This dissertation closely examines the model of a suburban northern Delaware alternative program. The researcher determined how well this program successfully prepared 52 scholars to successfully transition forward into a comprehensive school. Each student in the study was removed from the comprehensive school and enrolled into the alternative…

"Statement of the Problem": Almost half of children in the United States have been exposed to childhood trauma (McIntosh, 2019). Discipline practices in many schools are often ineffective with and inappropriate for students who have experienced trauma. For example, students who are disciplined in traditional ways often continue to…

This dissertation contains two studies that examine family therapy services within public schools related to behavioral or discipline concerns. Both studies stem from an ecological and family systems theoretical framework in examining relationships between the student, family, and school systems. The first study is a scoping review on family…

Educators develop and implement various academic/behavioral intervention programs designed to specifically address academic shortcomings or aimed at disrupting behavioral cycles that impede success in the classroom. The purpose of this research was to identify gaps in behavioral Response to Intervention (RtI) programs and to design a RtI program…

Research indicates that Response to Intervention (RTI) increases student achievement and significantly improves student academic and behavioral outcomes. RTI has demonstrated significant student gains in the elementary setting and research tends to be more heavily centered at the elementary level; however, RTI is expanding to being applied in the…

In this dissertation, I examine how two major social programs in Kentucky--state-funded preK and Family Resource and Youth Service Centers--impact children's outcomes across the state, including racial, ethnic, and economic equity through elementary school. In each chapter, I will analyze how early childhood opportunities relate to outcomes…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the data from schools that have and have not implemented AVID for at least three years to determine what difference, if any, existed between the schools' racial discipline gap. This study compared both the suspension and expulsion outcomes of students of color and White students in Minnesota…

While restorative practices (RP) is hailed as one of the oldest criminal justice models in the world, the official advent of RP in education did not occur until the 1990s. Mirroring the reemergence of RP into legal systems, educators began experimenting with the application of RP in the educational setting. Today, restorative work in schools has…

Studies have been conducted for decades on the impact that restorative practices can have on student discipline systems in an educational context, along with the challenges of implementation (Dhaliwal et al, 2023; Marsh, 2017; Blood, 2005; Wearmouth et al, 2007; Drewery, 2016; Jones, 2021, Guckenburg et al, 2015). However, these studies have not…

This project was designed to develop a Bible curriculum that trains parents to be primary disciple-makers of their children at Covenant Preparatory School in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Chapter 1 explains the purpose, goals, context, and rationale for the project. Chapter 2 provides a biblical and theological basis why parents are to be the…

Introduction: Education is a social determinant of health, and its intersection with incarceration is a powerful nexus for well-being of students. Whether policies specific to student well-being are associated with exclusionary discipline, a documented risk factor for incarceration, is unknown. This study has three aims: (1) to identify whether…

High school graduation rates gradually increased to 80% until 1968, at which point there was a steady decline until 2002 when the passage of No Child Left Behind required states to measure and increase graduation rates for all students (Kamenetz, 2015). With this greater accountability in place, educators readily identified ninth grade as a…

Community School 53 has seen a significant increase in suspension rates over the past five years. The suspension rate in 2018-2019 was 5.04%; during the 2019-2020 school year the rate was 8.11%. There is no data from the school year 2020-2021 due to COVID-19. The suspension rate rose drastically in 2021-2022 to 18.10%, and it was at 17.62% for the…

The challenge for schools and districts across the country has been tackling issues of equity and inclusion that lead to closing opportunity gaps for students. With this in mind, districts have employed schools to find alternative approaches to discipline. One option districts and school sites have is the use of restorative practices as both…

While the problems of exclusionary discipline are clear, we are still left with unanswered questions about educator training in this area. The decision to suspend or expel a student not only affects their immediate future but also, more importantly, may have deeper implications for the rest of their life as well as for their community and for…