Despite impacting almost three million students annually, and disproportionately impacting Black students, little is known about district policy and central office staff in the use of in-school suspension. The purpose of this study was to understand how districts use in-school suspension over time, with attention to racial disparities,…

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…

The use of exclusionary discipline practices in schools has continued to increase since the advent of Zero Tolerance discipline policies in the 1990s. Research indicates that these practices are largely ineffective in addressing behavior, and result in detrimental outcomes for students and communities. This study focused on the use of Disciplinary…

Following a high-quality early care and pre-K experience, the kindergarten-through-third-grade years set the foundation upon which future learning builds; and strengthening this continuum creates opportunities for later success. Key components of a quality experience in K-3 include school readiness and transitions, kindergarten requirements,…

Historically, attorney representation in higher education student conduct hearings have not been prevalent. Given the greater implications of disciplinary hearings on students in contemporary society, many have argued for attorney representation to be the norm. As a result, legislatures have passed laws requiring public institutions to permit…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Strengthening School Safety." Contents include: (1) The Facts about…

Expulsion from school is the most severe form of student discipline allowed under California law. The primary facilitator of student expulsion is the school administrator. This study examined the school administrators' experiences with student expulsion, their decision-making process, and implications for bias. The study employed qualitative…

District administrators at a Midwestern K-6 school were concerned that despite a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework required by the state department of education, school leaders had continued to experience high rates of discipline referrals. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the conceptual…

Since the early 1990s, American schools adopted exclusionary sanctions such as zero-tolerance policies (ZTP) to reduce student misbehavior as well as to sustain school safety. Due to the punitive nature of ZTP, some schools have sought alternative discipline models, like the restorative practices, to manage student infraction. This mixed methods…

Teachers and administrators in an urban, suburban, and rural school district on the east coast of the United States faced challenges implementing effective discipline policy interventions to manage student misbehavior. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of educators about the challenges of implementing discipline…

The use of restorative practices to address college student behavior is a growing trend, but one about which few studies exist. While literature suggests how implementation of restorative practices can happen in the K-12 education setting, little is known about how student conduct practitioners should go about modifying their practices, policies,…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to evaluate the readiness of educators to implement classroom discipline interventions and strategies after attending an equity-based professional development (PD) and identify effective action steps that address the disparity in discipline referrals towards students of color and sanctions through…

This article is an interview with Carla Shalaby, coordinator of social justice initiatives and community internships at the University of Michigan, who advocates for a more humanizing approach to student discipline. Her research focuses on the critical role that students and teachers play in the ongoing struggle for justice. She is the author of…

The George Floyd incident caused severe anxiety in a lot of people, especially children and adults of color. These types of tragic incidents tend to happen to Black and Brown people more often than any other group. Experiencing or witnessing violent events like this can lead to trauma--and teachers must realize that the events of last year may…

Although studies on school suspensions focus on the disproportionate number of Black students receiving them, policy changes reducing suspensions offer new insights into the racial gap. Using annual school-level data from the Chicago Public Schools (2012-2016), I evaluate how a suspension reduction policy affected the number of students receiving…