Rethinking Schoolwide Discipline
and Student Support through the
Lens of the New Federal
Guidelines
May 14, 2014
Rethinking Schoolwide Discipline and Student Support
Through the Lens of New Federal Guidelines
Hosted by
John
Nori
Associate Director of
Program Development
Presented by
Carol
Lieber
Senior Consultant,
Educators for
Social Responsibility
A few details…
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New Guidance on School Climate and
Discipline
For more on
Supportive
School
Discipline go to:
www.nassp.org/
ed-discipline
Guiding Principles: A
Resource Guide for
Improving School Climate
and Discipline
US Department of Education
January 2014
Outcomes
1. Greater awareness of the issues that have
prompted concerns about schoolwide
discipline
2. Familiarity with the 3 major principles of new
federal guidelines
3. Identification of potholes that sustain
ineffective and inequitable discipline and
student support policies and practices
4. Recommendations for fixing the potholes
Essential Question
What will it take to ensure that
schoolwide discipline and student
support policies and practices reduce
the use of exclusionary sanctions and
increase the use of interventions that
support improved behavior?
A Sense of Urgency

What issues and concerns
have prompted national
attention to schoolwide
discipline in public schools?
A Sense of Urgency
What has prompted national attention to
schoolwide discipline in public schools?
The overuse of suspension and student
removal from classrooms
•
Suspension rates have more than doubled since the 1970s.
•
In Texas: 6 out of 10 students were suspended between 7th and
12th grades.
•
Nationally, more than 30% of secondary schools suspend more
than 20% of their total enrollments every year.
A Sense of Urgency
What has prompted national attention to
schoolwide discipline in public schools?
The “discretionary” use of
suspension
Over 80% of suspensions are “discretionary”, that is,
most suspensions are assigned at the discretion of an
administrator for violations that are not designated as
criminal or seriously violent or dangerous behaviors.
A Sense of Urgency
What has prompted national attention to
schoolwide discipline in public schools?
The disproportional use of suspension and
student removal
•
Nationally, students with disabilities12%, but have a suspension
rate of over 20% compared with regular education students.
•
African-American students are 3 times more likely to be
suspended than white students.
•
“Hot spot” schools have suspension rates for Black male students
with disabilities as high as 40%.
Concept of Disparate Impact
Practices may be considered discriminatory and
illegal if they have a disproportionate, adverse
impact on members of a protected group
Disparate impact is unintentional, whereas
disparate treatment (overt discrimination) is
intentional.
Consequences of Disparate Impact
 School alienation and disengagement
 Higher dropout rates
 Greater loss of instructional time
 Unsupervised time during school hours
puts students at higher risk
 School to prison pipeline
Conditions that Influence Disparate Impact on
Different Student Groups
Poll
Identify two factors that are most
likely to contribute to disparate
impact in your school or district.
1. Implicit bias and stereotype
2. Low expectations for some groups of students
3. Too much emphasis on punitive measures
4. Suspension is too discretionary
5. Too little attention to early intervention
Bottom Line about Suspension
“There are no data showing that out-of-school
suspension or expulsion reduce rates of
disruption or improve school climate; indeed,
the available data suggest that, if anything,
disciplinary removal appears to have negative
effects on student outcomes and the learning
climate.”
American Psychological Association, 2008
Guiding Principles
Principle 1: Climate and Prevention
Schools that foster positive school
climates can help to engage all students
in learning by preventing problem
behaviors and intervening effectively to
support struggling and at-risk students.
Principle 1: Climate and Prevention Pothole
Pothole: Systems break-down across discipline
and student support structures (the “silo”
effect)
Too often, discipline and student support policies
and practices are developed and implemented in
different silos by different people resulting in:
 inconsistent follow-through
 randomly applied consequences and interventions
 an incoherent case management system for
tracking and monitoring students with the most
problematic behaviors.
