In this article Matthew B. Kautz theorizes schools as unique carceral institutions with the capacities to criminalize, surveil, discipline, and punish and demonstrates how they have mobilized these unique abilities to establish social control. By tracing the development of school disciplinary policy and practice following "Brown v. Board of…

At least 37 states and the District of Columbia outline alternatives to suspension/expulsion or non-punitive supports that are either available or encouraged. Commonly cited approaches include community service, conflict resolution, counseling, peer mediation, positive behavioral interventions, restitution and restorative justice. This data point…

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study was to analyze the perspectives of educators who are also parents of public-school children regarding the effectiveness of the implementation of punitive, exclusionary and restorative discipline practices within low-income urban elementary schools. The guided protocol questions in…

Research demonstrates harmful effects of disparate discipline practices on outcomes for students of color. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR), under the Obama administration, significantly increased investigations under the mandate of Title VI. In this study, we examine OCR's investigation of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) to establish the…

Exclusionary discipline is used in public schools across the United States. Schools are using suspension and expulsion to punish students for wrongdoing. Removing students from their learning environment has proved detrimental. Moreover, there are racial disparities among the students being subjected to exclusionary discipline. There are…

School safety and security strategies is a generic qualitative study that seeks to comprehend school safety and disciplinary strategies through the perspectives and opinions of teachers and principals. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the strategies used in secondary inner-city schools to regulate student discipline…

The implementation of zero-tolerance policies in the educational system has laid the foundations for the criminalization of minority youth and the school-to-prison pipeline (Mora & Christianakis, 2013). In 2015, the passage of Every Student Succeeds Act sought to decrease the schools-to-prison pipeline and minimize discipline and achievement…

Seclusion and restraint are aversive behavioral practices used in schools for control and punishment. The practices were first used in psychiatric hospitals as a means of control over patients. Eventually, the practices began being used in schools alongside other aversive and exclusionary discipline practices, including corporal punishment,…

Mirroring trends in the legal system, discipline within education has adopted zero-tolerance policies in an attempt to curb undesired behaviors in school. K-12 schools have expanded the use of exclusionary discipline policies for lesser offenses, giving way to the phenomenon known as the school-to-prison-pipeline (STPP), which disproportionately…

High school administrators in the Carter School District (CSD) are aware of the negative impact exclusionary discipline has on students, but they exclude students anyway. This study used qualitative methods to answer the following research questions: How do high school administrators in CSD describe and explain their discipline decision-making?…

Traditionally, many schools have utilized punitive, zero tolerance policies when addressing student discipline. Critics of zero tolerance policies argue that not only are they ineffective in reducing incidents of student misconduct, but also this type of punishment, such as expulsions and suspensions, often excludes students, disconnecting them…

Positive and effective school discipline is critical to promoting students' successful learning and well-being. This guidance from National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) provides an evidence-based framework for effective school discipline policies and practices that: (1) promote a positive school climate; (2) reinforce positive and…

This study's purpose is to investigate the expansion of social control efforts in American elementary and secondary school settings, particularly the use of zero-tolerance policies. These policies entail automatic punishments, such as suspensions, expulsions, and referrals to the juvenile and criminal justice systems for a host of school-based…

In discussing school discipline, the place to begin is by considering whether detention, suspension, and expulsion help students and resolve discipline problems. Detention seems to be most effective when the student is detained on the same day and as close as possible to the time the offense occurs, but too often detention is used merely as a…

To facilitate the learning process, each school's staff must be empowered to maintain strong, consistent discipline; however, school discipline maintenance is also a total community responsibility. Whenever possible, teachers should solicit parental assistance in correcting discipline problems. Fort Wayne Community School Employees or other adults…