July 19, 2011 by Shelby Joe

The Effectiveness of Public School Discipline

Texas researchers have just released a groundbreaking study on school discipline. The study, “Breaking Schools’ Rules” looked at 1 million Texas 7th graders and followed them for six years (when they should have all graduated). It found that 60 percent of those students were suspended or expelled at least one time in that six year period. Of students who were disciplined repeatedly (11 times or more over six years), 50% of them ended up in juvenile detention facilities. Furthermore, the study found that African Americans were disproportionately disciplined. The big question that the article presents is the effectiveness of the school discipline system–whether it focuses too much on punishment and not enough on correcting the underlying behavioral issues.