Related Papers
Minnesota Secondary Principals Reported Discipline Decision Making from a Culturally Responsive School Leadership Approach
2021 •
Lydia Kabaka
The use of discipline within the school setting dates back as long as schools have been in existence (Brown & Payne, 1988). There is a wide array of discipline that is enforced from the use of corporal punishment to more modern practices of suspension and expulsion (Middleton, 2008; Noltemeyer et al., 2012). The use of such disciplinary practices has resulted in unintended consequences directly correlated to race, disability status and income; with an overrepresentation of students of color, students receiving special education services and low-income students receiving higher levels of discipline than their peers (Skiba et al, 2011). Patterns of disproportionality are well documented and begin to emerge as early as preschool and are likely to continue throughout high school, with lasting impacts both academically and economically (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). There is a wide breadth of research outlining the extensive nature of the overuse of exclusionary discipline, such a...
A Study of the Impact of Culturally Responsive Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in the Virtual Middle School Setting
2021 •
Kari Hawkey
Spotlight on success: Changing the culture of discipline in Denver Public Schools
Yolanda (Yoli) Anyon, Kathryn Wiley, Jessica L Yang, Malina Pauline, Jordan Grapentine, Giovana Valladares, Alyssa Rosch, Donna Cash, Ellen Kelty, Lisa Pisciotta, Lauren Bell
This mixed methods study draws on district discipline data, interviews, and focus groups to identify characteristics of DPS schools who met the district’s discipline goals of a 0-3% suspension rate for their student population overall and for Black students in particular during the 2014-2015 school year. Quantitative Findings Statistical analyses comparing schools who met the district’s discipline goals to those who did not revealed that low-suspending schools had the following features: ● More racially and economically integrated ● Fewer serious discipline incidents (type 2-6) reported by school staff ● Greater use of Restorative Practices in response to discipline incidents ● Less frequent use of in- and out-of-school suspension among disciplined students Qualitative Findings Principals and school staff from a subset of low-suspending schools reported the following common strategies, conditions, and district resources were used to meet the district’s discipline goals: Positive Behavior and School Culture Systems ● Relationship Building ● Behavioral Recognitions and Rewards ● Social-Emotional Skill Building ● Restorative Practices Inclusive Policies and Protocols for Responding to Misbehavior ● Start with Classroom-Based Interventions ● Connect Misbehaving Students to Support Services ● Use Punitive and Exclusionary Discipline Practices as a Last Resort Supportive Implementation Conditions ● Robust School-Based Student and Family Services ● Professional Learning, Training and Coaching ● Strategic Hiring for Culture Fit Awareness of Racial Inequalities and Bias ● Strengthen Staff Members Knowledge about Racial Disparities ● Prioritize Relationship Building with Black Families and Students District Supports ● Policy & Intervention Consultations with Discipline Coordinators ● Professional Development Units on Restorative Practices and Equity Recommendations The following recommendations are focused on themes from this report that were consistent across our qualitative and quantitative data, and supported by prior research: Schools ● Engage all school staff in ongoing professional learning about universal strategies for relationship-building, proactive classroom management approaches, equity frameworks, and implicit bias. ● Collaboratively (re)establish and teach school-wide expectations for students and staff members every school year, with regular opportunities for recognition of positive behavior. ● Greet students and implement social-emotional learning or community building activities at the start of the school day. ● Participate in the Parent-Teacher Home Visit program. ● Use Restorative Practices to resolve discipline incidents. The District ● Strengthen initiatives that promote racially and socioeconomically integrated schools, such as high quality schools in every neighborhood, and transportation for students who choice-in to sites outside of their community. ● Increase the availability of engaging and tailored site- or network-based trainings on Equity, PBIS, and Restorative Practices. ● Provide training and consultation on evidence-based classroom management approaches like Responsive Classroom. ● Expand the Parent-Teacher Home Visit program to a greater number of schools, prioritizing those with high suspension rates. ● Conduct a needs assessments of schools that have consistently been unable to meet the district’s discipline goals.
Factors Potentially Influencing Suspensions at an Affiliated Charter High School
2018 •
Debra Bryant
Factors Potentially Influencing Suspensions at an Affiliated Charter High School by Debra Denise Bryant MA, Pepperdine University, 2005 BA, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1995 Project Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University December 2018 Abstract Federal government agency reports have documented concerns regarding the use of school discipline and suspension indicating that Black students are referred for discipline and/or suspended at a higher rate than students of other ethnicities. Available data from the local school district involved in this study reflected similar troubling patterns of discipline referral and suspension. The purpose of this study was to determine if variables such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender predict the likelihood of receiving discipline referrals or being suspended at an affiliated charter high school in the local school district. Guided by Bandura’s social lea...
