Implications for School Discipline

In creating positive school environments for all students, educators may face the challenging task of reconciling various priorities.  On one hand, schools must create safe environments that are free of bullying, harassment, violence, threats, and disruptive behaviors that interrupt learning.  When students engage in threatening and disruptive behaviors, schools must hold students accountable for their actions and prevent future incidents.  At the same time, educators must create supportive environments that foster learning for all students, provide youth with room to make mistakes and learn from them, and keep students on campus and engaged in classroom instruction.

However, too many schools are struggling to create positive school environments, and, in the process, are over-relying on suspensions, expulsions, and court referrals, with devastating consequences for students of color and students with disabilities. Research shows that a significant number of students are removed from class each year — even for minor infractions of school rules — due to exclusionary discipline practices:

• In Texas, a groundbreaking longitudinal study of nearly 1 million students found that nearly six in 10 public school students studied were suspended or expelled at least once over a six-year period during their 7th to 12th-grade years; 15 percent of those students were disciplined 11 or more separate times.¹
• One study found that 95 percent of out-of-school suspensions were for nonviolent, minor disruptions such as tardiness or disrespect.²

The widespread overuse of suspensions and expulsions has tremendous costs. Students who are suspended or expelled from school may be unsupervised during daytime hours and cannot benefit from great teaching, positive peer interactions, and adult mentorship offered in class and in school.  Suspending students also often fails to help them develop the skills and strategies they need to improve their behavior and avoid future problems.  Suspended students are less likely to graduate on time and more likely to be suspended again, repeat a grade, drop out of school, and become involved in the juvenile justice system.

To help educators to create safe and supportive school environments for all students, while avoiding excessive or disproportionate use of exclusionary discipline, the U.S. Department of Education recommends that schools take the following actions:

Take deliberate steps to create the positive school environments that can help prevent and change inappropriate behaviors.  Such steps include training staff, engaging families and community partners, and deploying resources to help students develop the social, emotional, and conflict resolution skills needed to avoid and de-escalate problems.  Targeting student supports also helps students address the underlying causes of misbehavior, such as trauma, substance abuse, and mental health issues. 

Ensure that clear, appropriate, and consistent expectations and consequences are in place to prevent and address misbehavior.  By holding students accountable for their actions in developmentally appropriate ways, students learn responsibility, respect, and the bounds of acceptable behavior in our schools and society.  This also means relying on suspension and expulsion only as a last resort and for appropriately serious infractions, and equipping staff with alternative strategies to address problem behaviors while keeping all students engaged in instruction to the greatest extent possible. 

School Discipline Guidance Package

Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline (PDF, 37 pages)
This resource guide, from the U.S. Department of Education, draws from emerging research and best practices to describe three key principles and related action steps that can help guide state- and locally controlled efforts to improve school environment and school discipline.

Compendium of School Discipline Laws and Regulations 
This online database catalogues the laws and regulations related to school discipline in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and compares laws across states and jurisdictions. 

Resources

Supportive School Discipline Webinar Series
To increase awareness and understanding of the issue and provide practical examples of school discipline practices that maintain school and classroom safety while ensuring academic engagement and success for all students, we are pleased to announce the Supportive School Discipline (SSD) Webinar Series. Webinars in the series are open to anyone and will explore numerous topics, including current school discipline philosophies, policies, and practices, and emerging alternatives; addressing truancy and absenteeism; infusing restorative justice principles; the role of school resource officers (SROs) in supportive school discipline; the promise of trauma-informed practices; the importance of youth, family, and community engagement; and the need for professional development across all stakeholders.

References