Education is widely seen as a force for good, associated with hope and optimism about better individual and social futures. By contrast, and controversially, this paper argues that education and education policy in recent decades has been far from benign, as evidenced in the growing alienation of significant numbers of teachers and students and,…

This study sought to understand how state-level policies inform and promote the implementation of restorative justice in education (RJE). A content analysis of 60 laws revealed that definitions, structures, and supports varied greatly, causing us to question whether policies support a systematic implementation of RJE and how policies can prevent…

Research using school discipline and infraction data has contributed to public policy conversations by helping elucidate the effects of and disproportionate experience of school disciplinary outcomes. This research brief presents results from an analysis of the public availability of such data from state departments of education. Findings suggest…

This study examines the impact of statewide Restorative Justice (RJ) policy reforms in Michigan and Texas on student disciplinary outcomes and behavior, in light of increasing concerns over the negative effects of zero-tolerance policies. As schools move away from exclusionary discipline practices, this research focuses on three primary questions:…

Recent studies note how the US school reform movement is premised on a policy-making agenda that aims to redress what it sees as the complacent approach of educators who have, as reformers suggest, made poverty an excuse for low achievement levels in economically disadvantaged schools. An increasingly significant pedagogical approach employed to…

African American students have been historically targeted for exclusionary discipline practices and as a result have had severely impacted by the amount of missed instruction. Zero tolerance policies have curated the phenomenon known as the School to Prison Pipeline which has disproportionately criminalized student behaviors and funneled them into…

This article presents an analysis of various language policy mechanisms currently circulating in secondary schools in England, with a particular focus on those that intermingle 'language', 'standard English' and 'discipline'. Although the connections between language, ideology and behaviour are well established within critical educational…

The present study assessed teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness and equitability of, and policy alternatives to, zero tolerance policies, as well as how teachers perceived the consideration of higher levels of governance to implement their recommendations regarding policy alternatives. This study used a research design of a case study, which…

This article examines the juridification of education in Sweden with a particular focus on changes in the legal regulation of schools' measures to combat degrading treatment. In Swedish schools, any degrading treatment must be reported to the head teacher who, in turn, has an obligation to report it to the governing body. Based on interviews with…

Students with disabilities (SWDs) in U.S. public schools face unique challenges that profoundly shape their educational experiences and transition into adulthood, such as lower academic achievement and higher rates of exclusionary discipline and juvenile justice involvement. These disparities have far-reaching implications, impacting high school…

The 2021 LDOE report emphasized out-of-school suspensions and expulsions as a key concern in student well-being. It revealed that Louisiana students missed 30,259 days of instruction due to suspensions, equivalent to 180,000 hours or 168 school years of lost learning. The report provided a list of 41 offenses, with instigating/participating in…

Background/Context: Embedded in "common sense" and state-mandated reforms to close "the achievement gap," the urban school, especially those sites with a no-excuses orientation to learning, can produce and reproduce the carceral state in students' lives. The seemingly innocuous policies and processes limit access to educational…

The school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) describes in shorthand the problematic relationship between some students' school experiences and their subsequent incarceration. One summer, in response to vocal concerned parents, a suburban school board adopted a zero-tolerance policy for smoking and vaping. Through the combined effects of the zero-tolerance…

School-based equity leadership is written into policy in Oregon at the state level in the form of the Oregon Equity Lens, the administrator standards, and the Oregon Integrated Systems framework for school and district improvement plans. Educational equity policies have also been adopted by more than two dozen local school boards. However, these…

Exclusionary discipline -- suspensions or expulsions that remove students from the learning environment -- can have long-lasting, negative impacts on a student's trajectory. Research suggests that students who are suspended or expelled suffer academically and are more likely to drop out and be involved in the criminal justice system later in life.…