This research study examined the impact of negative behavioral consequences on the academic achievement of 9th-grade students from three rural high schools in South Carolina before and after COVID-19 and by gender. The researcher used a comparative research design to examine achieved data of different genders, incidents at school, actions taken by the school for the incident, and duration of the incident related to academic achievement in mathematics. The findings of this research study were aligned with other research studies in the past. This research study showed that school discipline consequences impacted the academic achievement of 9th-grade students. Data suggested that negative behavior consequences lead to decreased academic performance, but many factors go into negative behaviors of students' control. This research study showed that high schools' actions for students' behavior not only impacted algebra scores, but COVID-19 had an impact in most cases. Lastly, this research can be used by schools and school districts as a foundation to explore their policies and practices to minimize exclusionary practices and implement policies and programs to keep students in school and improve academic performance in EOC exams. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]