Research References
Anyon, Y., Gregory, A., Stone, S., Farrar, J., Jenson, J. M.,
McQueen, J., et al. (2016). Restorative interventions and
school discipline sanctions in a large urban school district.
American Educational Research Journal, 53(6),
1663–1697.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1124998. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312315542
From the ERIC abstract: “A large urban district (N =
90,546 students, n = 180 schools) implemented restorative
interventions as a response to school discipline incidents.
Findings from multilevel modeling of student discipline
records (n = 9,921) revealed that youth from groups that tend
to be overrepresented in suspensions and expulsions (e.g.,
Black, Latino, and Native American youth; boys; and students
in special education) had similar, if not greater, rates of
participation in restorative interventions than their peers.
First-semester participants in restorative interventions had
lower odds of receiving office discipline referrals (OR 0.21,
p < 0.001) and suspensions (OR 0.07, p < 0.001) in the second
semester. However, the suspension gap between Black and White
students persisted. Implications for reform in school
discipline practices are noted.”
Anyon, Y., Jenson, J. M., Altschul, I., Farrar, J., McQueen,
J., Greer, E., et al. (2014). The persistent effect of race
and the promise of alternatives to suspension in school
discipline outcomes.
Children and Youth Services Review, 44(1), 379–386.
Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264426418
From the abstract: “Demographic and student discipline
data were used to examine the influence of multi-level risk
and protective factors on exclusionary school discipline
outcomes. Participants included all youth (n = 87,997) in
grades K to 12 who were enrolled in Denver Public Schools (n =
183) in 2011–2012. The dataset included measures of risk and
protective factors for exclusionary school discipline outcomes
such as race, family poverty, special education status,
emotional disability, participation in gifted and talented
programs, homelessness, office referral reasons over the
course of one school year, participation in in-school
suspension, a behavior contract, or restorative approaches,
and school composition. Multilevel logistic regression
modeling was used to estimate students’ likelihood of
receiving one or more office disciplinary referrals,
suspensions, expulsions, and/or law enforcement referrals.
Findings indicate that student racial background and school
racial composition are enduring risks across key decision
points of the school discipline process. Conversely,
participation in restorative interventions and in-school
suspensions protects students from out-of-school suspensions.
This study suggests that ongoing attention to issues of racial
inequity in school discipline outcomes is warranted, and that
restorative practices have potential as an inclusive strategy
to improve school discipline outcomes without excluding
students from the classroom.”
REL Southwest Note: What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)
Rating stated, “Does not meet WWC standards because it uses a
quasi-experimental design in which the analytic intervention
and comparison groups do not satisfy the baseline equivalence
requirement.”
Childs, K. E., Kincaid, D., George, H. P., & Gage, N. A.
(2016). The relationship between school-wide implementation of
Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports and student
discipline outcomes.
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 18(2),
89–99.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1092477. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281181237
From the ERIC abstract: “School-Wide Positive Behavior
Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a systems approach to
supporting the social and emotional needs of all children
utilized by more than 21,000 schools across the nation. Data
from numerous studies and state projects’ evaluation reports
point to the impact of SWPBIS on student outcomes (office
discipline referrals [ODRs], in-school suspensions [ISSs],
out-of-school suspensions [OSSs]) and the possible
relationship between implementation fidelity and those student
outcomes. With data from 1,122 Florida schools, this study
used a longitudinal design to examine the associations between
the total score and 10 subscale scores on the Benchmarks of
Quality (BoQ), a validated SWPBIS implementation fidelity
measure, and school-level behavioral outcomes: ODRs, ISSs, and
OSSs. Results of these analyses found a decreasing trend
across all three behavioral outcomes, and schools having
higher BoQ total scores realized lower ODRs and had
corresponding fewer ISSs and OSSs. Of the 10 subscales, the
Classroom was negatively and significantly associated with
ODRs and OSSs, whereas the BoQ Data Entry Plan was positively
and significantly associated with ODRs at initial status and
across time after controlling for school-level characteristics
(e.g., size, number of years of implementation). The
implications of the findings for SWPBIS assessment and
intervention in the classroom are discussed.”
Dupper, D. R., Theriot, M. T., & Craun, S. W. (2009). Reducing
out-of-school suspensions: Practice guidelines for school
social workers. