School Suspension Research Articles

Offsetting Racial Divides: Adolescent African American Males & Restorative Justice Practices

Zero-tolerance suspensions are exclusionary practices that disrupt and deny students access to structured routines, academic instruction, and school-provided meals. Throughout the United States, statistical comparisons in zero-tolerance suspensions illustrate harsh racial disproportionalities, particularly for adolescent African American males. Inequities in disciplinary practices place adolescent African American males at higher risk for dropping out of high school, retention, and incarceration. Recent literature highlights the pathway of restorative justice as a tool to decrease inequities in zero-tolerance school suspensions. This case study applies the theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to examine this phenomenon by presenting the story of a 17-year-old African American male and his lived experience of a zero-tolerance school suspension and the social and emotional benefits of counter-storytelling as a restorative justice practice. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature by illustrating the inequities of mandated school suspensions and the observed outcomes when a social worker with experience in CRT and restorative justice intervenes.

Problematic internet-related behaviors mediate the associations between levels of internet engagement and distress among schoolchildren during COVID-19 lockdown: A longitudinal structural equation modeling study.

Background and aimsDue to the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), policies based on the nature of “spatial distancing” have been implemented and have resulted in school suspensions and online learning among schoolchildren. In order to examine the impact of such policies on schoolchildren, the aims of the present study were to (i) assess changes in the level of engagement in three internet-related activities (smartphone use, social media use, and gaming) before and during the COVID-19 outbreak, including prolonged and problematic engagement in these activities; (ii) investigate the differences of psychological distress before and after COVID-19 outbreak; and (iii) to use structural equation modeling to investigate the mediating roles of problematic internet-related behaviors in the causal relationships of psychological distress and time spent on internet-related activities.MethodsSelf-report measures were used to assess internet-related activities and psychological distress. Time spent on internet-related activities, problematic use of internet-related activities, and psychological distress were collected from primary school students (N = 535; 265 boys; M age = 10.32 years [SD = 0.84]). The data were first collected before the COVID-19 outbreak (i.e., early November 2019) and then collected again during the school suspension due to COVID-19 outbreak (i.e., end of March 2020) for comparisons of changes.ResultsSchoolchildren spent significantly more time on the smartphone (increased 1.02 h daily; P < 0.001) and social media (increased 0.73 h daily; P < 0.001) but not gaming (increased 0.14 h daily; P = 0.07) during the school suspension compared to the baseline. Schoolchildren who increased by 15 or 30 min daily on internet-related activities showed an increased level of psychological distress. The association between problematic use of social media and psychological distress was stronger during the school suspension (β = 0.584) than at the baseline (β = 0.451; P < 0.001).ConclusionIncreased problematic use of internet-related activities among schoolchildren was associated with greater psychological distress. Parents should therefore monitor internet-related activities and psychological distress of their children to support their mental health.

Trajectories of Exclusionary Discipline: Risk Factors and Associated Outcomes

ABSTRACT Research examining the school-to-prison pipeline alludes to the existence of trajectories of exclusionary discipline; however, disciplinary trajectories and their associated risk factors and outcomes have not yet been examined quantitatively across developmental periods. The purpose of this study was to identify trajectories of school suspension between the ages of 8–16, determine risk factors and markers associated with trajectory group membership, and examine whether trajectory group membership was associated with arrest. Results identified two trajectories of school suspension- a low-level trajectory, and a pushout trajectory. Being Black, male, and levels of aggression, and externalizing behaviors were associated with pushout group membership. Pushout group membership was also associated with arrest. Results have implications for researchers and policymakers.

Pram to Playground: Why are Five- and Six-Year-Old Students being Suspended?

This article reviews current literature, exploring the possibility that increased access to digital media and mobile screened devices may negatively impact the cognitive, emotional, and physical development of young children. Furthermore, it argues that the overuse of digital technology devices may be responsible for the rise in undesirable behaviors, leading to school suspensions. The review identified a growing body of research that suggests possible links between screen time and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), addiction to screened devices, lower development of social skills, and poor sleep duration. These are all disorders or conditions that can lead to negative behaviors such as inattention, aggression, depression, and irritation. Therefore, by having a better understanding of the role that digital media and mobile screened devices may have on the expression of behaviors leading to suspensions, it may be possible to make specific usage recommendations to decrease suspension rates in preparatory students.