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: Systems break-down across discipline and
student support structures (the “silo” effect)
The Fix: All discipline and student support staff work as
one interdependent teamsharing data, using the
same common language, committing to the same goals
and approach to discipline and student support, and
engaging in the same set of practices that support
personal, social, and academic efficacy and improved
student behavior.
A Continuum of Restorative Conferencing
Social Discipline Conference
When a specific incident or behavior has harmed others or the community…..
 What happened? (What was your part in what happened?)
 What were you thinking and feeling at the time?
 Who else was affected by this? In what ways?
 What have been your thoughts/feelings since then? What are you
thinking/feeling now?
 What are some things you need to do to make it right?
Principle 1: Climate and Prevention Pothole
Pothole: Tier 2 and 3 behavioral interventions are
not fully articulated, delivered early enough, delivered
consistently enough, or delivered to all students who
need them.
1
2
3
Barriers to the Fix
Principle 1: Climate and Prevention

What are the barriers in your school to
putting in place timely, consistent, and
effective behavioral interventions?
Principle 1: Climate and Prevention
The Pothole and the Fix
All academic
diagnostic and
assigned referrals
IEPs
The Pothole: Multiple
referral systems and
All attendance
disconnected data
and disciplinary
bases that don’t provide
data
a holistic picture of a
All physical,
mental health
student.
The Fix:
One Referral System
and risk
referrals
Crisis referrals
Principle 1: Climate and Prevention
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: No coherent case management system
The Fix: Establish a case management team that meets
weekly, reviews data to identify high needs students,
determines appropriate interventions, tracks entry,
progress, and exit from interventions, and assigns high
needs students to “student support coaches”
Guiding Principles
Principle 2: Expectations and
Consequences
Schools that have discipline policies or codes of
conduct with clear, appropriate, and consistently
applied expectations and consequences will help
students improve behavior, increase engagement, and
boost achievement.
Principle 2: Expectations and Consequences
The Pothole

What potholes might you encounter with these
descriptions of behavior violations and
associated consequences found in many codes
of conduct?
Insubordination warrants a
range of consequences
from a warning to an
extended suspension of
more than 10 days
Physical fighting warrants
consequences that range
from in-school suspension
to expulsion
Principle 2: Expectations and Consequences
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: Global Language
The Fix: Avoid using the “D” words (DISRESPECTFUL,
DISRUPTIVE, DISOBEDIENT, DISORDERLY, DEFIANT) +
INSUBORDINATION to describe rule violations or behaviors
that are inappropriate, unacceptable, or unskillful. Use precise
language that describes observable behavior.
From “disruptive”excessive noise or movement during
whole group instruction
Principle 2: Expectations and Consequences
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: No differentiation regarding severity of a
behavior violation.
The Fix:
Differentiate
similar
behaviors by
severity of the
violation
Attack on student with physical injury: Hitting, kicking, or punching
another student with no provocation
Attack on student with physical injury: Hitting, kicking, or punching
another student with provocation
Attack on student without physical injury
Fighting with physical injury: All students involved engage in hitting,
kicking, or punching the other person
Fighting with no physical injury: All students involved engage in hitting,
kicking, punching the other person
Minor physical or verbal aggression or threat without injury: Unwanted
touching, poking, pushing, shoving, physical intimidation, verbal
threats, persistent teasing, taunting, or name calling
Principle 2: Expectations and Consequences
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: Too wide a range of consequences over
multiple levels for the same violation
The Fix:
Narrow the
range of
assigned
consequences
for a specific
violation
5 day suspension and district hearing
3 day suspension
1 to 3 day suspension
1 to 2 day in-school suspension
Incident report, conference with administrator,
dean, or student support staff member, assigned
intervention during school day
Principle 2: Expectations and Consequences
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: No differentiation for chronic
violations of the same behavior
The Fix: Be clear that multiple incidents or chronic
violations of the same behavior will warrant more
serious and severe consequences and more intensive
interventions.
