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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/120924 |
| Date | 13 August 2024 |
| Creators | Byrd, Tiffany H. |
| Contributors | Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Cash, Carol S., Johnstad, Susan, Ferebee-Johns, Fontaine Monique, Price, Ted S. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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