Corporal punishment (CP), or inflicting pain through spanking, hitting, and paddling, is still legally sanctioned and exercised in U.S. schools. We use critical discourse analysis and draw on state policy documents and data from the Office of Civil Rights to investigate which discourses pervade policy texts and how CP is practiced. These sources…

Student behavior is one of the top concerns for classroom teachers (Freiberg & Reyes, 2008). Student discipline has been a historic problem for teachers and schools alike. Students who misbehave tend to obstruct learning outcomes for students and negatively impact the efficacy and well-being of teachers (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy,…

We hope this report will help to renew attention to the problem of excessive discipline. In keeping with this aim, we compare the projected full-year suspension rate for 2019-2020 to rates from prior years. We provide these projected suspension rates for the overall student population in California, and for every racial/ethnic subgroup at the…

Adolescent substance misuse is a persistent concern in the USA and student substance possession on campus presents as an increasing challenge for administrators. This study seeks to understand how students are differentially disciplined for substance possession based on substance type and student race/ethnicity in US schools. Based a national…

Zero tolerance policies in urban schools increased the disparities in urban school discipline for Black youth in comparison to white youth. Restorative interventions continue to be a popular response to deviant student behaviors; however, exploring the impact of restorative interventions in reducing harsh discipline on Black youth should be a…

Recent empirical research shows that air pollution harms student test scores and attendance and increases office discipline referrals. However, the mechanism by which air pollution operates within schools to negatively affect student and teacher outcomes remains largely opaque. The existing literature has primarily focused on the effects of…

Each year, the NASP Social Justice Committee selects a theme to help focus efforts and increase awareness within the school psychology community. This year's theme is alternative education programs, which can include a wide range of placements with varied goals and purposes. Alternative programs are educational placements that serve youth whose…

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…

Research has shown that nationally, there is a difference in school discipline rates for minority students compared to White students (Anyone et.al, 2021; Wiley, 2021). Black and Brown students have higher rates of exclusionary school discipline, like in-school and out of school suspension, and receive more strict consequences for the same…

Background: Exclusionary discipline (ED) has long been an educational equity concern, but its relationship with student health and protective factors is less understood. Methods: Using population-based public school student data (N = 82,216), we examined associations between past-month ED and positive depression and anxiety screening instrument…

The use of exclusionary discipline (ExD) was compared for U.S. public pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) and K-12 grades within the same school. ExD rates were 10 times higher in K-12 than in Pre-K when calculated for all schools but ExD rates were comparable for schools that reported at least one case of ExD in Pre-K. Additionally, disparities in the use…

African-American students received a disproportionate number of exclusionary disciplinary practices in a Northeastern U.S. state compared to other ethnicities (Open Data, 2021). This parallels a national trend, regarding implementation of school disciplinary practices among Black pupils in the United States. "Although African-American…

In the state of South Carolina, African American students make up 34% of the student population but 59% of students receive out-of-school suspension. It was assumed by prior research statistics that the disproportionality of discipline produces lower academic achievement for African American students. An examination of the disproportionality of…

Despite extensive scholarly and policy attention to the phenomenon of racially disparate school discipline, its negative effect on academic achievement, and its relationship to later criminal system involvement and incarceration, little has been written about the experiences of Native youth. This article seeks to bring attention to Native youth in…

Students in the foster care system tend to have lower educational outcomes than their peers, including more frequent disciplinary events. However, few studies have explored how transitions into and out of foster care placements are associated with educational outcomes. Using longitudinal data from four California school districts, this study…