The relationship between family poverty and children's psychological distress is well-established, often assessed through income-based measures. However, a child-centric perspective is lacking, particularly regarding the roles of teacher neglect and peer bullying as potential mediators, and the impact of cultural differences. This study explores…

Threat assessment has been proposed as a method for schools to respond to student threats of violence that does not rely on exclusionary discipline practices (e.g., suspension, transfer, expulsion, arrest). The present study compared disciplinary consequences for 657 students in 260 schools using the Comprehensive Student Threat Assessment…

An exploratory analysis is conducted across 3 years on school exclusionary disciplinary practices from all 56 high schools in one district. Using geographical information systems mapping and other statistical analysis, this study analyzes how socioeconomic status, racial composition, and geographical region relate to a school's usage of…

This study presents the findings of a content analysis of 120 high school-level, written discipline policies collected from six states. Suspension was commonly offered as a response for all behaviors, including minor ones. Discipline policies varied by state in terms of the degree to which suspension was featured. Based on these findings and…

The purpose of this article is to draw on the findings of two related studies about school discipline. The first study, a national survey of school law issues, indicated that over 37% of administrators report handling discipline either frequently or daily. The results of the second study, a content analysis of 64 written codes of conduct commonly…

The No Child Left Behind Act requires state boards of education to identify schools that are unsafe. Schools that are identified by measures such as suspension and expulsion rates are subsequently labeled "persistently dangerous." To our knowledge there is no published research that attempts to characterize fighting behavior among youths…

Perhaps the most "naturally occurring" data on school misbehavior and aggression are school discipline data, including office referrals, suspensions, and expulsion data. These data constitute the most common markers of school discipline status available on school campuses. There is, however, very little information available in professional or…

This study looks at existing aspects of written school violence policies (Codes of Student Conduct) across large, mid-size, and small school districts in Florida. The aim was to provide a clearer picture of how weapons are defined, and the consequences of their possession, use, or display. Two research areas were addressed: (1) What constitutes a…

The purpose of this article is to advocate for proactive content in discipline codes of conduct. Proactive discipline codes integrate Positive Behavior Support (PBS) strategies (Sugai & Horner, 2002) and attend to the academic needs of students (McEvoy & Welker, 2000). Proactive discipline codes of conduct have meaningful participation by key…