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Concern about the use of zero-tolerance policies for discipline has led to a search for alternatives such as training in early-warning signs of aggressive behavior and strategies for effective classroom management in schools. This chapter examines the effectiveness of the provision of alternatives to out-of-school suspensions (OSS) in reducing the use of exclusionary discipline for minor misbehavior and the school characteristics associated with these provisions.

This analysis uses the 2008 panel from the National School Survey on Crime and Safety to explore this question for approximately 1,000 high schools. The analysis is a probit regression analysis to examine the association between the provision of alternatives to OSS, school characteristics, and the use of OSS for low-level suspensions. This analytic approach provides wide generalizability for the findings, though it does also limit an ability to identify individual school- or student-level effects.

Findings based on probit regression analysis suggest that structural characteristics of schools – beyond student characteristics – are only somewhat related to variation in the use of OSS for low-level infractions and, on average, the availability of alternatives to OSS do not strongly decrease the frequency of OSS for lower-level infractions. These findings are important in the current era of discipline policy scrutiny where schools and policy-makers are searching for alternatives to traditional suspension practices in a limited empirical evidence base.

While these alternatives hold great promise, little is known about their effectiveness in addressing behavior problems and/or reducing OSS. More importantly, even less is known about the characteristics of schools likely to enact alternatives.

The chapter explains how and why the Toronto District School Board (TDSB)'s Safe Schools policy has moved from a zero tolerance approach to progressive discipline and prevention and examines the outcomes for racialized students.

The chapter draws on findings from a critical policy analysis of the TDSB's Safe Schools policy cycle and its connections to various provincial policy cycles through a conceptual policy web.

The TDSB's transition from a zero tolerance approach to discipline to a combination of progressive discipline and prevention has arisen from complaints against the board and the government of Ontario filed by Ontario's Human Rights Commission (OHRC), the shooting death of a student in a TDSB high school and changing legislation. Although suspension and expulsions rates have decreased since changes were introduced, the board's discipline policies still appear to have a disproportionately negative impact on racialized students. The board and province's reluctance to collect race-based data in relation to suspensions and expulsions makes it difficult, yet not impossible, to track progress towards equitable policy outcomes.

Adopting a progressive discipline approach to maintaining safe schools can help keep more students in school without compromising school safety. However, Safe Schools policy includes both texts and practices so equitable outcomes are not guaranteed by rewriting formal policy texts.

In this chapter, we argue that the growth of punitive school discipline in US schools has created an inequitable system of school punishment that is reflective of the development of the school-to-prison pipeline and the establishment of an educational “total institution.” Current school discipline practices negatively affect student academic growth in the classroom as a result of an increase in suspensions and expulsions. Data in this chapter exemplify the overreliance on punitive school discipline in one urban school to address behavioral issues and also further expand on the concept of school-to-prison pipeline using the “total institution” theory of command and control of a population proposed by Goffman (1961). We argue that there are more effective measures of school discipline and seek to provide alternate possibilities for school leaders to address the draconian treatment of Black and brown boys in today’s traditional public school environments.

There is a lack of empirical evidence to support the claim that zero-tolerance policies decrease violent incidents in schools or improve school safety. The message behind the policies clearly indicates that violence in schools is not tolerable under any circumstances; however, there is no correlation between the message and the outcomes from policy implementation. The literature on school order and safety suggests that zero tolerance is the simplest and least effective approach with a myriad of unintentional consequences that have a negative impact on education, not just for an individual student but for the system as a whole (American Psychological Association, 2006; Casella, 2003). This chapter examines the role of the school leader, the historical background of school safety, the role of the school leader as a learner, the legislative events that led to the development of zero-tolerance policies, and outline the unintended consequences of zero-tolerance policies in relation to leadership and learning. An alternative approach to school discipline is proposed – namely a restorative justice approach, which may work towards alleviating many of these unintended consequences.

School leaders seeking to implement restorative justice discipline practices in diverse urban schools have a series of subtle and crucial decisions to make that are omitted in the literature on alternatives to suspension. The current chapter examines one group of Black teachers from a larger study of schools using restorative practices. In interviews and observations, these teachers demonstrated Du Bois’s theory of Double Consciousness; they recognized both the institutional dynamics of the school’s discipline policy and the ways in which enactment of that policy ultimately replicated traditional racial inequality. They repeatedly challenged restorative theory and practices in terms of their relevance to students whose everyday reality involved police violence, community violence, and impoverished living conditions. While praising its potential as a foundation for communication and trust building, they perceived its implementation as a way to restore obedience for the student and restore order in the school. While stemming from one group of teachers in one school setting, my findings beg important questions for school leaders, researchers, and policymakers concerned with school discipline reform.