Negative Life Events and Time Perspective Among Adolescents

We examined negative life events and time perspective in adolescents. Negative life events were nonnormative experiences including school suspension, running away from home, or the death of a family member. Time perspective referred to thoughts and feelings about the past, present, and future. We assessed multiple dimensions including orientations and positive and negative feelings about time. Participants were 790 adolescents and data were self-reported. Findings indicated that (a) adolescents who experienced the highest number of negative life events were oriented toward the past, whereas adolescents who experienced the fewest negative life events were oriented toward the three time periods equally, and (b) negative life events were positively associated with negative feelings and inversely associated with positive feelings about time.

The School-to-Gang Pipeline: Examining the Impact of School Suspension on Joining a Gang for the First Time

This study draws on labeling and routine activity theory to examine whether being suspended from school is associated with subsequent gang membership onset. With data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), we estimated discrete time models that predict gang membership onset from ages 12 to 19. The results revealed that being suspended from school at one wave was associated with an increased hazard on gang membership onset at the next wave. The results also revealed that although being suspended from school during one wave increased the hazard of gang membership onset, youth who are suspended during multiple waves tended to have an even higher hazard of gang membership onset.

Early Life Predictors of Suspensions from Primary School: Cross-Agency Indicators of Risk for School Exclusion in An NSW Population Cohort

IntroductionExcluding students from school via out-of-school suspensions and expulsions is a controversial practice in Australia and internationally, yet forms a key component of school welfare and discipline policies. There is growing concern that increasing exclusion at earlier grades and an over-representation of particular groups of disadvantaged students may intensify inequalities in educational, justice, health and welfare outcomes for excluded students relative to their non-excluded peers. Previous studies have focused predominantly on secondary school exclusions and on sociodemographic predictors.&#x0D; Objectives and ApproachThis study aimed to identify early life predictors of primary school suspensions using multi-agency data from the New South Wales (NSW) Child Development Study. Participants were 34,855 NSW children and their parents with linked records from education, health, child protection, and criminal justice spanning birth to the 6 th - grade (~12 years). Multinormal logistic regression examined the associations of sociodemographic, pre/perinatal, early developmental vulnerability, and parent factors with any later suspension during the 3 rd - to 6 th -grades.&#x0D; ResultsIn a multivariable model, many factors had significant independent associations with any suspension. The largest effects (odds ratios ≥4.0) were observed for male gender and child maltreatment reports, with moderate effects (odds ratios 1.5 to &lt;4.0) for Indigenous ethnicity, socio-economic disadvantage, exposure to smoking in utero, any parental criminal offending, aggressive behaviour, school-based responsibility and respect, and sub-threshold notifications to child protection services. Small effects (odds ratios &gt;1.0 to &lt;1.5) were revealed for young maternal age at birth (&lt;26 years), any parental mental illness, language and cognitive skills, any emotional or behavioural problem, hyperactivity-inattention, and any emergency department presentation for physical injury.&#x0D; Conclusion / ImplicationsBy facilitating the identification of students at risk of early (primary school) exclusion using multi-sector information available at the time of entry to school, these findings may assist educators to deliver targeted preventative interventions for at-risk students

Parenting E-book: Coping Early Childhood Education Problems During Learning from Home

Parenting E-book: Coping Early Childhood Education Problems During Learning from Home

Confirmatory Factor Structure and Predictive Validity of the Early Identification System-Student Report in a Community Sample of High School Students.

