Schools and districts have long grappled with race- and disability-based exclusionary discipline inequities. Research on the topic has uncovered a variety of systems that maintain such disparities, including school policies and practices that exacerbate the problem. Researchers and practitioners have increasingly considered school context and…

In the United States, students with disabilities are disproportionately exposed to exclusionary discipline. Using Intergroup Threat Theory, literature was analyzed to identify expressed perceptions from school administrators that indicated perceived threat. Analysis revealed perceived threats to administrator beliefs, values, job performance, and…

Numerous recent media accounts indicate that teachers are being fired, put on probation, or otherwise censured because of information found on their social networking sites (SNS). While the literature in business, psychology, and pharmacy shows initial investigations of the impact of SNS information on hiring decisions, this area has not been…

This qualitative case study examined the degree to which one faith-based school perceived its capacity to support students with special needs and how those perceptions influenced decisions regarding student enrollment based upon current special needs practice policies for students with disabilities. While faith-based schools can be seen as a…

According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, approximately 3 out of every 10 students in today's schools are affected as bully, victim, or both. Olweus (1993), a leading authority on bullying, defines a bully as a person who demonstrates repetitive aggressive…

Written for and by principals, the guide provides a framework for developing school policies which encourage partnership with the parents of handicapped children. The first two sections focus on the principal's role in family impact analysis and characteristics of families with handicapped children as they relate to the school. The next section…

Pete Gameros's recent study examined effective principals' roles and attitudes toward providing services to students with disabilities. As inclusive principals, study participants accepted the ownership of all students, supported inclusive placement decisions, promoted a policy specifying all school personnel's responsibility for disabled…

Several exclusionary discipline practices used with handicapped learners are described. A survey of 253 principals identified the variability of disciplinary practices, as a function of geographic region, community size, principal's sex and years of experience, grade level, differential rules for handicapped and nonhandicapped students, and types…

This guide for principals examines legal principles guiding public school administrators in their relations with students. It reviews students' rights and administrators' responsibilities in general and then addresses federal and state statutory mandates that afford additional protections to students with disabilities. The section on students'…

The purpose of this study was to assess the presence and/or implementation of Special Education activities within charter schools by questioning principals about the presence of children with disabilities in their schools, types of services provided in the charter schools, and the beliefs and attitudes of the principals regarding Special Education…