The Role of the School District in Student Discipline: Building Consensus in Cincinnati

Abstract

The problem of student discipline disproportionately affects urban schools with large numbers of low income and ethnic minority students. Research over the past 35 years however has consistently shown that discipline policies that are understood and accepted by teachers, students, and parents and consistently enforced by school officials, correlate with lower levels of student disruption. The important role that urban school districts can play in building consensus in support of student discipline policies has not been well documented. But increased levels of student mobility in large urban areas, and increased diversity among the families served by urban districts, highlight the need for district-wide codes of behavior that provide schools with a range of discipline programs that serve the needs of their particular communities. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the process of developing and implementing a district-wide code of student behavior in Cincinnati played an important role in reducing disruptive behaviors leading to student suspension and expulsion. By involving all stakeholders in the development of its policies, and by responding to the concerns of all stakeholders in the range of programs it offered, the Cincinnati Public Schools was able to build consensus across socioeconomic and ethnic lines and make its code of behavior effective. On the basis of the evidence presented, it is argued that urban school districts can play a more active role in the area of student discipline. By developing and implementing district-wide codes of behavior that are understood and accepted by teachers, students, and parents, and consistently enforced by school officials, urban districts can lay the foundation on which schools can build healthy learning communities.