The school-to-prison pipeline is a booming pipeline that is the cause for alarm. Increasingly, this pipeline includes more of Chicano males, and this dynamic is reflected in low rates of high school graduates going to college contrasted with the growing number of Chicanos in the juvenile justice and court systems. This study focuses on the impacts of the school-to-prison pipeline on Chicano students. Furthermore, utilizing a CRT and LatCrit framework, this study centers the experiential knowledge that Chicano students contribute to conceptualizing ways of disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. Themes of this study include the following: (1) Chicano student experiences with the school-to-prison pipeline, (2) innovation of discipline policy and practice, and (3) effective alternative practices to a zero tolerance framework. Through this, Chicano students point to a praxis grounded in community to clear educational pathways and interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.

A vast amount of educational literature has repeatedly documented the overrepresentation of African American male students in exclusionary school punishment. However, amid the wealth of data and statistics on the topic, a viable theoretical explanation, that helps to make sense of the disproportionately high number of suspensions for Black males, remains relatively absent. Drawing upon the Method of Theory Triangulation, this chapter uses three conceptual frames to develop a plausible, causal narrative for deconstructing how pose, perception, and threat converge create a perfect storm of conditions that perpetuate discriminatory discipline practices. Based on the theoretical considerations implicit in this account, practical recommendations are offered to educational stakeholders who might be interested in improving school discipline practices and reducing the number of Black males disproportionately targeted for disciplinary action.

The drive to improve learning and safety in our nation’s public schools has resulted in the widespread adoption of zero-tolerance disciplinary policies. The practice of punishing any school infraction regardless of extenuating circumstances has been particularly detrimental to students of color. Black and Latino students are more likely to be suspended, expelled, and/or referred to law enforcement for nonviolent and/or minor infractions. Students who are removed from school fall behind academically and have an increased risk of being arrested and thrust into the criminal justice system. This reality has moved the Obama administration to urge school officials to abandon overly zealous disciplinary policies. However, the recommendations set forth by the Obama administration are nonbinding and fail to address the root causes of racially discriminatory school discipline practices.

Any meaningful effort to understand and/or disrupt the pattern of pushing students out of schools and funneling them into the criminal justice system must consider the adverse effects of the following three factors: (1) unchecked racial biases among school personnel, (2) inadequately resourced poor performing schools, and (3) the ever-expanding economic inequality in society. Omitting of any of these items from the guidelines and recommendations represents a glaring limitation of the Supportive School Discipline Initiative as a tool for addressing racial disparities in school discipline and the school to prison pipeline.

We aim to show that students of color would benefit from “need-based” educational reforms, a Presidential Administration that directly addresses racial inequality, and economic policies that target the most financially strapped communities.

This introduction chapter provides context to the ubiquitous nature of school discipline disproportionality, which has morphed into what is now commonly known as school-to-prison pipeline (STPP). A sample of major studies on school discipline research is presented to highlight the breadth and depth of the impact of discipline disparity on racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students, low-income students, and students with disabilities. We also address how the interaction between implicit or explicit racism and discipline policies and practices exacerbates STPP. We acknowledge the efforts made by school systems to reverse the STPP trend through interventions such as restorative justice and positive behavioral intervention and support (PBIS). We posit that principals and teachers are critical agents in reforming the pervasive STPP trajectory. Finally, this chapter provides a synopsis of the rest of the chapters contained in this book.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of school discipline in achieving academic performance. The study aims to clarify the role of permissive vis-à-vis authoritative teaching styles with an overarching hypothesis that better discipline leads to better academic performance. The authors also probe whether uniformed students have better discipline.

The authors analyse Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment data on school discipline dimensions: students listening well, noise levels, teacher waiting time, students working well, class start time. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc analysis on five geographic groups established by Baumann and Winzar (2016) was applied to test for geographic differences (Europe, Americas, Far East Asia, Rest of Asia, Anglo-Saxon cluster) in school discipline. ANOVA was further used to test for school discipline and academic performance. Third, t-tests on five discipline dimensions were run to test for differences between students who wear uniforms and those who do not.

The results demonstrate differences in school discipline across five geographic clusters, with East Asia leading the way. The authors demonstrate significant differences in discipline for low, medium and high performing students. Peak-performing students have the highest level of discipline. Students wearing a uniform listen better with lower teacher waiting times.

Students peak perform when teachers create a disciplined atmosphere where students listen to teachers, where noise levels in the classroom are low and they do not have to wait to start class and teach. Good discipline allows students to work well and this ultimately leads to better academic performance. Uniforms contribute to better discipline in everyday school operations. The findings support that in general, implementing school uniforms at schools might enhance discipline and allow for better learning. The authors recommend keeping uniforms where they are already used and to consider introducing uniforms where they are not yet common.