The zero tolerance policy movement across most of this country's school districts significantly limited school personnel's disciplinary alternatives for students who break rules on campus. This has resulted in millions of primary and secondary age students who have experienced suspension, arrests, and for some, expulsion. Within the student…

The purpose of this study was to determine how an urban school district's code of conduct aligned with actual school/class behaviors, and how stakeholders perceived the ability of this document to achieve its number one goal: safe and productive learning environments. Twenty participants including students, teachers, parents, and administrators…

Raises the issue of using corporal punishment in schools. Argues that corporal punishment is not necessary to maintain discipline and that the potential for abuse is enormous. (AS)

This article describes 12 major components--grouped into philosophical, organizational, and operational categories--that should be included in planning and initiating an effective school discipline system. (Author/JW)

As a result of the alarming increases in student disruption, vandalism, drug abuse, and other forms of deviant behavior, school districts are becoming increasingly aware of the complexity of the problem and the numerous deficiencies of traditional approaches. For students to achieve their maximum potential, a strong framework of behavioral…

This report, which contains information and observations gathered over a three-week period by participants in a 1981 seminar on discipline, outlines the discipline problems and policies of the Seattle Public Schools. Based on parental, staff, and student concerns that a small percentage of students are engaging in unacceptable behavior, the report…

Provides practical guidelines, prepared by the American Federation of Teachers' new Lessons for Life campaign, for developing effective school discipline policy. Classroom management, effective discipline codes and policies, and code enforcement are addressed. (GR)

All administrators and teachers face the challenge of implementing discipline procedures that are effective, particularly for special-education students. This book provides an array of practical solutions to everyday problems, primarily for use with special-education students who challenge discipline techniques. The techniques described are based…

Well-drafted codes of discipline can help to eliminate the ambiguity and arbitrariness that often have been associated with school discipline. Discipline codes should be characterized by fairness, fact-finding provisions, completeness of information, frankness, flexibility, informality, firmness, concern with disciplinary suitability,…

A questionnaire given to parents, teachers, and principals of middle-school students shows general consistency among the three groups in ranking student behavior problems--except on student use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, which is ranked high by parents but low by school authorities. (JW)

This article describes the following steps for developing and implementing system-wide behavior support: establishing a foundation for collaboration; building faculty involvement; establishing a data-based decision-making system, brainstorming and selecting strategies within an action planning process; implementing a school-wide program through an…

Discusses the pros and cons of corporal punishment in schools, presenting the views of various advocacy organizations and describing experiences of parents whose children have been paddled and of adults who had been paddled as children. (SM)

This report summarizes the findings of a survey designed to identify strategies that have been found to be successful for dealing with school disciplinary problems. Data were collected through questionnaires responded to by more than 2,000 school administrators, with supplementary data provided by interviews with 100 administrators and information…

Describes the school governance and student behavior policies at a private K-12 school in Massachusetts. Maintains that students, faculty, and staff have well-defined responsibilities. Provides recommendations for changes that would lead to enhanced student learning. (CFR)

In an increasing number of schools, programs are being designed to instill self discipline in children. Adapted forms of reality therapy, parent effectiveness training, and teacher effectiveness training are used as preventative measures in cooperative ventures by Parent Teacher Associations and school districts. (FG)