Discipline Referrals Research Articles

Discipline Disproportionality among American Indian Students: Expanding the Discourse

While disproportionality in discipline referrals and discipline action has been fairly well established among African American students, especially males, little research has looked at disproportionality among American Indian students. This article uses a large dataset from the State of Arizona, with rich data on American Indian students, to explore if and how these students are being disproportionately referred for discipline and punished more harshly for lesser violations than their peers. Findings indicate that disproportionality in discipline referrals and in the violation-to-action relationship for American Indians is on par with those of African Americans and significantly higher than White peers.

The effectiveness of interventions designed to improve academic outcomes in children and adolescents in out-of-home care: a systematic review protocol

The review question is: What is the best available evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve academic outcomes in children and adolescents in out-of-home care? Inclusion criteria Types of participants This review will consider studies that include children and adolescents (under 18 years of age) placed (currently or formerly) in out-of-home care (OOHC). As the terminology for OOHC varies within the literature, this review will take an inclusive approach by including any placement setting that falls within the study’s definition of OOHC or according to the jurisdiction in which the study was undertaken. Examples of placement settings include: foster care, kinship care, group home, or residential care. Types of intervention(s) This review will consider studies that evaluate interventions designed to improve academic or school outcomes in children and adolescents in OOHC as defined below. Eligible interventions may include but are not limited to: tutoring programs, individualized educational support, education liaison, reading intervention programs, etc. Types of outcomes This review will consider studies that include at least one of the following outcomes: Primary outcome (academic outcomes): •Achievement or performance across a range of academic areas (reading comprehension, spelling, mathematics calculation and reasoning, writing, spelling, etc.) measured with school grades, grade point average (GPA) or scores on age standardized measurements (e.g., California Achievement Test, Stanford Achievement Test, Wide-Range Achievement Test, etc.); and teacher assessments or ratings. Secondary outcomes (school outcomes): •Attendance rates, grade retention, disciplinary referrals, suspensions, expulsions, dropout rates and graduation rates.

Four Critical Domains of Accountability for School Counselors

Despite recognition of accountability for school counselors, no clear set of interrelated performance measures exists to guide school counselors in collecting and evaluating data that relates to student academic success. This article outlines four critical domains of accountability for school counselors (i.e., grades, attendance, disciplinary referrals, and suspension) that can be generalized across primary and secondary levels, geography, region, location, and culture. The authors present a case study to demonstrate the four critical domains of accountability and establish school counselors as key players in promoting academic success.

Impact of School-wide Positive Behavior Supports on Student Behavior in the Middle Grades

Research shows that school-wide positive behavior supports (SWPBS) can be an effective alternative to traditional reactive, punitive approaches to problem behavior. However, few studies examine the use of the approach as part of a comprehensive school improvement process involving academic as well as behavioral goals, particularly with regard to use of data-driven decision making and data teams. This article describes the efforts of a low-performing middle school in establishing preventative measures and interventions within such a framework. Results indicate a reduction in teacher discipline referrals and student suspensions, including those involving students with disabilities and statistically significant improvement on 30 of 47 items of a school climate and student resiliency survey. In addition, school scores on state mastery tests in both reading and math improved by 25% and 11%, respectively. This study suggests that the implementation of a SWPBS framework may result in improved academic and behavioral outcomes for all students.

Implementing a culturally attuned functional behavioural assessment to understand and address challenging behaviours demonstrated by students from diverse backgrounds

As the US student population continues to become increasingly diverse, educators have encountered difficulties in distinguishing between cultural differences and genuine disability indicators. This concern is clearly evident in assisting students from diverse backgrounds who demonstrate chronic challenging behaviours. Past practices (e.g. disciplinary office referrals, out-of-school suspensions, expulsion) have contributed to the likelihood of students from diverse backgrounds being misidentified as having an emotional or behavioural disorder. However, by tailoring the functional behavioural assessment (FBA), educators better differentiate cultural factors from disability characteristics and better understand the students’ needs. This paper will discuss the significance in meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse student population, provide an overview of the FBA process and present considerations in creating a culturally attuned FBA.

Discipline Disproportionality among Hispanic and American Indian Students: Expanding the Discourse in U.S. Research

While disproportionality in discipline referrals and discipline action has been fairly well established amongAfrican American students in the United States, especially males in urban school districts, little research haslooked at disproportionality among American Indian and Latino students. This paper uses a large dataset fromthe State of Arizona, with rich data on American Indian and Latino students, to explore if and how these studentsare being disproportionately referred for discipline and if and how these students are being punished moreharshly for lesser violations than their peers. Results indicate that disproportionality in discipline referrals and inviolation to action relationship for American Indians is on par with those of African Americans. Latino studentswere shown to be nearly proportional to their population.