The purpose of this paper is to confirm the factor structure, examine the invariance, and investigate the predictive validity using disciplinary data for 5262 high school students who completed the Early Identification System—Student Response (EIS-SR). The development and theory of the EIS-SR is discussed along with prior work. Building off of prior factor analytic work with a separate sample, it was hypothesized the items of the EIS-SR would coalesce into seven factors representing Externalizing Behavior, Internalizing Behavior, Peer Relationship Problems, School Disengagement, Emotional Dysregulation, Attention and Academic Issues, and Relational Aggression. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that EIS-SR scores would be invariant with regard to gender and grade level. Lastly, it was hypothesized that students with high EIS-SR subscale scores would be predictive of school discipline events. Our analyses indicated the EIS-SR did fit the previously observed factor structure with the items loading on seven distinct scales. Tests for measurement invariance indicated support that the EIS-SR measured the seven factors equally well regardless of both gender and grade level. Lastly, EIS-SR subscale scores predicted spring office disciplinary referrals, both in and out of school suspensions, and attendance.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS BEFORE AND DURING SCHOOL SUSPENSION BROUGHT BY THE COVID-19 QUARANTINE

The aim of this paper was to compare the physical activity (PA) levels in physical education (PE) teachers before and during school suspension brought by the COVID-19 quarantine. Thirty-seven PE teachers participated in the descriptive cross-sectional comparative methodological design study. In order to evaluate the PA levels, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was applied. As a statistical method, the equality of variance was calculated using the Student t test for independent samples. The results revealed less total PA MET-minutes/week in PE teachers (p=.005), with a percentage difference of 69.8 Δ%, during the COVID-19 quarantine compared to the state before the COVID-19 pandemic. PE teachers are considered professionals who help public health by reducing sedentary lifestyle in society. In that context, decrement in PA level, i.e., their inactivity determined during the COVID-19 pandemic is unacceptable.

Practice and Exploration of Online Education and Teaching during the Epidemic Situation——Taking Qingdao Teaching as an Example

The COVID-19 in now has disrupted the normal teaching schedule, but it did not stop the pace of education . Under the national call of “school suspension without suspension”. Qingdao primary school as an example, started a new learning mode of “home-schooling”, to minimum the impact of epidemic prevention and control on the teaching order. Qingdao City set the city’s famous teachers, build diacritical marks teams, create quality courses. Each school undertakes the heavy responsibility, does not show the weakness, the teacher advances the battle, displays the teacher style, discusses the new mode of online education and teaching together.

Collateral Consequences of School Suspension: Examining the ‘Knifing off’ Hypothesis

School exclusionary practices are routinely used in response to undesired behaviors in the school environment and have been shown to have resulted in unintentional or collateral consequences for youth, including increased risk of arrest, offending behavior, and incarceration. Little research has been done on how school exclusion impacts interaction with prosocial peers and involvement in prosocial opportunities. This study applies the labeling perspective’s knifing off concept to examine whether prosocial exposures and deviant peer associations mediate the relationship between school suspension, arrest, and offending behavior. Using data from the LONGSCAN study, we examined whether suspension led to changes in prosocial peer association and activity involvement, increases in deviant peer association, and ultimately arrest and offending behavior. Results provided support for the labeling perspective’s hypotheses, finding school suspension was indirectly associated with both arrest and offending behavior via decreases in prosocial exposures and increases in deviant peer associations. Findings suggest policy makers should consider alternatives to school suspension where possible to avoid collateral consequences like reductions in prosocial exposures and deviant peer associations and should consider applying restorative approaches following a suspension experience to reintegrate youth into prosocial communities.

Can Assistant Principals’ Years of Experience Make a Difference in School Suspensions? A State-wide Analysis of North Carolina Assistant Principals

School discipline disparities within the U.S. P-12 public schooling system have been a staple issue for over four decades. The enforcement of out-of-school suspensions, in particular by inexperienced teachers, have traditionally impacted Black and Latinx students more than White students. Yet teachers are not the final decision-makers regarding student discipline which rests primarily on the shoulders of assistant principals and principals. While researchers have clearly linked teacher experience to discipline disparities, more research is needed to fully explicate the tenure of assistant principals; who often are the final decision-makers when it pertains to suspending a student. Utilizing human capital theory, this study examines school discipline data and North Carolina personnel data from the 2015–2016 school year to determine if assistant principals’ years of experience in the current role, and their years of experience as teachers could predict out-of-school suspensions by gender and race. The findings suggest that Black males’ suspension could be predicted by assistant principals’ years of experience as a teacher; and Latinx females’ suspensions could be predicted by assistant principals’ longevity in their current position and in their roles as classroom teachers. Interestingly, the findings illuminate that assistant principals are relatively inexperienced within the state, with most having less than one-year worth of experience in these positions.

