Aims: Maintaining order is a fundamental task for teachers in the classroom. Historically, some form of punishment has been the common response to undesirable behaviour. However, over the past two and a half decades, a different approach to classroom management, sometimes labelled 'positive discipline', is being increasingly adopted by schools.…

The education field has long wrestled with how to best handle students who behave badly. Specifically, students who behave in an unsafe manner towards other students present a special conundrum and the traditional response has been to suspend them (Adams, 2000; Black, 2016; Cerrone, 1999; Fabelo et al., 2011; Rumberger et al.,2016). The purpose of…

The purpose of this study was to explore administrators' and teachers' experiences and perceptions of how restorative practice strategies impact the execution of school discipline in an urban middle school. This study included a review of data collected from interviews with middle school administrators and teachers in a large school district. A…

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), the process of developing and utilizing interpersonal skills for everyday life, has become a primary vehicle for structuring students' social and emotional health in the United States and across the world. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of understanding SEL practices, is increasingly at the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the Problem of Practice (POP) to determine if Restorative Practices (RP) can have an impact on the disproportionality of out of school suspensions (OSS) for Black and Multi-Race students at Eastern High School. RP has emerged as a promising intervention to mitigate racially disproportionate practices in…

Reflecting an overall policy shift in Oregon and nationwide, Oregon passed laws in 2013 and 2015 aimed at changing the way school discipline is applied in grades K-12. The 2013 legislation directed districts to replace zero-tolerance policies with an emphasis on preventing and reducing unnecessary student suspensions and expulsions. Suspensions…

In 2013 and 2015 Oregon enacted legislation that shifted school discipline policies from a zero-tolerance approach to one that emphasizes preventing behavioral problems and reducing unnecessary suspensions and expulsions. Suspensions and expulsions are often referred to as exclusionary discipline because they remove students from classroom…

This is the appendixes for the report, "Are State Policy Reforms in Oregon Associated with Fewer School Suspensions and Expulsions?" This study examined the association between state-level policy reforms and suspension and expulsion rates for grades K-12 in Oregon public schools. The findings suggest that the policy shift has led to some…

Conventional punitive detention- and suspension-based correctional approaches to student disruptive behavior are widely considered ineffective and counterproductive. Instead of offering opportunities for change and growth, they punish students they deem incorrigible by excluding them from instruction. While effective alternative approaches and…

The subject of school discipline is one of the most critical issues facing our educational system. Disruptive student behavior interrupts teaching and learning processes and if not effectively addressed, it can manifest itself in other areas in a child's life, leading to more serious behaviors which may eventually lead to criminal involvement,…

Together, a school district and a local union are working to ensure that educators are trained in restorative practices in order to improve school climates and keep students in school and learning. This article describes how, in recent years, administrators and teachers have shifted from traditional school punishments, such as suspension, to…

The purpose of this study was to determine how an urban school district's code of conduct aligned with actual school/class behaviors, and how stakeholders perceived the ability of this document to achieve its number one goal: safe and productive learning environments. Twenty participants including students, teachers, parents, and administrators…

The retention of "at risk" students in secondary schools is a major challenge to inclusive education policy. Students with non-compliant behaviour at this level are typically dealt with by authoritarian and punitive disciplinary systems that frequently lead to exclusion from school. This paper reports on the successful establishment of a…

The purpose of the present study was to assess the efficacy of a culturally adapted version of the Strong Start intervention program on the social-emotional outcomes of African American male students. Externalizing behavior problems of children, specifically African American males, are of great concern for schools. Punitive discipline polices such…

In 2013, schools in New Zealand stood-down nearly 12,000 students as a result of behavioural difficulties. Research indicates that rather than improving behaviour, stand-downs can reinforce inappropriate behaviour and potentially put students at-risk. This paper overviews the use of stand-downs in New Zealand schools, discussing the nature and…