Does cognitive behavioural therapy in the context of a rural school mental health programme have an impact on academic outcomes?

Given the prevalence of mental health difficulties among children and adolescents, schools have become a suitable context for providing psychological services to those who may otherwise go untreated. The co-occurrence of mental health impairments and academic problems has been widely cited, and many school mental health (SMH) programmes have begun to assess academic variables in treatment outcome. The current study evaluated a rural SMH programme's success at treating symptoms of psychological distress among high school participants and the potential association with participants' attendance, grade point averages (GPAs) and discipline referrals. Participants were 58 high school students between 14 and 18 years old. Results indicate that non-manualized cognitive behavioural therapy administered for an average of 14.88 sessions was successful at treating mental health concerns, as measured by a self-report questionnaire collected several times throughout treatment. In addition, a large proportion of student...

Effects of Check and Connect on Attendance, Behavior, and Academics

Objectives: This study examined the effects of Check & Connect (C&C) on the attendance, behavior, and academic outcomes of at-risk youth in a field-based effectiveness trial. Method: A multisite randomized block design was used, wherein 260 primarily Hispanic (89%) and economically disadvantaged (74%) students were randomized to treatment or control conditions within 14 urban middle and high schools. The social service organization Communities In Schools implemented C&C in each of the schools, and the effects were compared to those of typical Communities In Schools services. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to account for the nested or random school-level effects when modeling student-level responses to the intervention. Results: Controlling for pretest performance and all relevant student- and school-level characteristics, C&C was significantly related to improvements in academic performance and reductions in disciplinary referrals. No significant effects were found for attendance. Conclusions: C&C is a promising intervention to improve outcomes for at-risk youth in school settings. Application to social work practice and research are discussed.

Problem Behavior and Urban, Low-Income Youth

Youth problem behaviors remain a public health issue. Youth in low-income, urban areas are particularly at risk for engaging in aggressive, violent, and disruptive behaviors. To evaluate the effects of a school-based social-emotional learning and health promotion program on problem behaviors and related attitudes among low-income, urban youth. A matched-pair, cluster RCT. Participants were drawn from 14 Chicago Public Schools over a 6-year period of program delivery with outcomes assessed for a cohort of youth followed from Grades 3 to 8. Data were collected from Fall 2004 to Spring 2010, and analyzed in Spring 2012. The Positive Action program includes a scoped and sequenced K-12 classroom curriculum with six components: self-concept, social and emotional positive actions for managing oneself responsibly, and positive actions directed toward physical and mental health, honesty, getting along with others, and continually improving oneself. The program also includes teacher, counselor, family, and community training as well as activities directed toward schoolwide climate development. Youth reported on their normative beliefs in support of aggression and on their bullying, disruptive, and violent behaviors; parents rated youths' bullying behaviors and conduct problems; schoolwide data on disciplinary referrals and suspensions were obtained from school records. Multilevel growth-curve modeling analyses conducted on completion of the trial indicated that Positive Action mitigated increases over time in (1) youth reports of normative beliefs supporting aggressive behaviors and of engaging in disruptive behavior and bullying (girls only) and (2) parent reports of youth bullying behaviors (boys only). At study end-point, students in Positive Action schools also reported a lower rate of violence-related behavior than students in control schools. Schoolwide findings indicated positive program effects on both disciplinary referrals and suspensions. Program effect sizes ranged from -0.26 to -0.68. These results extend evidence of the effectiveness of the Positive Action program to low-income, minority, urban school settings, and to middle school-aged youth.

Critical Features Predicting Sustained Implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

The current study explored the extent to which a common measure of perceived implementation of critical features of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) predicted fidelity of implementation 3 years later. Respondents included school personnel from 261 schools across the United States implementing PBIS. School teams completed the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Self-Assessment Survey to self-assess fidelity of implementation in different PBIS settings (school-wide, nonclassroom, classroom, individual). These scores were then analyzed to assess whether certain items predicted the fidelity of PBIS implementation, as assessed through another fidelity of implementation measure, the School-Wide Benchmarks of Quality, 3 years later. Regression analyses indicated that self-reported fidelity of implementation of Classrooms Systems significantly predicted sustained implementation and student outcomes, as assessed through levels of Office Discipline Referrals. Within Classroom Systems, regular acknowledgment of expected behaviors, matching instruction to student ability, and access to additional support were the strongest predictors of sustained implementation. Results are discussed in terms of critical areas for focusing PBIS training to increase the likelihood of sustained implementation.

