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…

The purpose of this study was to explore the alternative education placement characteristics in the state of Arkansas and the demographics of the students placed in ALE. There are eleven characteristics of which two are required to be present in a student profile in order for a student to be placed in alternative education in Arkansas. This…

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,…

Schools utilize a range of consequences to maintain order and safety. Some employ zero-tolerance policies accompanied by exclusionary tactics like suspension (Martinez, 2009; Muschert et al., 2014). Suspensions are criticized for their disproportionate assignment to students who are Black, male, assigned an IEP, and receiving lunch assistance…

While research consistently finds that increases in a school's SRO/police presence correspond with increases in the rate of school referrals of student disciplinary incidents to law enforcement agencies, direct evidence of distributional concerns across various student subgroups is scant. Drawing on data from the 2017-2018 School Survey on Crime…

Post-pandemic data demonstrate that there has been an increase in student mental health and behavioral needs, and these changes have a significant effect on the culture and climate of schools. School administrators have traditionally relied on suspension to address challenging behaviors, yet this approach has not been shown to be effective. While…

This study explores trends and disparities in school discipline during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the persistence of racial gaps in exclusionary practices. Using student-level data from Arkansas from 2017/18 to 2022/23, we study how disciplinary outcomes relate to student race while controlling for factors such as the type and frequency of…

Threat assessment involves evaluating and intervening with individuals who make threats of violence. This study examined the resulting actions and outcomes of threat assessment cases in three Colorado school districts. A particular focus of the study was on potential disparities. The sample consisted of 253 threat assessment cases reported by…

The primary goal of the present mixed methods review is to systematically examine the available evidence for the effectiveness of different types of school-based interventions for reducing disciplinary school exclusion. Quantitative evidence will help to understand the overall size of the impact, as well as the factors that better explain it.…

School administrators are responsible for the safety and physical well-being of the students. Although school disciplinary policies are in place, there is a problem with school administrators' practices and decisions when administering discipline for students' inappropriate behavior. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to explore the…

This quantitative study examined the influence of the Latinx cultural value of "educación" on high school students' disciplinary behavior and its relationship to college degree expectations and academic achievement. Because student misbehavior is often identified as one factor that may contribute to low academic achievement, the study…

Teacher attrition is a topic that while researched in abundance, still plagues our education system. Research has shown that between 40% and 50% of all teachers leave the profession within five years of entering the profession. This is not sustainable. In addition, scholars offer various suggestions about why teachers are leaving the profession.…

School discipline research has demonstrated that the labeling of student behaviors as requiring disciplinary action is a selective process in which school staff take into account other factors than the characteristics of the behaviors. We argue that school staff react in a disciplinary way to students with negative attitudes toward the educational…

The school discipline literature has expanded rapidly in recent decades, yet the conceptualization and measurement of school discipline patterns remains overlooked. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analytic framework to examine school discipline patterns that encompasses school-level metrics that capture the prevalence and disparity in…

Behavior-specific praise (BSP) is one of the simplest classroom management strategies to implement and considered an evidence-based practice. Unfortunately, teachers underuse BSP and deliver more reprimands to students in their classrooms. Secondary students receive the highest rates of reprimands and exclusionary discipline (i.e., office…