Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support (MO SW-PBS), with support from the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), has provided training and support to build local capacity and positively impact student outcomes. Numerous years of descriptive data and a recent peer-reviewed research article both show the effects of…

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…

Community School 53 has seen a significant increase in suspension rates over the past five years. The suspension rate in 2018-2019 was 5.04%; during the 2019-2020 school year the rate was 8.11%. There is no data from the school year 2020-2021 due to COVID-19. The suspension rate rose drastically in 2021-2022 to 18.10%, and it was at 17.62% for the…

This report investigates the implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on school discipline. It highlights the challenges faced by educators, including increased student problem behaviors due to disruptions in traditional schooling. The study evaluates how different tiers of…

I examine the effect of out-of-school suspensions (OSS) on attendance in a large midwestern urban district with high rates of chronic absenteeism. I do so from an ecological perspective and using daily attendance and discipline data. Out-of-school suspension has a modest and persistent negative effect on subsequent attendance, particularly for…

The negative outcomes of exclusionary discipline practices on children and youth are well established. Fortunately, for the past two decades, research has demonstrated that pro-active instructional approaches and building supportive class and school environments can effectively promote student social, emotional, and behavioral well-being,…

This study examines whether Positive Behavior Interventions can support student performance in schools in three Southern districts. Schools today seek opportunities for interventions to support student behaviors and increase engagement. Three school districts in the southeast of the United States have been trained to implement a schoolwide…

Students with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties (SEBD) often struggle in traditional classroom settings. Outdoor adventure education programs have been proposed as an alternative approach to support these students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of developing and implementing an outdoor adventure education…

Disproportionate rates of behavioral problem reporting and consequences for African American males have occurred for decades. With the consequences surrounding problem behaviors typically removing the student from the classroom, whether to the principal's office or for an in-school or out-of-school suspension, time spent in the classroom for…

Due to the impacts of overrepresentation of historically marginalized middle school student suspensions on the prison pipeline, there is urgency in addressing disproportionality in suspensions in school districts nationwide. Although Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) models have shown an…

Zero-tolerance in school disciplinary procedures impacts or contributes to the nationwide school-to-prison pipeline (STPP). According to the American Bar, school prison incarceration rates in the United States (U.S.) have been correlated to the excessive practices of school disciplinary policies. The U.S. incarcerates more citizens than any other…

This study tests the impact of adding Restorative Practices within secondary schools implementing the Diplomas Now turnaround model in 8 large U.S. urban districts on: (a) the severity of disciplinary problems in these schools, (b) the probability that students would be suspended three days or more during the school year, and (c) the chronic…

This mixed-methods study sought to determine the effectiveness of assessment hubs in re-integrating children at risk of school exclusion into mainstream school. First, the assessment hubs provided attendance and exclusion data for 39 children who attended the hubs (KS2, n = 11 and KS3, n = 28) between January 2020 and January 2022. Second, 23…

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…

School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is a tiered framework that supports the academic, social, and behavioral needs of students. In this study, we conducted a conceptual replication of Grasley-Boy et al. (2022a) and used a series of two-level linear multilevel analyses to examine the impact of SWPBIS fidelity on 10…