The successful implementation of school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) relies greatly on staff's commitment and buy-in, as these factors directly impact the level of their involvement and engagement. As such, it is crucial to develop and use psychometrically sound tools to measure staff's supportive beliefs regarding SWPBS. In this study,…

African American students have been historically targeted for exclusionary discipline practices and as a result have had severely impacted by the amount of missed instruction. Zero tolerance policies have curated the phenomenon known as the School to Prison Pipeline which has disproportionately criminalized student behaviors and funneled them into…

Exclusionary discipline practices are frequently utilized in schools despite decades of research indicating their ineffectiveness (American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008; Losen & Skiba, 2010; Muñiz, 2021). Research shows that removing students from the classroom does not change student behavior, is administered…

The use of exclusionary discipline practices in schools has continued to increase since the advent of Zero Tolerance discipline policies in the 1990s. Research indicates that these practices are largely ineffective in addressing behavior, and result in detrimental outcomes for students and communities. This study focused on the use of Disciplinary…

At issue is the school-to-prison pipeline--a term often used to describe the connection between exclusionary punishments like suspensions and expulsions and involvement in the criminal justice system. Black and Hispanic students are far more likely than white students to be suspended or expelled, and Black and Hispanic Americans are…

This study investigated teachers' perception of their school administrators as consistent enforcers of school code-of-conduct rules, and if their rating of consistency was associated with an increase or decrease in risk ratio for African American students in middle schools in North Carolina. Findings suggest that teachers viewed their school…

This brief explores the characteristics of the high schools that newcomer students choose to attend in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Using data from the 2007-2008 through 2018-2019 school years, the study compares the high school enrollment patterns between newcomer students who attended Las Americas, a school dedicated to…

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-to-prison pipeline has been an ongoing phenomenon for many decades that disproportionately and negatively impacts students of color. Due to research suggesting school principals play a critical role in the student disciplinary decision-making process, the present study aimed to better understand how principals make discipline decisions…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that special education students receive free appropriate public education instruction in the least restrictive environment. Special education students often receive a disproportionate number of suspensions in schools. It is the disproportionate number of suspensions received by…

The purpose of this study was to explore administrators' and teachers' experiences and perceptions of how restorative practice strategies impact the execution of school discipline in an urban middle school. This study included a review of data collected from interviews with middle school administrators and teachers in a large school district. A…

We estimate the relationship between exclusionary discipline given in eighth-grade and the probability of ninth-grade retention. We use a rich 7-year, student-level, panel data set from Arkansas. We use a novel approach by limiting our sample to students who switch schools between eighth and ninth grades. This movement gives each student a fresh…

As a reviewer of middle level schools, their programs, policies, curricula, mission statements, instructional behaviors, assessment processes, and student-oriented community the author offers observations that can promote better student equity. He suggests: (1) "Producing Equity Belief Statements." Mission, Equity, or Inclusion…

Nationwide, school principals are given wide discretion to use disciplinary tools like suspension and expulsion to create a safe learning environment. There is legitimate concern that this power can have negative consequences, particularly for the students who are excluded. This study uses linked disciplinary, education, and criminal justice…

School discipline is a significant problem of practice and policy. The differences in disciplinary patterns across schooling levels have received relatively little attention. This study examines the differences in disciplinary infractions and consequences across elementary, middle, and high schools. The results illustrate there are important…