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…

Violence by K-12 students is disturbingly common. Ensuring that schools have effective ways to identify and prevent such incidents is becoming increasingly important. Various concerning behaviors or disturbing communications, including direct threats, can precede acts of violence. Although removing every student exhibiting such behaviors might…

In this brief, we outline the five components of the ISLA model, as well as steps that school and district teams can take to begin implementing these practices within their positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework. Key Takeaways: (1) The ISLA model was created to support teachers, staff, and students by focusing on…

This study examined the impact of a classroom-level component of The Inclusive Skill-building Learning Approach (ISLA), an instructional and restorative alternative to exclusionary discipline, on student behaviors and school discipline practices in middle schools. Intervention implementation, classroom observations, and all other data collection…

National policies have targeted widespread exclusionary discipline in schools which is associated with negative academic outcomes. Principals play an important role in making disciplinary decisions, yet little is understood about how their mindsets might impact these decisions. We hypothesized that principals' mindsets regarding the purpose of…

This study examined the impact of a classroom-level component of The Inclusive Skill-building Learning Approach (ISLA), an instructional and restorative alternative to exclusionary discipline, on student behaviors and school discipline practices in middle schools. Intervention implementation, classroom observations, and all other data collection…

Amid a proliferation of highly potent opioids, school systems have sought to invest in programs for preventing substance misuse. School teams often prioritize early screening and intervention to prevent student substance misuse; however, given the limited resources of many schools, it is crucial to understand the extent to which commonly available…

This qualitative study used BlackCrit theory to elucidate how white supremacist thinking plays out in Black teachers' perceptions of and practices with students with chronic disciplinary patterns. Black teachers' perceptions of Black students are critical to understand because Black students experience disciplinary actions, classroom push-outs,…

Exclusionary discipline practices routinely exclude students from the academic environment through means such as office discipline referrals, suspension, and expulsion. These strategies, in turn, initiate student involvement in the School to Prison Pipeline (STPP). This form of discipline also affects minoritized students disproportionately.…

The aim of this study is to determine the effective strategies for managing disruptive behaviors in a classroom-based on the opinions of teachers. In the present study, the qualitative case study methodology was used. The study was conducted with the participation of 19 female, 16 male teachers working at 7 different types of high schools…

Background: Positive behavioural interventions and supports (PBIS) is a framework that aligns with the South African Department of Education's Alternatives to Corporal Punishment. Aim: The aim of this study is to provide a snapshot of the extent to which policies and practices in a disadvantaged South African primary school align with PBIS.…

Exclusionary discipline practices (EDPs) have been linked to poor academic performance and student dropout rates. Research shows that students suspended, expelled, or placed in alternate learning environments fare worse academically than their peers. This qualitative case study explores the experiences of classroom teachers in Northwest Louisiana…

School resource officers' (SROs) presence (e.g., engagement in patrol, carrying firearms, etc.) and prevention (e.g., mentoring, teaching) roles have not been distinguished in investigations of SROs' association with student outcomes. A model predicting nonviolent incidents and serious violent incidents reported to police from SRO presence and…

Threat assessment is a violence prevention strategy used to investigate and respond to threats to harm others. In 2013, Virginia mandated the use of threat assessment teams for threats to self and to others, effectively subsuming suicide assessment with threat assessment and raising questions about the distinction between the two practices. In a…

Restraint and seclusion are crisis or emergency responses, which should only be used in extreme situations (e.g., a student engaging in repeated forceful physical aggression toward self or others) when risk of serious and imminent physical harm or injury is high and when an emergency response may reduce that risk. Restraint and seclusion are not…