Understanding Real-World Implementation Quality and “Active Ingredients” of PBIS

Programs delivered in the "real world" often look substantially different from what was originally intended by program developers. Depending on which components of a program are being trimmed or altered, such modifications may seriously undermine the effectiveness of a program. In the present study, these issues are explored within a widely used school-based, non-curricular intervention, Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports. The present study takes advantage of a uniquely large dataset to gain a better understanding of the "real-world" implementation quality of PBIS and to take a first step toward identifying the components of PBIS that "matter most" for student outcomes. Data from 27,689 students and 166 public primary and secondary schools across seven states included school and student demographics, indices of PBIS implementation quality, and reports of problem behaviors for any student who received an office discipline referral during the 2007-2008 school year. Results of the present study identify three key components of PBIS that many schools are failing to implement properly, three program components that were most related to lower rates of problem behavior (i.e., three "active ingredients" of PBIS), and several school characteristics that help to account for differences across schools in the quality of PBIS implementation. Overall, findings highlight the importance of assessing implementation quality in "real-world" settings, and the need to continue improving understanding of how and why programs work. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for policy.

Effects of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on Child Behavior Problems

School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a universal prevention strategy currently implemented in >16,000 schools across the United States. SWPBIS intends to reduce students' behavior problems by altering staff behaviors and developing systems and supports to meet children's behavioral needs. The current study reports intervention effects on child behaviors and adjustment from an effectiveness trial of SWPBIS. The sample of 12,344 elementary school children was 52.9% male, 45.1% African American, and 46.1% Caucasian. Approximately 49% received free or reduced-priced meals, and 12.9% received special education services at baseline. The trial used a group randomized controlled effectiveness design implemented in 37 elementary schools. Multilevel analyses were conducted on teachers' ratings of children's behavior problems, concentration problems, social-emotional functioning, prosocial behavior, office discipline referrals, and suspensions at 5 time points over the course of 4 school years. The multilevel results indicated significant effects of SWPBIS on children's behavior problems, concentration problems, social-emotional functioning, and prosocial behavior. Children in SWPBIS schools also were 33% less likely to receive an office discipline referral than those in the comparison schools. The effects tended to be strongest among children who were first exposed to SWPBIS in kindergarten. These findings provide support for the hypothesized reduction in behavior problems and improvements in prosocial behavior and effective emotion regulation after training in SWPBIS. The SWPBIS framework appears to be a promising approach for reducing problems and promoting adjustment among elementary school children.

Decreasing In-School Suspensions with Function-Based Interventions

Every day school administrators and classroom teachers deal with behavior issues that sometimes result in office discipline referrals (ODRs) and other times in-school suspension. Interestingly, the...

Transformational partnerships: translating research into practice through culturally competent evaluation practices in American Indian communities

Educational leaders have been held increasingly accountable for demonstrating significant gains in student achievement in the wake of education reform policies such as No Child Left Behind. This achievement is often defined as positive gains in attendance and test scores as discipline referrals and suspension numbers decrease. Socioeconomic and cultural contributions to student achievement are often relegated to secondary analyses, are used as deficit explanations when achievement is not increased, or are ignored completely. While this approach may give a snapshot of conditions at a given moment, it does not provide program evaluators with enough information to appropriately assess the implementation of interventions. This qualitative study examines the implementation and evaluation of a prosocial intervention in 10 schools serving American Indian families designed to reflect the culture of program participants and community stakeholders. Findings of the study demonstrate that the relationship between leadership and evaluation participants improved as they worked as partners rather than in isolation. Additionally, gains in prosocial student behavior were observed when traditional evaluation methods were suspended for more culturally appropriate methods that allowed for greater collaboration and timely modifications based on emerging research.

Effects of Multi-Tier Academic and Behavior Instruction on Difficult-to-Teach Students

This article addresses the effects of 3-tiered comprehensive reading and behavior interventions on K-3 student outcomes in 7 urban elementary schools with a high prevalence of students considered difficult to teach. Specific features of each level of the implementation are described including screening and tier placement procedures, scheduling and personnel supports, procedures for ensuring strong implementation with fidelity, procedures for student progress monitoring, and guidelines for instructional decision making. Early literacy skill outcomes for students were the primary dependent measures in reading; schoolwide office discipline referral rate was the dependent measure in behavior. Significant improvement was evident in phoneme segmentation and nonsense word fluency in reading and significant decreases were documented in office discipline referrals across treatment and comparison schools. Significantly higher outcomes were also recorded on required statewide end-of-grade assessments in treatment schools. Implications and caveats concerning effective implementation of the model in other settings are provided. The article emphasizes that changing schoolwide reading and behavior risk requires effective intervention, instruction, and support in both areas.

