Addressing discipline equity: the Inclusive Skill-Building Learning Approach (ISLA) an alternative to exclusionary discipline

Abstract

Exclusionary discipline practices are frequently utilized in schools despite decades of research indicating their ineffectiveness (American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008; Losen & Skiba, 2010; Muñiz, 2021). Research shows that removing students from the classroom does not change student behavior, is administered disproportionately to historically marginalized and minoritized groups, and is linked to the school-to-prison pipeline and lower academic achievement (Barnes & Motz, 2018; Losen & Martinez, 2020; Noltemeyer et al., 2015). This study explores the impact of the Inclusive Skill-Building Learning Approach (ISLA), an instructional and restorative alternative to exclusionary discipline practices, on discipline disproportionality. Pre-intervention, implementation, and post-intervention discipline data for 6th through 8th grade students were collected to understand the relation between ISLA and disproportional discipline data by race and gender. The findings suggest that ISLA is an effective tool for reducing overall in-school and out-of-school suspension rates as well as the risk indices for out-of-school suspensions for students of color, yet there is still a need for intervention adaptations to address specific disparities in exclusionary discipline practices. Research findings, study limitations, and implications and directions for future research and practice are further discussed.