The use of exclusionary discipline practices in schools has continued to increase since the advent of Zero Tolerance discipline policies in the 1990s. Research indicates that these practices are largely ineffective in addressing behavior, and result in detrimental outcomes for students and communities. This study focused on the use of Disciplinary…

This research study examined the impact of negative behavioral consequences on the academic achievement of 9th-grade students from three rural high schools in South Carolina before and after COVID-19 and by gender. The researcher used a comparative research design to examine achieved data of different genders, incidents at school, actions taken by…

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 (Amos, 2021). In this qualitative study, the researcher will explore educators' perceptions on the disparity in discipline referrals and evaluate…

The purpose of this study was to examine semester-long referral data from a ninth-grade cohort in a public school in a southeastern state. The research question for this study was the following: What will the examination of semester-long referral data from the entire ninth-grade cohort of a public school in a southeastern state reveal? The problem…

Theoretically, teacher self-efficacy relates to student outcomes through teaching behavior. However, underlying pathways through which specific teacher self-efficacy facets longitudinally relate to student motivation and emotion in classrooms remain unclear. This study aims to overcome this research gap by investigating whether student- and…

The disparity amongst African American males in education has been a major concern for educators and policy makers nationwide for many years. Though various researchers have made implications to precisely correct the issue, African American males still perform significantly behind their peers. This dissertation examined how one of the most…

Well-being commonly refers to the concept that equates to a good life. What constitutes a good life at school for students has emerged as an important education agenda over time due to its wide-reaching benefits. However, there is a limited understanding of the well-being experiences of children from diverse cultures and countries, particularly…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the degree to which the number of days that Texas Grade 9, 10, and 11 students assigned an exclusionary discipline consequence differed by their ethnicity/race (i.e. Black, Hispanic, and White), and economic status (i.e. Poor, Not Poor). In the first study, the extent to…

This brief evaluates the causal effect of attending Las Americas Middle School on newcomer students' early high school outcomes. Using administrative data from the Houston Independent School District (HISD) spanning the 2007-2008 through 2018-2019 school years, the study examined the academic performance, course-taking patterns, and school…

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…

The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto research study was to determine if restorative practices, an alternative approach to traditional discipline, reduced behavior incidents, promoted student academic achievement, and increased attendance for African American male high school students. This study involved a targeted population of 730…

Students' social, emotional, and behavioural (SEB) needs are associated with their academics and school behaviours, and teachers are in proximal roles to address students' needs. However, it is unclear how teacher-student understanding of SEB needs relate to students' academic achievement and behaviours. Based on 264 ninth-grade student-teacher…

The challenges facing adolescents today are greater than ever. It is imperative that students have the social and emotional skills to help them succeed. Mindfulness helps support social, emotional, and academic learning as it assists children in becoming more self-aware and builds self-regulation. Mindfulness is about being present within yourself…

To tackle the debate surrounding the tension between knowledge and power in online education for adolescents and between freedom and control at large, this study examines how disciplinary power was exercised and resisted in a Chinese setting of online compulsory education during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Overall, 60 participants, including…

Student misbehavior has long presented challenges to school teachers and leaders. Scholars have argued that the extent to which students comply with rules is linked to their perceptions that their school's rules and authority are fair. To understand one driver of noncompliance with school rules, this study asks: "What are students'…