Purpose: Racial inequality in school discipline is an important challenge facing educational stakeholders. There is little research on how educators exercise discretion in navigating the disciplinary process from perceived misbehavior to disciplinary consequences. Research Methods/Approach: This study draws primarily on semistructured interviews…

To combat high suspension rates and rising discipline issues amongst students in public schools, many educational organizations have implemented restorative practices in classrooms. Restorative practices (RP) offer educators the opportunity to create a stronger sense of community with students in the classroom as well as develop a curriculum that…

Challenging student behavior is a concern for teachers and administrators across the United States, and the situation in West Virginia is no different. In response to these behaviors, principals often use an exclusionary approach to discipline, including detentions, suspensions, and expulsions. While research indicates a functional approach to…

The education field has long wrestled with how to best handle students who behave badly. Specifically, students who behave in an unsafe manner towards other students present a special conundrum and the traditional response has been to suspend them (Adams, 2000; Black, 2016; Cerrone, 1999; Fabelo et al., 2011; Rumberger et al.,2016). The purpose of…

Teachers' sensemaking of student behavior determines whether students get in trouble and are formally disciplined. Status categories, such as race, can influence perceptions of student culpability, but the degree to which teachers' initial identification of student misbehavior exacerbates racial disproportionality in discipline receipt is unknown.…

Student behavior is one of the top concerns for classroom teachers (Freiberg & Reyes, 2008). Student discipline has been a historic problem for teachers and schools alike. Students who misbehave tend to obstruct learning outcomes for students and negatively impact the efficacy and well-being of teachers (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy,…

We hope this report will help to renew attention to the problem of excessive discipline. In keeping with this aim, we compare the projected full-year suspension rate for 2019-2020 to rates from prior years. We provide these projected suspension rates for the overall student population in California, and for every racial/ethnic subgroup at the…