Alternative Education's Impact on Office Disciplinary Referrals

Disruptive behaviors negatively impact learning by taking time away from classroom instruction (Gottlieb and Polirstok 2005) and may also produce unsafe school environments. This study examined changes in the number of office disciplinary referrals (ODRs) received in public schools prior to and following the schools partnering with one particular alternative education provider. Significant decreases were found for some specific referral categories, including: threat/intimidation, tobacco, weapons (knife), and total state reportable incidents. Decreases in fighting and other disciplinary incidents approached statistical significance. These results illustrate the decreases in some serious ODRs in public schools after providing an alternative setting for at-risk students, potentially indicating increased safety in the public schools. This study provides initial insight into the impact of providing alternative education programs on traditional, public schools.

Examining school-based bullying interventions using multilevel discrete time hazard modeling.

Although schools have been trying to address bullying by utilizing different approaches that stop or reduce the incidence of bullying, little remains known about what specific intervention strategies are most successful in reducing bullying in the school setting. Using the social-ecological framework, this paper examines school-based disciplinary interventions often used to deliver consequences to deter the reoccurrence of bullying and aggressive behaviors among school-aged children. Data for this study are drawn from the School-Wide Information System (SWIS) with the final analytic sample consisting of 1,221 students in grades K - 12 who received an office disciplinary referral for bullying during the first semester. Using Kaplan-Meier Failure Functions and Multi-level discrete time hazard models, determinants of the probability of a student receiving a second referral over time were examined. Of the seven interventions tested, only Parent-Teacher Conference (AOR = 0.65, p < .01) and Loss of Privileges (AOR = 0.71, p < .10) were significant in reducing the rate of the reoccurrence of bullying and aggressive behaviors. By using a social-ecological framework, schools can develop strategies that deter the reoccurrence of bullying by identifying key factors that enhance a sense of connection between the students' mesosystems as well as utilizing disciplinary strategies that take into consideration student's microsystem roles.

Universal Screening in Middle School

Universal screening is a promising approach for identifying students at risk for behavioral and emotional problems. Due to the frequent adolescent onset of behavioral and emotional problems, middle school is an important time for early identification. This study explored the ability of the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) to predict behavioral outcomes (i.e., behavioral grades, suspensions, and office disciplinary referrals) in a sample of 694 middle-school students. Both the teacher and student rated BESS forms were able to significantly predict behavioral outcomes. Findings suggest that the BESS can be an effective tool for identifying students at risk of experiencing behavior problems.

Parental Involvement and Achievement Outcomes in African American Adolescents

This study examined parental ratings of a multidimensional construct of parental involvement to determine (a) which involvement behavior (home-based, school-based, or achievement values) better predicted the achievement outcomes of urban African American adolescents, (b) what impact did the different parental involvement behaviors have on the achievement outcomes of younger and older high school adolescents, and (c) what influence did specific family demographic variables (parent education, parent employment status, parent marital status, and family income) have on how parents’ involvement behaviors predicted the achievement outcomes of urban African American adolescents? Participants consisted of 145 African American parents/guardians of urban high school students. Results indicated that of the three involvement measures examined, home-based involvement was the only involvement behavior that predicted adolescents’ grades and the number of days missed from school. None of the parental involvement measures were significant predictors of discipline referrals received. In addition, parental involvement behaviors had the largest impact on the achievement outcomes of older adolescents. Specifically, older adolescents with greater home-based involvement missed fewer days of school and had fewer discipline referrals while older adolescents with greater school-based involvement had more discipline referrals. Finally, as for the family demographic variables, they had minimal impact on the achievement outcomes of the urban African American adolescents in the current study. The only significant relation found was between parents’ employment status and adolescents’ grades. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Examining the Achievement Gap with a Psychodynamic Lens: Implications for Practice

It is not uncommon for clinicians to receive referrals for children and adolescents who are framed within the context of schooling. This phenomenon is amplified for African American and Latino clients due to the existence of a significant gap in performance and discipline referrals between White students and their peers of color (Aspen, 2005; Darling-Hammond, 2010; Ladson Billings, 2006). Commonly known as the achievement gap, this phenomenon has significant societal and clinical implications. Unfortunately there is a paucity of literature regarding the role of psychologists in general and those practicing psychodynamically in particular with respect to helping to close this gap. It is imperative that psychologists with an understanding of psychodynamic principles and practices be a part of the solution. Driven by the need for a more comprehensive approach to the achievement gap that incorporates psychological and psychodynamic principles, a case example is used to address the achievement gap and suggest clinical and systems based interventions based on psychodynamic constructs.