Through the utilization of school discipline policies, millions of students nationwide have been harshly disciplined and/or removed from the regular school setting – with lasting impact on both students and their communities. With regards to discretionary school discipline policies, those tasked with implementing them – both at the district and school level, as well as in the classroom – could have a real influence on the outcomes of the policies, due to the basic viewpoints and interpretations that each policy administrator brings to the table. In other words, the way administrators make sense of discipline – including their interpretation of its purpose or efficacy – may be a key factor in the policy implementation process and in policy outcomes (including the over-use of discretionary policies and an over-reliance on more punitive consequences), something to be considered by those examining implementation and outcomes. This study explores the role of principals’ and assistant principals’ own viewpoints in the execution of such policies – specifically, in an urban school district in Texas – which no research has solely and fully touched on in Texas prior to this study. This researcher has sought to examine and explain the potential relationships between the following: a) middle and high school administrators’ interpretation of discretionary school discipline policies (including administrators’ views about purpose and efficacy to provide this researcher with context for each administrator); b) these administrators’ understandings about the factors (“affinities”/themes) that may influence their actual implementation of discipline policies (including both school-specific conditions and student-specific characteristics); and c) the rate of disciplinary actions taken by schools, in comparison to the predicted rate of such action. To provide an examination and explanation of administrators’ interpretation of, as well as the drivers behind, their implementation of discretionary school discipline policies, this researcher has utilized a qualitative research method highly informed by Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA), which also incorporates a quantitative data component. This researcher hopes that this study will allow for a broadened discussion of alternative ways of thinking – including considerations of effective alternative programming and strategies – that administrators can employ when dealing with students determined to be problems in the classroom. / text

The choice to drop out of high school often follows a progression of disengagement from school (Bridgeland, Dilulio, and Morison, 2006). Students often begin this process as a result of attendance challenges, disciplinary consequences, and persistent failure in traditional learning environments (Bridgeland et al., 2006; Fenning et al., 2012; Foley and Pang, 2006). School divisions face federal and state mandates to improve graduation rates and are under pressure to reform educational practices in an effort to lower the dropout rate (Picciano, Seaman, Shea, and Swan, 2012). School districts around the country have sought to diminish dropout rates through a variety of strategies. The collective goal in all of the initiatives is to redefine the high school experience for students who do not fit the traditional model, connecting them with alternative learning opportunities so as to best meet individual needs (Ferdig, 2010; Carver, Lewis, and Tice, 2010). Online credit recovery programs have the potential to re-connect students at risk of dropping out of high school through technological interactivity, personalization, and immediate feedback (Ferdig, 2010; Watson and Gemin, 2008). This study identified 97 Virginia school divisions offering online credit recovery programs to students identified as at-risk. This dissertation examined the relationship between the use of online credit recovery programs and on-time graduation rates in the Virginia and found an increase in the on-time graduation rates in the school divisions that implemented this strategy. The researcher also examined the various models used throughout the Commonwealth and found a variety of implementation strategies used by school divisions. However data indicated no significant difference in the Virginia on-time graduation rates when comparing the different program implementation measures. / Ed. D. / Students often begin to entertain the ides of dropping out after a process of attendance challenges, disciplinary consequences, and persistent failure in traditional learning environments. School divisions face federal and state mandates to improve graduation rates and are under pressure to reform educational practices in an effort to lower the dropout rate. School districts around the country have sought to diminish dropout rates through a variety of strategies. The collective goal in all of the initiatives is to redefine the high school experience for students who do not fit the traditional model, connecting them with alternative learning opportunities so as to best meet individual needs. Online credit recovery programs have the potential to re-connect students at risk of dropping out of high school through the use of technology, personalization, and immediate feedback. This study identified Virginia school divisions offering online credit recovery programs to students identified as at-risk of dropping out of high school. The relationship between the implementation of online credit recovery programs and on-time graduation rates in the Commonwealth of Virginia was examined to determine the impact of this intervention strategy. This study identified 97 school divisions currently offer an online credit recovery program. Findings indicated an increase in graduation rates for school divisions using this intervention strategy. The researcher also examined various implementation models and found no significant difference in graduation rates when comparing implementation measures.