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. 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.

Modeling the Effects of Racial Threat on Punitive and Restorative School Discipline Practices*

“…When considering the criminal justice approach to school discipline, the considerable overrepresentation of Black students receiving punitive consequences to problem behavior is of particular concern. Research clearly documents that Black students experience more intense punishment in school than White students (Ferguson, 2000;Foney and Cunningham, 2002;Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 2001;Nichols, 2004;Skiba, 2001;Peterson, 1997, 1999;Skiba, Peterson, and Williams, 1997;Welsh, 2000) and receive punitive treatment more frequently for less serious offenses (Brown and Beckett, 2006;McCarthy and Hoge, 1987; \\server05\productn\C\CRY\48-4\CRY404.txt unknown Seq: 5 12-NOV-10 12:09 MODELING THE EFFECTS OF RACIAL THREAT 1023 McFadden et al, 1992;Nichols, 2004;Noguera, 2003a;Raffaele Mendez and Knoff, 2003;Shaw and Braden, 1990;Skiba, 2000Skiba, , 2001Skiba et al, 2002). Statistics indicate that Black students are more likely to be suspended than White students (Brooks, Schiraldi, and Ziedenberg, 1999;Costenbader and Markson, 1994;Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 2001;Gregory and Weinstein, 2008;Nichols, 2004;Raffaele Mendez, Knoff, and Ferron, 2002;Skiba and Knesting, 2001;Skiba et al, 2002;Taylor and Foster, 1986; Thornton and Trent, 1988).…”

“…Some research suggests that perceptions of deviance by White teachers result from certain cultural expectations of behavior, such as greater physical contact, boisterousness, and vocal assertiveness of Black students (Nichols, 2004). Cross-cultural misunderstandings of jokes and other behaviors also might make teachers incorrectly believe that Black students are breaking rules (Brown and Beckett, 2006;Nichols, 2004), resulting in those who are perceived as "troublemakers" being "pushed out" (Skiba and Peterson, 1999). Moreover, toughness, a quality often admired by peers, may elicit teacher fear and, therefore, affect student discipline (Noguera, 2003a;Skiba, 2000;Skiba et al, 2002).…”

“…Individual examples of racial bias and racism also have been blamed for the racial disproportionality of school discipline (Brown and Beckett, 2006;Ferguson, 2000;Giroux, 2003;Noguera, 2003a;Skiba et al, 2002;Skiba and Peterson, 1999;Watts and Erevelles, 2004;Wu et al, 1982). Racial disparity in itself is not an indicator of discrimination (Skiba et al, 2002), but with delinquency being equal, harsher punishments have been attributed to racial bias.…”

The use and frequency of verbal and non-verbal praise in nurture groups

“…However, more recent statistics suggest that student classroom behaviour is still of great concern to teachers, parents and the general public (Brown and Beckett 2006). Recent research and inspection findings suggest that there are many classrooms in schools in England where the challenging behaviour of some pupils disrupts the learning of others (Office for Standards in Education [Ofsted] 2005[Ofsted] , 2006.…”

Teachers' Views on the Impact of Classroom Management on Student Responsibility

“…Because the same findings appear to derive independently from the responses of students and teachers the problem seems more real. Teachers could more effectively help less responsible students to become more responsible (or at least to act more responsibly) by increasing their use of strategies such as recognising appropriate behaviour, using rewards, hinting, discussions and involvement in establishing rules (Balson, 1992), while still implementing clear and consistent consequences for inappropriate behaviour (Brown & Beckett, 2006;Reinke & Herman, 2002). The problem arises because the findings appear to indicate that the reverse is often the case.…”