School Discipline at a Crossroads: From Zero Tolerance to Early Response

2000 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell J. Skiba ◽  
Reece L. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
School Violence ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
School Safety ◽  
Student Behavior ◽  
School Discipline ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Early Response ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Disciplinary System

Dramatic incidents of school violence have thrust school discipline to the forefront of public consciousness. Despite a dramatic increase in the use of zero tolerance procedures and policies, there is little evidence demonstrating that these procedures have increased school safety or improved student behavior. Moreover, a punitive disciplinary climate may make any attempt to include more students with behavioral problems a cause for conflict between general and special educators. A preventive, early response disciplinary model increases the range of effective options for addressing violence and disruption across both general and special education. Ultimately, the effectiveness of any disciplinary system may be judged by the extent to which it teaches students to solve interpersonal and intrapersonal problems without resorting to disruption or violence.

Preventing School Violence and Advancing School Safety

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-162
Author(s):  
Dewey Cornell ◽  
Brittany Crowley
Keyword(s):  
School Violence ◽  
School Safety ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Threat Assessment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Supportive Relationships ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Behavioral Expectations

Schools are one of the safest places for young people, but high-profile cases of school shootings have driven schools to engage in reactive practices such as expensive security measures and zero tolerance discipline that have had unintended negative effects. More proactive practices are needed to prevent violence, with particular attention to the commonplace types of aggression such as bullying and harassment that have serious consequences for students and can be the seedbeds for more severe violence. Overall, schools should place greater emphasis on multitiered prevention strategies that build a school climate characterized by high academic and behavioral expectations for students in the context of supportive relationships. Schools should also adopt threat assessment as a systematic approach to evaluating and helping troubled students. The overarching idea is that making schools safe and supportive environments that foster student well-being and achievement is vital for the prevention of violence.

School Discipline, Zero Tolerance Policies, and American K-12 Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 351-370
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Mallett
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
School Safety ◽  
School Discipline ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Juvenile Courts ◽  
The Public ◽  
Resource Officers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
K 12

This chapter reviews some of the history of establishing public schools through compulsory attendance laws for children, as well as the use of school discipline over time. The primary focus is on more recent times whereby the public schools across the country followed the juvenile justice system's “tough on crime” pathway since the 1990s. The increased use of zero tolerance policies and police (safety resource officers) in the schools has exponentially increased school-based arrests and referrals to the juvenile courts. These policies have not increased school safety and in many cases have inadvertently made schools less safe. These changes have also disproportionately ensnared a smaller group of at-risk and already disadvantaged students, including certain minorities, those with special education disabilities, and those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT).

The Real School Safety Problem

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Kupchik
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
School Safety ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Safe Schools ◽  
Original Research ◽  
School Security ◽  
Safety Problem ◽  
The Real ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The U.S

Since the 1990s, K-12 schools across the U.S. have changed in important ways in an effort to maintain safe schools. They have added police officers, surveillance cameras, zero tolerance policies, and other equipment and personnel, while increasingly relying on suspension and other punishments. Unfortunately, we have implemented these practices based on assumptions that they will be effective at maintaining safety and helping youth, not based on evidence. The Real School Safety Problem addresses this problem in two ways. One, it provides a clear discussion of what we know and what we don’t yet know about the school security and punishment practices and their effects on students and schools. Two, it offers original research that extends what we know in important ways, showing how school security and punishment affects students, their families, their schools and their communities years into the future. Schools are indeed in crisis. But the real school safety problem is not that students are either out of control or in danger. Rather, the real school safety problem is that our efforts to maintain school safety have gone too far and in the wrong directions. As a result, we over-police and punish students in a way that hurts students, their families and their communities in broad and long-lasting ways.

