School leaders play an important role in implementing social emotional learning (SEL) and equitable discipline practices. A Northeastern United States school district initiated the use of SEL programs districtwide to reduce suspensions, and no follow-up has been conducted to explore how school principals adapted implementation to correspond with…

Punitive disciplinary approaches have been used for decades in primary grades with little improvement in behavior and negative impacts on classroom climate. This qualitative case study explored the perspectives of administrators and educators implementing restorative practice (RP) with fidelity in the primary grades of urban public elementary…

Student conduct administrators are charged with crafting and enforcing an institution's code of conduct equitably for all students. Few administrators are in a position to disrupt or end a student's college career. Public institutions' administrators function as state actors and must uphold the student rights protected in the landmark 1961 Dixon…

During the 2011-2012 school year, the U.S. Department of Education reported that kids with disabilities accounted for three-quarters of those who were physically restrained, and 58% of these students were placed in seclusion or some other form of involuntary confinement at schools across the country (U.S. Department of Education, 2017). Students…

At the time I conducted this research study, the Puerto Rico public school system did not include an AP position in their school leadership structure. Using quantitative descriptive statistics research, I conducted this study to assess the knowledge and perceptions of PR school principals regarding adding an assistant principal (AP) position into…

Exclusionary discipline like a Discipline Alternative Education Program (DAEP) has not decreased student discipline referrals. Instead, economically disadvantaged students are often disproportionally assigned exclusionary discipline consequences, and often the impact of these consequences are overlooked (Anderson & Ritter, 2017; Moore et al.,…

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,…

The 2021 LDOE report emphasized out-of-school suspensions and expulsions as a key concern in student well-being. It revealed that Louisiana students missed 30,259 days of instruction due to suspensions, equivalent to 180,000 hours or 168 school years of lost learning. The report provided a list of 41 offenses, with instigating/participating in…

Teachers at St. Scholastica School, a pseudonym, an all-girls Catholic high school, varied in approaches to discipline creating an unequal distribution of student citations and negatively impacting student experience. An Improvement Science approach identified two potential drivers of change: inconsistency in disciplinary policy and variation in…

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), the process of developing and utilizing interpersonal skills for everyday life, has become a primary vehicle for structuring students' social and emotional health in the United States and across the world. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of understanding SEL practices, is increasingly at the…

As school systems across the United States seek to address school behavior and examine ways to decrease suspension rates, school administrators face challenges that revolve around maintaining a safe learning environment that fosters a positive school climate while facilitating a balanced approach to discipline and relationship building with…

The purpose of this qualitative, narrative research study was to examine the perceptions of school social workers and their ability to serve as transformative Social Emotional Learning (SEL) leaders in public school settings. The study is significant because there is limited existing research from the perspective of a school social worker. The…

Students who display problematic behavior in schools are subject to punitive disciplinary responses, such as detention and suspension, which typically lead to more serious academic and behavioral difficulties. There is evidence that alternative responses to problematic behavior, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and mindfulness…

Beginning in the early 1990s, many school districts began to implement zero-tolerance discipline policies that relied heavily on the use of suspensions. As a result, the number of students removed from the classroom and the school environment has dramatically increased over the past 30 years. To increase school safety and combat the rise of school…

Many school leaders with decision-making authority over discipline have been historically traditional in their approach to misbehavior with the default consequences involving classroom removals and the wide-spread use of zero-tolerance policies (Skiba et al., 2014; Skiba, 2015). Unintended negative consequences have emerged as a result of these…