Publication Date

2022

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Clark, April K.

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Political Science

Abstract

School discipline practices are an often debated topic in the field of education. In recent years, zero-tolerance policies and the use of consequences such as out-of-school suspensions have been routinely criticized. It is argued that those practices limit in-school instructional time and, therefore, directly affect student performance and achievement. Moreover, such discipline policies have also been known to disproportionately affect students from racial and/or ethnic backgrounds, students with disabilities, and students from low-income families compared to their peers. As a result, other disciplinary practices that focus more on restorative communication have been pursued. But little work has been done to assess the outcomes associated with the implementation of new disciplinary practices. This paper tested the effectiveness of state-level school discipline policies, and found that reform attempts to existing state-level policies are ineffective. Effectiveness is measured by comparing intended outcomes of the legislation to actual outcomes. States with reformed disciplinary practices are identified with the presence of one of three criteria contained in the state’s legislation: restricting the use of out-of-school suspensions, banning zero-tolerance policies, and/or regulating consequences for attendance. Focusing on Midwest states, this study finds that three of the ten states (Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin) have reformed school discipline legislation intended to maximize student attendance and achievement. However, the results on statewide data measuring student chronic absenteeism and truancy, standardized test scores (SAT and ACT), and graduation rates show no improvement in student attendance and/or achievement, indicating the reform legislation is ineffective in achieving the intended outcomes.

Extent

64 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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