For Immediate Release: August 6, 2015

Contact: Renee Rybak Lang, renee.lang@nasbe.org, 703-740-4841

Alexandria, VA. – Last week, education leaders from across the United States gathered at the White House to discuss the troubling state of discipline practices in public schools. New data from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) estimates that over 3 million students are suspended or expelled every year, with minorities and special needs students often facing harsher discipline than their peers for the same offenses.  Such exclusionary discipline practices aim to create orderly, safe classrooms, but there is little evidence they actually work, according to a new NASBE Education Leaders Report released today.

In “Advancing School Discipline Reform,” American Institutes for Research analysts Greta Colombi and David Osher explore the latest research on punitive school discipline and zero-tolerance policies, their effects on student achievement and engagement, and a range of more effective disciplinary strategies that should supplant them.

“Punitive discipline has increasingly been used as a quick fix to what often is a chronic, long-term problem,” Colombi and Osher write, an approach that has created more problems. They explain that zero-tolerance policies often do not improve school climate: Suspended students are more likely to struggle academically, drop out of school, commit violent crimes, and enter the juvenile justice system.

State policymakers can advance school discipline reform and improve school climate, say Colombi and Osher. State boards of education can work with state agencies to develop policies and support practices that strengthen the data collection, analysis, and stakeholder collaboration needed for such reform. Some states have already made progress. For example, Wisconsin and West Virginia developed systems to collect and analyze disaggregated data on student disciplinary referrals. And Maryland reformed their disciplinary procedures to focus on rehabilitation, reserving suspensions for only the most severe offenses.

“Research shows that exclusionary discipline policies and practices do not work and often backfire. State boards of education can support districts and schools’ efforts in making real, measurable change in their disciplinary practices,” write Colombi and Osher. “Such change should result not only in a reduction of exclusionary practices but also should improve a range of student outcomes, including achievement, attendance, and graduation rates.”

Download and read “Advancing School Discipline Reform.”

The National Association of State Boards of Education represents America’s state and territorial boards of education. Our principal objectives are to strengthen state leadership in education policymaking, advocate equality of access to educational opportunity, promote excellence in the education of all students, and ensure responsible lay governance of education. Learn more at www.nasbe.org.

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