Concerned with organizational approaches to student behavior, this paper first describes the key elements of organizational structure and leadership. These include articulation of organizational goals, such as ensuring an orderly environment conducive to learning and cultivating responsible student behavior and good character. The school's control…

A total of 903 seventh grade students in Detroit, Michigan responded to a questionnaire that was designed to measure the impact of the city's desegregation plan on their attitudes. The questionnaire focused on several areas including educational aspirations, student racial relations, attitudes toward race, and school conditions which affect…

Analyzing the serious discipline problems existing in inner-city secondary schools plus teacher and administrator perceptions of it, the author tells educators that they cannot expect to alter the home/school socioeconomic clash which generates the problem, but they can create a positive learning climate which will raise student achievement. (SJL)

Comparative data from three middle schools, all in one large urban school district in the Pacific Northwest, are used to identify criteria for evaluating student discipline policies and to generate theoretical statements of how school administration affects student behavior. An introduction summarizes the study's goals and assumptions and…

This paper describes the presentations made at a symposium of behavioral scientists conducting research on school disorder and delinquency prevention. The application of a climate assessment battery in organizational development and the evaluation of disciplinary programs in schools is described. The "Effective Schools Battery" (ESB)…

Reporting on a study designed to evaluate West Court High School (WCHS, a pseudonym) in Louisiana, this document discusses quantiative and qualitative aspects of the study; the development of interview protocols for the administrators, teachers, students, and parents who participated; and the sociograms developed to assess the interaction patterns…

Reviews research on the relationship between school order and academic achievement. Emphasizes the need to distinguish between order that is the product of coercion, and order that is the product of self-discipline. (FMW)

This theme issue focuses on programs and strategies aimed at developing crime-free, nonviolent, drug-free schools. "Alternative Education Programs: Resolution or Exclusion?" (Albert Cortez) describes alternative education programs mandated by Texas state legislation for serious student offenders, and related issues of assessment, due…

A short-term longitudinal study investigated theoretical perspectives on friends' influences and compared the influence of a student's closest friend with that of several close friends. Participants were 297 seventh and eighth graders in junior high schools in small towns or rural areas adjacent to a medium-sized city. Measures obtained in the…

Recent research is beginning to shed some light on the nature and extent of violence and crime in American schools, the role that schools themselves play in producing, aggravating, or reducing school crime, and how changes in the schools can remedy social control problems. Data from these studies indicate that: (1) despite public opinion, school…

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter, by utilizing ethnographic data, develops an understanding of the interrelationships among administrative styles, deterrence, commitment, and disruption. The effect of change in administrative styles on the character of order and disruption in a desegregated…

Boston Pilot Schools were created in 1994 to promote increased choice options within the school district. Unlike most urban public schools, the Pilot Schools have control over budget, staffing, curriculum, governance, and time, though they continue to operate within the Boston Public Schools. This report examines quantitative indicators of Boston…

There remains a focus on how schools provide support to students with behavioral problems who require special education services. Previous researchers and practitioners have used office discipline referrals to identify needs and strengths, and to evaluate the effectiveness of school-wide discipline efforts. This article extends the use of office…

The 15 chapters of this handbook for teachers and administrators draw together the results of discipline research and a number of successful programs and policies from around the country. Chapter 1 considers curriculum deficiencies, family problems, and diet as causes of disruptive behavior. The second chapter describes the characteristics of…

This paper uses a national survey of secondary schools to examine the relation between size and orderliness in secondary schools and to test alternative theories linking school disorder to school size. Manning theory and social control theory, taken together, predict that larger schools will experience more disruption because a smaller proportion…