Bullying, School Violence, and Climate in Evolving Contexts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Avi Astor ◽  
Rami Benbenisthty
Keyword(s):  
School Violence ◽  
School Safety ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
New Research

Since 2005, the bullying, school violence, and school safety literatures have expanded dramatically in content, disciplines, and empirical studies. However, with this massive expansion of research, there is also a surprising lack of theoretical and empirical direction to guide efforts on how to advance our basic science and practical applications of this growing scientific area of interest. Parallel to this surge in interest, cultural norms, media coverage, and policies to address school safety and bullying have evolved at a remarkably quick pace over the past 13 years. For example, behaviors and populations that just a decade ago were not included in the school violence, bullying, and school safety discourse are now accepted areas of inquiry. These include, for instance, cyberbullying, sexting, social media shaming, teacher–student and student–teacher bullying, sexual harassment and assault, homicide, and suicide. Populations in schools not previously explored, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students and educators and military- and veteran-connected students, become the foci of new research, policies, and programs. As a result, all US states and most industrialized countries now have a complex quilt of new school safety and bullying legislation and policies. Large-scale research and intervention funding programs are often linked to these policies. This book suggests an empirically driven unifying model that brings together these previously distinct literatures. This book presents an ecological model of school violence, bullying, and safety in evolving contexts that integrates all we have learned in the 13 years, and suggests ways to move forward.

School Violence to School Safety: Reframing the Issue for School Psychologists

1994 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gale M. Morrison ◽  
Michael J. Furlong ◽  
Richard L. Morrison
Keyword(s):  
School Violence ◽  
School Psychologists ◽  
School Safety

Race Differences in Youths’ Attitudes Toward Arming Teachers: Investigating the Role of Procedural Justice

2021 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2110466
Author(s):  
Faraneh Shamserad
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
School Violence ◽  
School Safety ◽  
Future Research ◽  
School Security ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
School Students ◽  
Racial Inequalities ◽  
Perceptions Of Fairness

Although school violence statistics indicate that schools are safe places, anxiety over school shootings continues to influence school safety reform to the extent that security measures in American public schools include the arming of schoolteachers. Furthermore, not only have youths’ perceptions of school security been relatively unexplored, existing research points to racial inequalities in the use of and the effects of school security practices. This study uses data from high school students across multiple school districts in a Midwestern county to examine how race and perceptions of fairness intersect to influence attitudes on arming teachers. The results suggest that, relative to White students, Black students are less supportive of arming teachers and anticipate greater decreases in safety if teachers are armed. In addition, perceptions of fairness mediate the effect of race on support and feelings of safety. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Racial Disproportionalities in Discipline

2016 ◽  
pp. 149-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Chris Curran
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
School Safety ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Student Safety ◽  
History Of

Student safety represents an important goal for schools; however, policies designed to facilitate school safety may have unintended negative consequences. Zero tolerance policies, those that mandate severe punitive measures, have been widely implemented by school leaders over the last several decades; however, recent research suggests that such policies may contribute to racial disparities in the use of discipline. This chapter reviews the history of zero tolerance policies in schools and, through descriptive analysis of data from the Civil Rights Data Collection of 2011-2012, documents racial disparities in the use of expulsions. Findings suggest that while zero tolerance policies may contribute to such disparities, the racial disparities are more pronounced for non-zero tolerance expulsions. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Building Stronger Connections Among Students, Families, and Schools to Promote School Safety

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Monica Bixby Radu ◽  
Kristen N. Sobba ◽  
Sarah A. Kuborn ◽  
Brenda Prochaska
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
School Safety ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
Safe Schools ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Safe School ◽  
The Public ◽  
Bridging Social Capital ◽  
Prior Literature

Safe schools help promote positive social, academic, and educational outcomes. Research consistently suggests that students tend to be most successful in schools where they feel safe. For example, prior literature establishes that when students attend safe schools, they are more likely to graduate from high school compared to students who attend schools with behavioral problems or safety concerns. Over the last three decades, school shootings have garnered increased public attention, and the public has a heightened awareness that not all schools are safe environments for students. Drawing from ecological systems theory, this chapter will examine how the bonds between students and their schools are important for creating a school culture that is safe, inclusive, and supports the success of all students. Bridging social capital between families and schools also helps foster a safe school atmosphere, where students can focus on their academic and social development.

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