With student mental health at an all-time low, it’s no wonder behavior is out of control. Since the pandemic, districts have been forced to rethink their schools’ discipline policies simply because the old methods are outdated. While it’s necessary to shake things up a bit, leaders must do so in a manner that ensures all student populations are treated with fairness.
More than 80% of superintendents believe student behavior is worse than it was before the pandemic, a recent survey from education company EAB reveals. Part of the issue, they said, is the difficulty to recruit and retain the proper staff to combat these crises. While districts patiently wait for the lingering effects of the pandemic to fade out, schools can restructure their disciplinary policies now to ensure a safe and emotionally supportive environment for all students.
Last week, The Education Trust, an equity-driven organization that seeks to improve policies and practices in education, published a report detailing how poorly designed discipline policies negatively impact students’ social, emotional and academic development. For instance, Black students receive corporal punishment at twice the rate of white students, according to research by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Students with disabilities also account for one-fourth of out-of-school suspensions, according to the report. While such punishments are simply a consequence of student behavior, their impact is something for leaders to consider.
“Being removed from the classroom squanders social and emotional learning opportunities for students, such as learning how to positively handle conflicts, and harms relationships between students and the adults who have excluded them,” the report reads.
To achieve healthy and supportive school environments, state education leaders must be open to shifting their policies and practices across the board while student outcomes are at the center of each decision, particularly prioritizing students of color and students with disabilities.
According to The Education Trust, leaders can improve their school’s discipline policies in seven ways:
- Establish clear goals for decreasing the use of exclusionary discipline and minimizing disparities in discipline.
- Offer technical assistance for improving discipline practices by providing human resources within the state education agency.
- Ban corporal punishment and limit the use of restraints. Communicate who and when such practices should be implemented.
- Do away with zero-tolerance policies and exclusions for non-violent offenses.
- For state leaders, provide school districts with guidance on how to adopt positive discipline policies and practices, such as restorative justice solutions and student-centered codes of conduct.
- Offer evidence-based guidance and funding for professional development in this area.
- Publicly report district-level data on categories of offenses and punishments. This information should be disaggregated.
“District leaders have the power to set equity-focused policies and develop educator capacity for implementing positive discipline practices,” the report reads. “These actions can create positive and inviting school climates where students feel safe and are held accountable for their actions in ways that best support their social, emotional, and academic development.”
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