This dissertation in practice was a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Model School Policy 506, Student Discipline (MSBA, 2019), as it relates to the school-to-prison pipeline across the nation as well as in Minnesota. Model Policy 506, co-authored by the Minnesota School Board Association and the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, is offered to school districts that subscribe to MSBA’s policy services. The homogeneity in school discipline policy across Minnesota provided an opportunity for this study. The purpose of this CDA was two-fold: to assess the discourses instantiated in Model School Policy 506, and to determine, through the figured world tool of inquiry, what the seven building tasks are accomplishing in Model Policy 506 for the reader to assume as social truth regarding student behavior and schooling. Data was collected through an iterative process and examined for themes. The CDA included multiple reviews of Model Policy 506 through the figured world tool of inquiry (Gee 2014), discerning and charting of the activities of the seven building tasks (Gee, 2014), assessing text complexity of policy discourse through a Lexile review, and capturing word repetition via computerized software as well as noting infrequent use of terms or absence of ideas. Major findings include that Model Policy 506, Student Discipline, acted to reinscribe teacher implicit bias, and that policy language was invested and embedded in racial structures. A Call to Action was written to be shared with the executive directors of the Minnesota School Board Association and the Minnesota Association of School administrators as an actionable response to the complex issue of social justice in discipline policy.

The purpose of this study was to describe the data of the overarching research question: What are the demographic characteristics of race, gender, and disability status of Office Discipline referrals (ODRs) related to law enforcement referrals for assault, assault, and battery and the subsequent referral to law enforcement for criminal charges in one suburban school division in Virginia. The findings emphasized that African American males were disproportionately represented in Office Discipline Referrals compared to any other subgroup included in the study. The data revealed that a higher proportion of Black female students were referred to law enforcement compared to male students. Furthermore, students with disabilities had a higher percentage of Office Discipline Referrals; however, the percentage and number of referrals to law enforcement did not support the data. The research had some limitations. The introduction of a new behavior-tracking system for recording Office Discipline Referrals affected the accuracy of the data. This raises concerns about the necessity for additional training and support for school administrators using student behavior administrative response (SBAR) and the potential for erroneous input of ODRs into the system and disciplinary procedures. / Doctor of Education / This research aimed to examine the demographic characteristics (race, gender, and disability status) of student office discipline referrals for assault and assault and battery and the subsequent referral to law enforcement for criminal charges in a suburban school division in Virginia. The researcher employed quantitative data with a non-experimental descriptive design, analyzing data from the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years. The study revealed that the overall percentage of office discipline referrals for Black students remained relatively high over the reporting years, while there was a decrease in the law enforcement referral count for the latter year, which was reported to have decreased by 3.1%. The findings highlighted a higher proportional representation of office discipline referrals for Black or African American students and males. Surprisingly, the proportion of female students in the referrals to law enforcement category was higher than expected and reported higher than male students. Furthermore, students with disabilities (SWD) had a higher percentage of office discipline referrals over the two years, but their referrals to law enforcement did not reflect the same increase. This suggests that students with disabilities are not frequently referred to law enforcement. However, it is essential to note that there were limitations to the research, including potential impacts on data accuracy due to implementing a new behavior system for capturing office discipline referrals. These concerns underscore the need for further training for school administrators using student behavior administrative response (SBAR) and the possibility of incorrect entry of referrals into the system.

Restorative Practices is a behavior management system that focuses on root cause analysis and repairing harms caused by those infractions. This study focused on the correlation between the knowledge that stakeholders possessed regarding Restorative Practices and their perceived impact on the school disciplinary program. In addition, the study sought to determine which aspects of Restorative Practices were most effective as well as examine the viewpoints of disciplinary stakeholders regarding Restorative Practices as a large, urban school district in central Florida. Recent literature shows that punitive and exclusionary discipline practices have an adverse impact on minoritized populations as the students are often penalized more harshly than their white peers for subjective infractions such as insubordination and disrespect. Zero-tolerance discipline policies came on the heels of the zero-tolerance gun laws from the 1990s, increasing the number of students suspended within schools and strengthening the school-to-prison pipeline for minoritized populations (Katic, Alba, & Johnson, 2020). The study was conducted as a mixed-methods study using a Pearson correlation and a Casual- Comparative analysis. The study focused on school leaders and discipline stakeholders from a large, urban school district in central Florida and was conducted through an electronic survey with 23 Likert- scale type questions, and four open-ended responses. It is anticipated that the results will provide insight into the correlation between the knowledge possessed by the stakeholders and their perceived impact on Restorative Practices as well as the mor productive strategies and effects of implementation and insight into how schools can improve implementation at their schools.

The purpose of this report is to focus on the school-to-prison pipeline and the need to intervene with school discipline that pushes students out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system. It showcases services and programs in Austin, Texas, including Southwest Keys, Webb Youth Court, and Council on At-Risk Youth as examples for solutions. The report also incorporates research and expert advice on the safety and wellbeing of students while advocating a need to change the policies and culture surrounding schools. / text

This study seeks to understand how school processes affect disproportionate minority contact within the Hardin County Juvenile Justice System. A study completed by Lovell and Drummond (2016) in conjunction with the Hardin County BRIDGES Council, is used as the foundation for the current research. The original research, along with several others, examined disproportionate minority contact (DMC) after the student had been referred from their respective schools to the juvenile court system. The current study investigates 858 juvenile court records, with permission of the Hardin County Juvenile Judges, and examines school information included in the court records related to the student in correlation to race. School data was collected from the court cases to identify points of DMC that begin within the school system, which ultimately led to their referral to the juvenile court system.

