On the School Discipline Horizon: Four Considerations for Disrupting Stubborn Discipline Disparities
Richard O. Welsh
January 13, 2025
The excitement of a new school year is beginning to wear off and conversations on how student behavior is perceived and addressed is making its way to the top of the educational equity totem pole (right next to the urgency of chronic absenteeism). The rates of exclusionary discipline have rebounded to (and in some cases exceed) pre-pandemic levels in districts nationwide and disparities in students’ disciplinary outcomes remain a pressing priority. The urgency of the call to action is the same as the reports by the Children Defense Fund in the 1970s that brought attention to the growing school discipline crisis.
I have been studying school discipline and thought-partnering with districts for the past decade or so. As practitioners grapple with the post-pandemic uptick in student misbehavior, here are four considerations for the school discipline debate in the upcoming school year:
Put away your phones
“Suspending students, especially out of school suspensions (such as in Effingham County’s Plan), where instructional time is lost, may not be the best solution.”
Phones and social media are a disruptive cocktail for schools with several school discipline implications. Phones and social media are catalyzing disciplinary infractions such as fighting. Cell phones sap student engagement and are an addiction that is not only driving disruption in classrooms, but social media is also playing a larger role in school discipline issues such as bullying. Both traditional and charter schools are searching for a solution to cell phones. A handful of states such as Indiana and Virginia and numerous districts such as Evant Independent School District and Lafayette Parish School System have clarified their cell phone use policies in hopes of greater uniformity and less disruptions.
Yet, the discretion involved in enforcing these policies and the invariable differences across classrooms in how these policies are enforced may result in an increase in office discipline referrals. Compliance will not be 100% as not all students will take kindly to locking their phones in pouches and addiction levels to these devices may be revealed. This may lead to an explosion of ODRs and suspensions as students refuse to give up their phones. As such, thoughtfulness and striking a balance in cell phone policies is pivotal. Suspending students, especially out of school suspensions (such as in Effingham County’s Plan), where instructional time is lost, may not be the best solution. The cell phone issue also shines a light on instructional engagement, classroom management, and cultural responsiveness that are interrelated challenges.
Protecting teachers at all costs?
“Rather than fostering greater accountability for the use of discretion in disciplinary decisions, states such as Louisiana are going in the opposite direction…”
School discipline is rapidly evolving into a teacher labor market issue. Discipline disparities are not only robbing Black students of precious instructional time but also chasing the largely White female teaching workforce from the classrooms. In several states such as Alabama, Utah, Tennessee and Kentucky, the pendulum has swung in the direction of additional discretion for teachers under the guise of protecting them from disruptive students. These changes will stoke tensions between teachers and school leaders that may trickle over into areas of schooling beyond responding to disruption in classrooms. The additional discretion afforded to teachers is sometimes accompanied by the descent into zero tolerance approach and punitive practices. Consider Louisiana’s Act 337 that stipulates that 6-12th graders who receive 3 or more suspensions in a given school year shall be recommended for expulsion.
Rather than fostering greater accountability for the use of discretion in disciplinary decisions, states such as Louisiana are going in the opposite direction and removing suspension rates from the school accountability system. None of these approaches are supported by research evidence but are casted as “ common sense solutions to unnecessary bureaucracies and classroom disruptions that keep teachers from doing what they do best – teaching students”
Focus on supporting educators
"Yet, educators are too frequently excluded from the conversations on how to disrupt discipline disparities.”
Staff allocations typically account for most of the funding and educators are often the only adults in school buildings. Yet, educators are too frequently excluded from the conversations on how to disrupt discipline disparities. Research is increasingly illuminating the ways in which supporting teachers and school leaders translate into stronger relationships and engagement in schools and a reduction in the differences in students’ disciplinary outcomes, not solely the overall rates of exclusionary discipline.
The pandemic has also adversely affected educator well-being. Educators are crying out for support in the form of programs such as mental health counseling, professional development in topics such as classroom management and restorative practices, and additional support personnel such as counselors and social workers. Survey after survey is illustrating the ways in which school leaders can support teachers in the disciplinary process including prioritizing educator well-being and providing time for collaboration and swapping best practices among teachers.
Double down on the research evidence
“Too many experts in school discipline rely on anecdotal or experiential evidence instead of leveraging the research evidence from a robust and ever-expanding school discipline literature.”
Too many experts in school discipline rely on anecdotal or experiential evidence instead of leveraging the research evidence from a robust and ever-expanding school discipline literature. For instance, several stakeholders have continued to launch meritless attacks on restorative practices when there is experimental, quasi-experimental and descriptive research that demonstrates its effectiveness in reducing the prevalence of (and in less cases) disparities in exclusionary discipline. Why then would anyone encourage districts and schools to shift away from restorative practices?
We need to center, synthesize, and use research evidence in the disruption of discipline disparities. School discipline is a racialized and polarizing topic in which the research evidence can be a beacon for approaches that reduce exclusion and bolster instruction.
In conclusion
In conclusion, Black students and their counterparts continue to be disciplined differently in schools across the nation. But there is some semblance of hope on the school discipline horizon. Even though the Office of Civil Rights may benefit from additional funding, it seems in the past year, disciplinary practices in several districts such as Wichita Public schools have been revealed to be discriminatory. There are ongoing investigations, and one may walk away with the sense that accountability is entering into the lexicon of disrupting discipline disparities.
We are at a crossroads in school discipline. And how we navigate this fraught moment will determine the lives and livelihoods of students, particularly Black students who bear the burden of discipline disparities.
