Nationally, educators suspend Black students at greater rates than any other group (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2016). This disproportionality is fueled by stereotypes casting Black students as "troublemakers" (Okonofua, Walton, & Eberhardt, 2016)--a label the students too often internalize as part of their…

The public debate over discipline policy remains depressingly polarized and simplistic. Advocates of reform argue that suspensions and other forms of exclusionary discipline are associated with negative outcomes, including higher rates of criminal justice involvement--and that they are implemented unfairly. In contrast, skeptics argue that we must…

School climate is widely recognized as an important influence on peer victimization in schools. The purpose of this study is to examine how authoritative school climate theory provides a framework for conceptualizing 2 key features of school climate--disciplinary structure and student support--that are associated with 3 measures of peer…

The purpose of this study was to determine if seventh through twelfth grade educators' attitudes towards School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) are affected based on their gender, years of experience, school discipline policy, leadership style, and knowledge of SWPBS. Through an online survey, an analysis of the leadership style and…

Disciplinary alternative schools have a reputation as gateways to the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The authors conducted an evaluation of an intervention (Strategies for Success) designed to divert seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade alternative school students from this gateway. They used propensity score matching and a multivariate…

Long-term suspended (LTS) students are barred from the school system for lengthy periods, leaving them at risk of academic failure and vulnerable from lack of services. A program in a North Carolina public school system provided counselors to work with each LTS student. Outcome data were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of counseling…

Research suggests positive interaction between students and teachers is a hallmark of a safe and effective school. Yet to date there is no literature presenting findings or case examples of what constitutes positive engagement or how to measure its frequency. This paper shares observations of a "model" rural middle school in an attempt…