Nationwide concerns include disproportionate discipline referrals and suspensions of certain student groups and the associated negative student outcomes. The state's department of education cited a school district for suspending Black students with disabilities (SWD) at more than 3 times the rate of all other student groups; yet, the complex nature of the disciplinary disproportionality in this district was unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate how student-related characteristics including race/ethnicity, gender, age, grade level, disability status, and school location, may predict number of discipline referrals, types of discipline referrals, and types of suspensions issued to students. Guided by the theory of behaviorism, this nonexperimental, ex post facto study examined archival discipline data for the 5523 students who received at least 1 office referral during the 2015-2016 school year. Chi-square analyses showed SWD had higher numbers of referrals, received referrals for subjective offenses, and were more likely to receive out-of-school suspension than no suspension or in-school suspension compared to nondisabled students. Regression analyses indicated students who were Black, male, identified as SWD, or in secondary school were at significantly greater risk of office referral and exclusionary discipline than other student groups. By understanding the patterns of discipline outcomes associated with student-related characteristics, school administrators within the local district are now able to select and implement evidence-based practices that may reduce exclusionary discipline, allowing all students to participate equally in school. Over time, these practices may lead to positive student outcomes including higher school engagement and increased graduation rates.

Exclusionary discipline in school contributes to gender and racial disproportionality in the juvenile justice system and marginalizes African American girls. Using the social justice and rational choice theories as the foundation, the purpose of this case study was to explore the relationship between the criminalization of behavior in schools, racial bias, and gender stereotypes contribute to the overrepresentation of the school to prison pipeline in Virginia. The central research question focused on the relationship between the criminalization of behavior in schools, racial bias, and gender stereotypes on the overrepresentation of African American girls in the school to prison pipeline. Employing a qualitative case study design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 8 African American women (ages 20-30) and surveys from 12 educators. Other data included school discipline and juvenile justice reports from the Virginia Department of Education and Office of Juvenile Justice. The interview data were coded and analyzed using matrix and thematic analysis. Three findings emerged from the thematic analysis from document data. First, participants perceive diversionary programs, community partnership and restorative justice programs create safe and positive learning environments. Second, there are opportunities for policymakers to use their influence to promote social equity. Finally, zero tolerance policies are ineffective. The positive social change implications from this study include recommendations to policymakers to implement restorative justice programs to ensure that all students learn in a positive environment. These actions will benefit all students in public schools and decrease racial disparities in schools and the juvenile justice system.

Teacher educators need to develop better teaching methods in order to, ultimately, serve future students in classrooms that are increasing in diversity. It is vital that education majors do more than hear and read about social justice issues facing their prospective students; for them to both understand it and retain it, they need deeper interaction with the issues and alternative strategies for resolving them. This model for using teaching cases may enable teacher educators to demonstrate the relevance of their coursework to their midlevel education students, ultimately enhancing learning gains. Of equal importance to their professional development, prospective teachers need to not only be prepared, but to know they are prepared. The model developed from this research may provide the venue to increasing their teacher efficacy. The model engages all four efficacy-building elements (Bandura, 1995), mastery, verbal, physiological and vicarious. Efficacy is developed verbally as participants discuss possible alternative solutions to the teaching cases. This discussion also affords both physiological development when responses enter Bakhtin's (1983) interstitial spaces, spaces of disagreement, argument, discomfort, and vicarious development of efficacy as students experience the teaching dilemmas of experienced teachers but experiences they realize are likely to be in their own futures. Perhaps the most challenging developer of efficacy through this model is mastery. Mastery can be developed during the "rehearsals" of seminar discussions of teaching cases (Cambourne, 1995), or it may develop within the internship-assigned classroom; for some it may require extensive classroom experience to achieve. This study's participants were a midlevel preservice teacher cohort divided between urban and suburban settings for their field-based internships. Intrinsic to the study was critical literacy and the recursive use of teaching cases focused on underlying social justice issues. Pretest and posttest scores from the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale confirmed significant gains in teacher efficacy but could not validate the teaching cases as the causality. Qualitative data, however, did confirm the validity of using teaching cases with this specific study.

Because of a perceived increase in school related violence, a political reaction occurred in Missouri that led in 1997 to the Missouri Safe Schools Act. This new law significantly changed school disciplinary policy and allowed administrators to move large groups of students to alternative education programs, or expel them to the streets. The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn from students who attended at least one year in an alternative education program about their experiences. I interviewed 26 former students and another 14 former students entered into the conversation by posting their thoughts on a Facebook site for alumni of a specific alternative program. The 40 former students shared common stories that indicated their confusion, a misuse of power by the school district, and a lack of due process surrounding the events that led to their suspensions. At the same time, they shared many stories of relationships, kindnesses, and empathy that they experienced from the alternative school teachers and administrators. Results point to the need for families to educate themselves (and sometimes resist) arbitrary decisions made by school personnel, and the importance of teacher and administrator selection for alternative school programs.

Research suggests that there still exists a disproportionate number of Black males who have contact with juvenile justice systems across this nation (Nance, 2016). The disproportionate placement of students of color, specifically, Black American males in alternative schools, serves as the gateway to the school-to-prison-pipeline (Pelzer, 2012). This study examined the lived educational experiences of two Black American juvenile males, who enrolled in an alternative school in the Southeast. This study incorporated phenomenological and narrative methods and provides rich, descriptive analyses of the participants’ experiences while attending an alternative school. Findings from this study revealed instability among the participants’ home life and education, encounters with law enforcement and an early age, varying experiences attending an alternative school, and feelings of uncertain hope displayed by the participants regarding their future lives.