Principle 2: Expectations and Consequences
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: Assigned consequences are often clustered
with interventions or they are not linked to specific
interventions
The Fix:
From the disciplinary side of things, students are assigned a
consequence. Consequences signal that a student’s actions
are perceived to be inappropriate, unacceptable, or unskillful.
For students who engage in serious violations this may include
district level sanctions.
Principle 2: Expectations and Consequences
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: Assigned consequences are often clustered with
“interventions” or are not linked to specific interventions
The Fix: From the student support side of things, students
participate in an accountable, restorative intervention that
addresses specific issues and behaviors that warrant the
assignment of a consequence. The intervention is the part of
the process where the student does the work to right oneself,
restore one’s good standing, make amends, learn and practice a
different behavior, repair the harm, or make it right.
Principle 2: Expectations and Consequences
The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: Assigned consequences are often clustered with
“interventions” or are not linked to specific interventions
The Fix: Aligned consequences and interventions
Level 2 Behavior
Violation
Persistent confrontational
and aggressive arguing,
refusal, backtalk
Assigned
Consequence
One day in-school
suspension during which
student receives the right
interventions
Aligned
Intervention
Student-teacher
conference facilitated by
student support team
member
Behavior replacement
intervention
Monitoring and feedback
Guiding Principles
Principle 3: Equity and Continuous
Improvement
Schools that build staff capacity and continuously
evaluate the school’s discipline policies and practices
are more likely to ensure fairness and equity and
promote achievement for all students.
Principle 3: Equity and Continuous
Improvement The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: The data base is not able to capture specific
behavior violations beyond global descriptions.
•
Over 75% of all discretionary secondary suspensions and office
referrals are designated as “insubordination, “classroom
disruption”, or “other disruption”.
The Fix: Configure your data base so that specific Level 1, 2, and 3
behaviors can be identified. Consider Level 1 behaviors as a diagnostic for
early intervention. Submit an “observation report” rather than removing
student from classroom.
Level 1 Behaviors: Use as Diagnostic
Classroom Non-Compliance
Failure to follow directions
1
No attempt to do assigned work
Non-compliance with classroom rules, procedures
2
Non-participation in activities
Classroom Off-Task Behaviors:
3
Loss of focus or disengagement
Failure to work silently or independently without bothering others
Failure to manage anger, self-regulate or deal with persistent
discouragement and frustration effectively
Non-Cooperative Behaviors
Initiating or joining in “side bar” conversations, interrupting, blurting out,
talking out of turn
Principle 3: Equity and Continuous
Improvement The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: Most teachers are not fully equipped to address
more confrontational and defiant behaviors in ways that
depersonalize the situation, defuse the confrontation, address
the needs of the student, and provide concrete strategies to
help students get back on track.
The Fix: Build capacity of the school staff to more fully
understand challenging, high needs students and to address
challenging behaviors effectively.
Principle 3: Equity and Continuous
Improvement The Pothole and the Fix
Pothole: Reactive responses to inequitable
discipline policies and practices
The Fix: Make all discipline data transparent, meet weekly to review the
data, and create “red flag” protocols to lift up concerns about:
• Overuse of suspension and student removal
• Disproportional use of suspension and student removal
• Students who are “frequent flyers”
• Teachers who are “frequent flyers”
Assessing and Prioritizing Your Needs
Poll
Identify one priority action step that will bring
you closer to the discipline and student support
system you would like to have in place.
1. Establish a more systemic student support/case management system
that can determine and deliver more timely interventions
2. Use more specific language to describe behavior violations
3. Narrow the range of consequences for a specific violation
4. Align specific interventions to assigned consequences.
5. Build capacity of school staff to work with challenging students.
Questions
 ?????
For More Information
Educators for Social
Responsibility
www.esrnational.org
Carol Miller Lieber
carolmlieber@esrnational.org
For more on Supportive
School Discipline go to:
www.nassp.org/ed-discipline
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