.
Yeung, R. (2009). Educational Policy, 23, 847-874. [Link]
Abstract: One of the most common proposals put forth for reform of the American system
of education is to require school uniforms. Proponents argue that uniforms can make
schools safer and also improve school attendance and increase student achievement.
Opponents contend that uniforms have not been proven to work and may be an
infringement on the freedom of speech of young people. Within an econometric
framework, this study examines the effect of school uniforms on student achievement. It
tackles methodological challenges through the use of a value-added functional form and
the use of multiple data sets. The results do not suggest any significant association
between school uniform policies and achievement. Although the results do not definitely
support or reject either side of the uniform argument, they do strongly intimate that
uniforms are not the solution to all of American education’s ills.
>Effects of Student Uniforms on Attendance, Behavior Problems, Substance Use, and
Academic Achievement. Brunsma, D.L, & Rockquemore, K.A. (1998). Journal of
Educational Research, 92, 53-62.
[Link]
Abstract: Mandatory uniform policies have been the focus of recent discourse on public
school reform. Proponents of such reform measures emphasize the benefits of student
uniforms on specific behavioral and academic outcomes. Tenth-grade data from The
National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 was used to test empirically the claims
made by uniform advocates. The findings indicate that student uniforms have no direct
effect on substance use, behavioral problems, or attendance. Contrary to current
discourse, the authors found a negative effect of uniforms on student academic
achievement. Uniform policies may indirectly affect school environment and student
outcomes by providing a visible and public symbol of commitment to school improvement
and reform.
cont.

2
>School Uniforms, Academic Achievement, and Uses of Research. Bodine, A. (2003).
Journal of Educational Research, 97, 67-71. [Link]
Abstract: School uniforms are being advocated for a range of social, educational,
economic, and familial reasons. In 1998, The Journal of Educational Research (The JER)
published an article by D. Brunsma and K. Rockquemore that claims that uniforms
correlate negatively with academic achievement, but data presented in this article
actually show positive correlation between uniforms and achievement for the total
sample, and for all but 1 school sector. Examination of structure of argument reveals that
the erroneous claim results from misleading use of sector analysis. Simultaneous with
The JER article, and on the basis of the same National Education Longitudinal Study:
1988 database, an Educational Testing Service article reported that no correlation exists
between uniforms and achievement. The two articles are contrasted in this study. The
effect of new communication technology in amplifying political uses of academic research
is discussed.

>Public School Uniforms: Effect on Perceptions of Gang Presence, School Climate, and
Student Self-Perceptions. Wade, K.K., & Stafford, M.E. (2003). Education and Urban
Society, 35, 399-420. [Link]
Abstract: This study attempts to clarify the relationships between public school uniforms
and some of their intended results: student self-worth and student and staff perceptions
of gang presence and school climate. The instruments used in the study included a
questionnaire on gang presence and identity, the National Association of School
Principals Comprehensive Assessment of School Environments, and the Harter
Self-Perception Profile for Children. Participants consisted of 415 urban public middle
school students and 83 teachers. Findings indicate that, although perceptions did not
vary for students across uniform policy, teachers from schools with uniform policies
perceived lower levels of gang presence. Although the effect size was small, students
from schools without uniforms reported higher self-perception scores than students from
schools with uniform policies. Student and teacher perceptions of school climate did not
vary across uniform policy.

>The Effect of Uniforms on Nonuniform Apparel Expenditures. Norum, P., Weagley, R.O.,
& Norton, Marjorie J. (1998). Family & Consumer Sciences, 26, 259–280
[Link]
Abstract: The uniform industry has grown steadily the past 20 years with increased
attention from employers trying to create a professional image among workers as well as
school administrators considering uniforms to curtail school violence. Although an
important part of human dress for centuries, uniforms have received little attention from
researchers of the clothing market. This study examines the impact of uniform purchases
on household expenditures for selected nonuniform apparel subcategories based on an
economic model of conditional demand. Expenditure equations are estimated using the
1990–1991 Consumer Expenditure Survey. The results suggest that, on average,
consumers do not substitute uniforms for other apparel purchases. Rather, uniforms and
nonuniform apparel appear to be complements in consumers’ purchases, resulting in
greater household expenditures on nonuniform apparel. These results are a first step in
understanding the economic effect that uniform purchases, mandated by employers,
schools, or others, have on household clothing expenditures.

3
 Additional References and Resources Used in Preparing this Document

Adams, T. A. (2006). Review of Uniforms in public schools: A decade of research and debate
(edited by D. Brunsma). Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 35, 634-645.

Alleyne, I. S., Lapoint, V., Lee, J., & Mitchell W. H. (2003). Black educators’ views on middle
school students’ dress and uniforms: Addressing challenges from commercialism. Journal of
Negro Education, 74, 4-8. [Link]

Boutelle, M. (2008). Uniforms: Are they a good fit? Education Digest, 73, 34-37.

Brookshire, A. (2016). The impact of school uniforms on school climate. Minneapolis: Walden
University. [Link]

Brown, T. J. (2000). Legal issue and the trend towards school uniforms. Information Analysis,70.

Caron, C. (2006, June). Too sexy to go to school: A discourse analysis of the recurring public
debate on girls' dress. Paper presented at the Canadian Communication Association
Conference, York University, Toronto. [Link]

DaCosta, K. (2006). Dress codes blues: An exploration of urban students’ reactions to a public
high school uniform policy. Journal of Negro Education, 75, 49-59.

Education Commission on the States (2004). School Uniforms and Dress Codes: State Policies.
[Link]

Happel, A. (2013). Ritualized girling: School uniforms and the compulsory performance of
gender. Journal of Gender Studies, 22, 92-96.
[Link]

McDaniel, T. R. (2013). Making the school uniform decision: Is it right for your school? Kappa
Delta Pi Record. 49, 162-167.

Mitchell, H.W. & Knechtle, J.C. (2003). Uniforms in public schools and the first amendment: A
constitutional analysis. The Journal of Negro Education, 72, 487-494.
[Link]