کيف واجهت المملکة العربية السعودية تحديات التعليم في ظل جائحة کورونا

أثرت أزمة الکورونا في جميع أنحاء الحياة ومجالاتها، ومن أهمها التعليم، والذي يعد البنية التنموية الأهم لتطور الدول، وعليه فقد رکزت هذه الدراسة على إلقاء الضوء على تبعات انتشار فيروس الکورونا وتأثيره على التعليم عربيا ودوليا، وکيف واجه العالم والدول العربية بوجه الخصوص هذا الانتشار، وما هي التدابير التي ترتب اتخاذها عليه، کما رکزت الدراسة على دور التعليم الافتراضي کحل بديل للتعليم التقليدي في ظل أزمة تعليق الدراسة، وقد خصصت الدراسة مبحثا خاصا لدراسة التعليم في المملکة العربية السعودية، والتغيرات التي طرأت عليه جراء أزمة جائحة الکورونا، وکيف تغلبت المملکة على هذه الأزمة، وتخطت عقبات عرقلة مواصلة العملية التعليمية، وکيف واجهت التحول الکامل للتعليم الإلکتروني في فترة أزمة الکورونا. Abstract The Corona crisis affected all areas of life, the most important of which is education, which is the most important development structure for the development of countries, and accordingly this study focused on shedding light on the consequences of the spread of the Corona virus and its impact on the Arabian education and internationally, and how the world and the Arab countries in particular faced This proliferation, and what are the measures that result in taking it, as the study focused on the role of virtual education as an alternative solution to traditional education in light of the crisis of school suspension. The study has devoted a special aspect to study education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the changes that occurred in it due to the corona pandemic crisis, and how the Kingdom overcame this crisis and obstacles to continuing the educational process, and how it faced the complete transformation of e-learning in the period of the Corona crisis.

Interventions in measles outbreaks: the potential reduction in cases associated with school suspension and vaccination interventions

Interventions in measles outbreaks: the potential reduction in cases associated with school suspension and vaccination interventions

Using Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports to Reduce School Suspensions

The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework is currently implemented in more than 25,000 schools across the globe. Its implementation has demonstrated positive impacts on a number of behavioral and academic outcomes. A growing evidence base has found that PBIS has been particularly effective at reducing both in- and out-of-school suspensions. This article describes concerns with the use of suspensions, defines PBIS, and outlines how schools can implement and use PBIS to reduce suspensions.

A Group Randomized Trial of School-Based Teen Courts to Address the School to Prison Pipeline, Reduce Aggression and Violence, and Enhance School Safety in Middle and High School Students

ABSTRACT This study evaluated the efficacy of School-Based Teen Courts (SBTCs) using a rigorous experimental trial with 24 middle- and high-schools randomly selected to receive SBTCs (n= 12) or to business-as-usual without any SBTC program (n = 12). Analyses examined school-level longitudinal growth models and individual-level pretest-posttest comparisons on school climate, student problems, and suspension rates. Longitudinal growth models revealed that SBTCs were significantly associated with positive changes in school satisfaction and reductions in delinquent friends for high school students, but showed no significant changes on other outcomes. Short-term suspensions decreased more than twice as much in SBTC schools versus comparison schools. There was a 47% reduction in bullying victimization in SBTC schools relative to a 22% reduction in comparison schools. These findings suggest that SBTCs have the potential to positively impact youth development.

