Describes a South Carolina elementary school principal's program for decreasing discipline referrals and creating a positive school environment. The Great Behavior program involves weekly drawings and prizes for well-behaved students and an end-of-school party and pie-throwing event. Following a first-year 47 percent reduction in discipline…

Schools need clear, consistent, and equitable disciplinary practices. A Louisiana parochial school developed an effective discipline policy by assembling faculty and staff into natural work teams, appointing team leaders, having each group list and classify troublesome disciplinary problems, studying the school mission statement, developing…

An inschool suspension program at a Pennsylvania school district is described. Students spend suspension time completing classroom assignments under strict teacher supervision in detention halls. (TE)

The Positive Action Plan at Jefferson (Oregon) Elementary School uses sets of rules and positive and negative consequences to encourage students to take responsibility for their own behavior. Students follow a checklist of proper behaviors to win self-management badges. A copy of the checklist is provided. (RW)

Sequoia Freshman School, a ninth-grade school in Fresno (California), has drastically reduced suspensions through a noontime in-school suspension program that helps students recognize inappropriate behavior, gives them counseling, and alerts parents or guardians to student misbehavior. A copy of the notification form is included. (Author/RW)

Describes a comprehensive staff development program designed exclusively for substitute teachers and devoted to student discipline. (MLF)

Get-tough discipline policies may contribute to student misbehavior in school. Educators may also contribute by humiliating students who fail, unnecessarily complicating discipline policies, enforcing rules arbitrarily and inconsistently, punishing unfairly, or using double standards for teachers and students. The best discipline programs are…

The DeKalb County (Georgia) School System has reduced the number of gun-toting students by over 65% by piecing together a program combining education, community involvement, mandatory expulsion, and video technology. Kids do their part by learning the school's discipline policy, discussing nonviolent alternatives, and carrying clear bookbags. (MLH)

Administrators need to document all events connected with disciplinary action, including dates and descriptions of the incidents and of actions taken. These records, signed statements from witnesses and others involved, and references to applicable board policies or state statutes serve as crucial documentation in case of a formal court hearing.…

A three-step plan to improve attendance at Aurora Central High School, Colorado, has successfully reduced truancies to less than 1.25 percent. Students with exemplary attendance are exempt from taking final exams; chronic truants are suspended; and all students are required to do makeup work for all absences. (MLF)

A Georgia school district standardized discipline procedures, codified offenses, and published the results in booklet form. A clear hierarchy of offenses specifies problems to be handled at the local school, at formal hearings, or at a special disciplinary committee. Students know what to expect, and administrators know how to proceed. (MLF)

A Spanish teacher successfully sued a student she claimed terrorized her, after school administrators ignored her complaints. Nearly 11% of teachers experience verbal and physical abuse by students. Although some states are stiffening penalties against violent students, educators' best recourse is to publicize the problem, devise policies, and…

An assistant principal in charge of student discipline cites the importance of developing teamwork among staff members; ensuring adult supervision of the school; and developing a disciplinary approach that emphasizes student responsibility and the faculty's concern for students. (MLF)

Ruben Perez, former assistant principal at Horace Mann Middle School in North Denver, achieved folk-hero status when he suspended 97 disruptive students on a single day. The school board reprimanded Perez for deviating from district discipline policy and transferred him to another middle school. Supported by disgruntled teachers, Perez is suing…

The disciplinary policy at Chapelle Elementary School in Ypsilanti (Michigan), developed with staff participation, classifies some student behavior as "unacceptable" or "inappropriate." Either behavior requires the teacher to fill out a pink slip and send it with the student to the principal's office, but only unacceptable…