The current policy terrain is primed for schools to absorb new discipline strategies and address bias-based beliefs. Over the past 10 years, numerous policy changes regarding discipline have emerged at the federal and state levels. I argue these policy shifts, primarily at the state level, are using two of four value levers (quality, efficiency,…

This paper presents the appendices included in the "Good Discipline: Legislation for Education Reform" report. Appended are: (1) Federal Data Requirements; (2) Maryland State Law Requiring Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support Program when suspension rates exceed a certain level; (3) The Act's provisions focused on training and…

In its August 2009 decision in "Atanya C. v. Dorchester County Board of Education", MSBE Op. No. 09-26, the Maryland State Board of Education expressed concerns about the lack of educational services to students who are placed on long-term suspension or expelled. The State Board committed to a comprehensive review of the issue including:…

This brief is a companion to the policy brief entitled, "Discipline Policies, Successful Schools and Racial Justice," which reviewed the research on disciplinary exclusion from school and made several recommendations, including the following three for seeking policy change through legislation: (1) Federal and state policy should require…

States, districts and schools are now being offered unprecedented opportunities to develop programs that will improve student performance and turn around underperforming schools. An understanding of how reducing chronic early absence helps those efforts will go a long way to assure that innovative school improvement policies and practices will be…

In response to the ultimate goal of teaching Maryland students to recognize, relate, assimilate, and apply character and citizenship values, the Maryland Commission Report defines, examines, and recommends suggested objectives to improve and guide the values education program in Maryland. Chapter 1 discusses the role of the principal and offers…