0267 School Night Sleep Duration Effect on Risk for In-and-Out of School Suspensions: An Investigation in a Middle-School Aged Sample

Abstract Introduction Sleep plays an important role in adolescent education and development. Sleep impacts student school attendance, academic performance, and daytime behaviors. There has been limited investigation into the impact on sleep duration (SD) on school suspension risk. Given the growing public health and policy focus on altering school start times to increase SD, this study assessed SD association with school suspension risk using a middle-school aged sample from the Madison (Wisconsin) Metropolitan School District (MMSD), prior to implementation of a planned district-wide delay in middle school start times. Methods 4,175 middle-school aged students from 12 MMSD schools completed a sleep survey, which included school-night SD (SNSD). Self-reported SNSD between 4-and-12 hours served as criterion for inclusion in final sample. Mixed effects modeling was employed with students nested within school. Logistic regression determined SNSD association with in-school (ISS) and out-of-school (OSS) suspensions. ISS and OSS were dichotomized (No ISS/OSS = 0; nonzero ISS/OSS = 1) to serve as outcome variables. Full model covariates included age, sex, race, circadian preference, parent educational level, homelessness, free and reduced lunch, and special education status. Results Final sample included 3,860 students. Shorter SNSD associated with greater likelihood of OSS [OR = 0.83, 95% CI (-0.28, -0.09), X2 = 16.1, p &amp;lt; 0.0001], but not ISS [OR = 0.97, 95% CI (-0.14, -0.070), X2 = 0.44, p = 0.51]. Significance between SNSD and OSS was maintained in the full model [OR = 0.84, 95% CI (-0.27, -0.08), X2 = 13.2, p = 0.0003]. Each additional hour of sleep associated with 16% lower risk of OSS. Conclusion These results suggest that students with shorter SD are at increased risk for OSS, which further highlights the potential deleterious impact of short SD on adolescent educational experience. Support This research was generously supported by a grant from the Madison Education Partnership (MEP).

Toward Sustainable Learning during School Suspension: Socioeconomic, Occupational Aspirations, and Learning Behavior of Vietnamese Students during COVID-19

The overspread of the novel coronavirus—SARS-CoV-2—over the globe has caused significant damage to manufacturing and service businesses, regardless of whether they are commercial, public, or not-for-profit sectors. While both the short-term and long-term impacts of most companies can be approximately measured or estimated, it is challenging to address the enduring effects of COVID-19 on teaching and learning activities. The target of this research is to investigate students’ manners of studying at home during the school suspension time as a result of COVID-19. Through analyzing original survey data from 420 K6–12 students in Hanoi, Vietnam, this work demonstrates the different learning habits of students with different socioeconomic statuses and occupational aspirations during the disease’s outbreak. In particular, we featured the differences in students’ learning behaviors between private schools and public schools, as well as between students who plan to follow STEM-related careers and those who intend to engage in social science-related careers. The empirical evidence of this study can be used for the consideration of the local government to increase the sustainability of coming policies and regulations to boost students’ self-efficacy, as it will affect 1.4 million students in Hanoi, as well as the larger population of nearly 10 million Vietnamese students. These results can also be the foundation for future investigations on how to elevate students’ learning habits toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4)—Quality Education—especially in fanciful situations in which the regular school operation has been disrupted, counting with limited observation and support from teachers and parents.

ICT Obstacles and Challenges Faced by English Language Learners During the Coronavirus Outbreak in Jordan

During the Coronavirus outbreak, the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become a necessity, as ICT use in education is a systematic and structured process to improve the quality of education in Jordan. This study aimed at investigating the obstacles and challenges faced by English language students at Jadara University in Jordan while using e-learning programs during the school suspension. To achieve the aim of the study, this qualitative investigation has made use of convenience sample. Twelve students were chosen for a focused group interview where they were requested to answer questions concerning the constraining factors that they experienced while learning through ICT platforms. The findings show that students’ responses revealed three themes, namely, lack of effective training, lack of accessibility, and inconsistent teaching styles of instructors. Some of the recommendations suggested are that further research needs to be conducted into the speech acts used by Jordanians on different social networking platforms. Although barriers were significant, this paper recommended additional institutional support for online learning and increased technical and pedagogical training for students.