What Can TIMSS 2007 Tell Us About Discipline, Behavior, and Punishment in Schools? A Cross-National Exploration

Abstract

Discipline and behavioral problems in schools continually rank among the top concerns of parents and the public, but receive less attention in academic literature. Popular perception seems to indicate that children in the United States are spoiled, take school for granted, and continually disrupt the learning process. Is the US, indeed, an outlier? If so, what can we learn from other countries? I explore these questions using a cross-national dataset of 51 countries (TIMSS 2007). While TIMSS data have a number of limitations, they do shed light on experiences with discipline and behavior across nations and seem to indicate that students in the United States disrupt the learning process about as much as do students in other countries. I also find that countries with more experienced teachers report fewer discipline problems. Finally, the data provide some preliminary evidence that discipline problems may impact national achievement levels.