Classroom Management Practices for Male African American Students with Behavioral Disorders
2015 •
Jamie Hubbard
Classroom Management Practices for Male African American Students with Behavioral Disorders
The Academic Impact of Suspension on Black Male Students in an Urban High School
2018 •
sandy hattar
The focus of this research was the academic impact of school suspension on Black male students in an urban high school. Findings for the study were derived from archival data retrieved with permission from the school district that served as the site of the study. The performance of 400 Black male students in the 2015 cohort of eight high schools on the New York State Algebra Regents exam was analyzed to determine whether suspension from school affected achievement as measured by the passing score on an exam which determined successful high school completion and academic success. The implications of these findings for Black males, both socially and economically, as compared to their White and Hispanic counterparts, as well as Black females are discussed. Research suggests that the policies that limit educational opportunities for Black males decrease the probability of their employment prospects, while increasing the need for welfare services, the future rate of incarceration in pris...
Shaping Classrooms, Placing Students: Contextual and Intersectional Factors in the [Racial] Discipline Gap
2017 •
Kristine Massey
This multiple case study examined classroom discipline in the context of teachers’ understandings of power, their interactions and relationships with students, and their decision-making about curriculum and pedagogy. This work was grounded within the literature on the discipline gap—or the disproportionate rate at which students of color are punished more frequently and more severely than their White peers. While there is a wealth of quantitative literature discussing the discipline gap, such investigations are limited to an analysis of the disciplinary actions that are assigned to student behaviors after they have already occurred. As such, there are relatively few qualitative investigations that examine the precursors to the very disciplinary actions that quantitative studies are dependent upon. Guided by theoretical examinations of power, intersectionality, and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, this study sought to investigate the discipline gap through the following questions: 1) How do teachers at an urban public high school who work effectively with students of color understand and employ the concept of power in their classroom interactions with students?; and 2) What interpersonal and pedagogical decisions do these teachers make in the context of classroom discipline? This study included classroom observations, artifact analyses, and semi-structured interviews with teachers and students at two diverse, urban public high schools. While the school-sites and classrooms were distinct from each other in several ways, findings showed that teachers’ approaches to discipline, curriculum, and pedagogy, as well as their interactions with students, were dependent upon their conceptualizations of the sociocultural factors of race, culture, socioeconomic status, gender, and language. Furthermore, their understandings of—and resulting practices regarding—the aforementioned sociocultural factors were dependent upon teachers’ own explicit and implicit cultural values and norms. This research contributes to the literature on the discipline gap by offering insight to potential contextual factors that impact student-teacher relationships and disciplinary structures within classrooms.
NASSP Bulletin
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Exclusionary School Discipline: Implications for Administrators Leading Discipline Reform Efforts
2018 •
Pamela Fenning
School discipline and school safety are primary areas of concern for school administrators. This article summarizes the research literature regarding suspension in response to nonviolent and subjective offenses for racial/ethnic minorities. Steps that administrators can follow in applying a root cause analysis with a focus on school practices are provided. The following three areas of professional development and teacher support are offered to facilitate changes in school practices: (1) implicit bias, (2) empathy training, and (3) classroom consultation/teacher supports.
How does Disproportionality in Discipline Manifest in Rural Schools in Southeast Arkansas?
2020 •
Julie Workman
African American students are disciplined in schools at disproportionately higher rates than White students. This trend was first reported in 1975 in a report by the Children’s Defense Fund and since that time, has been highly studied. However, most research has been conducted in urban or suburban schools, with less known about disproportionate discipline in rural schools. This study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to explore disproportionate discipline between African American and White students in five rural schools located in Southeast Arkansas. The research questions were as follows: (1) How is discipline disproportionality perceived in specific rural schools from the principal’s perspective? and (2) What factors are most influential in explaining discipline disproportionality in specific rural schools from the principal’s perspective? Quantitative data consisting of discipline infractions and actions for the 2017-2018 school year were first collected a...
Handbook of Social Justice Interventions in Education
From Zero Tolerance Policies to Restorative Practices
Zorka Karanxha
