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This Information Hub outlines the problem of school climate and highlights evidence-based solutions and alternatives to punitive practices embedded in traditional school discipline systems that create immeasurable harms. The resources are divided into three sections: research, policy, and practice. Make sure to expand the list at the bottom of each section to access all of the resources.
This Information Hub only includes resources that are freely available online (not behind paywalls) so our network can easily access the full articles and information.
Top 5 Data Points
- Eliminating School Discipline Disparities: What We Know and Don’t Know About the Effectiveness of Alternatives to Suspension and Expulsion: “Research on school discipline disparities has demonstrated three key trends across the country: [1] Black students are more likely than White students to be referred for disciplinary action for subjective infractions such as disruption or defiance compared to objective infractions such as tardiness or truancy. [2] Black students are more likely than White students to receive harsher consequences for disciplinary infractions, even when committing similar offenses. [3] Discipline disparities are driven by classroom teachers’ decisions to refer a student for disciplinary action and by school administrators’ decisions in response to those referrals. Racial stereotyping can influence these referrals.” (internal citations omitted)
- An Overview of Exclusionary Discipline Practices in Public Schools for the 2017-18 School Year: “Black girls received in-school suspensions (11.2%) and out-of-school suspensions (13.3%) at rates almost two times their share of total student enrollment (7.4%)…Black boys received both in-school suspensions (20.1%) and out-of-school suspensions (24.9%) suspensions at rates more than three times their share of total student enrollment (7.7%)—the largest disparity across all race/ethnicity and sex groupings.” (p.17)
- An Overview of Exclusionary Discipline Practices in Public Schools for the 2017-18 School Year: “Students with disabilities served under IDEA represented 13.2% of total student enrollment but received 20.5% of one or more in-school suspensions and 24.5% of one or more out-of school suspensions.” (p.18)
- Can Restorative Practices Improve School Climate and Curb Suspensions? An Evaluation of the Impact of Restorative Practices in a Mid-Sized Urban School District: “This study of the implementation of restorative practices in the Pittsburgh Public Schools district (PPS) in school years 2015–16 and 2016–17…found that [program implementation] achieved several positive effects, including an improvement in overall school climates (as rated by teachers), a reduction in overall suspension rates, and a reduction in the disparities in suspension rates between African American and white students and between low- and higher-income students.”
- Bringing Evidence-Based Decision-Making to School Safety: “[T]he evidence reviewed in this brief covers a broad range of studies of the effects of police presence in schools and the racial disproportionality of those effects, and of studies that provide guidance for identifying evidence-based school safety strategies.” (p.2) “Research consistently places practices to improve mental health as well as social and emotional skills at the center of evidence-based school safety interventions…. Strong information-gathering and information-sharing protocols, coupled with a culture of caring, are necessary for proactively monitoring the school climate and identifying students who need targeted mental health supports.” (p.4)
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Policy
Key Policies Driving Change
- Beyond Suspensions: Examining School Discipline Policies and Connections to the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Students of Color with Disabilities: “Use of positive behavior intervention supports, restorative justice principles, and similar disciplinary practices that support alternatives to exclusionary school discipline generally result in improved student and staff perceptions of school safety, as reflected in school climate surveys. When teachers receive training and supports to implement these practices effectively, the use of these alternatives generally result in effective classroom management.” (p.171)
- Socializing schools: Addressing racial disparities in discipline through restorative justice: This study found that “the systemic implementation of restorative justice at the school and district levels, coupled with the reform of discipline policies, can play a key role in addressing disproportionality in discipline outcomes. [Also], the positive impact of restorative practices not only addresses disproportionate discipline but also can be correlated with increased academic achievement.” (p.2)
- The Center for Civil Rights Remedies: The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at The Civil Rights Project’s website includes several reports and data analyses, culminating in policy strategies to address school discipline disparities.
- What Are the Benefits of Positive School Discipline?: “Positive School Discipline is a comprehensive approach that uses discipline to teach rather than punish and, as a result, helps students succeed and thrive in school. Schools that take this approach promote positive student behavior while preventing negative and risky behaviors. [It] is integrated into the policies, programs, and practices of a school and is applied systemwide—in the classroom, school, and community—to create a safe, supportive learning environment for all students.”
- Strategies to Support Equitable School Discipline: In this report, “Hanover Research reviews best practices in supporting student discipline and behavioral outcomes, with a focus on equity in discipline interventions.” (p.1) Recommendations include the use of positive behavioral interventions (PBIS) and social-emotional learning (SEL), while simultaneously increasing educators’ cultural awareness. Additionally, the report provides guidance on collecting and analyzing “evaluation data to support improvements in disciplinary policies.” (p.22)
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Practice
Programs Yielding Significant Results
- Taking Restorative Practices School-wide: Insights from Three Schools in Denver: “Through interviews and focus groups with staff members at three Denver schools that have successfully implemented restorative practices (RP), four essential strategies for taking this approach school-wide were identified: strong principal vision and commitment to RP; explicit efforts to generate staff buy-in to this conflict resolution approach; continuous and intensive professional development opportunities; and, the allocation of school funds for a full-time coordinator of RP at the site. Additional approaches that supported school-wide implementation of RP” are also included. (p.4)
- Preparing Schools to Meet the Needs of Students Coping with Trauma and Toxic Stress: “Whole-school social and emotional learning strategies can offer important counterbalances to the ways in which trauma undermines students’ development of self-regulation and interpersonal skills.” (p.4) “School-based supports are likely to be more effective and culturally responsive when students have a voice in decision-making. Giving students a voice in school decision-making is beneficial for their social development and educational outcomes and may lead to an improvement in school climate.” (p.6)
- Restorative Justice at Fremont High School, Oakland CA: Since implementing restorative justice practices in 2018, Fremont High School in Oakland, CA has “significantly reduced incidents that lead to suspension. Once notorious for fights, Fremont students now report that they feel safe and have trusting relationships with adults. (Developmental Relationships Survey, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21)”
- Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE): VOYCE “led successful efforts to create the nation’s most comprehensive statewide school discipline reform, SB100, ending zero tolerance at all publicly-funded schools in Illinois, placing stronger standards on the use of exclusionary discipline, ending practices such as discipline fines and counseling out, and creating a framework to enable the thoughtful expansion of restorative practices in schools. [They also] [t]ransformed the Chicago Public Schools Student Code of Conduct to end zero tolerance, create shifts away from exclusionary discipline, and promote the use of restorative practices across the District.”
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This information hub would not be possible without funding from the William T. Grant Foundation.
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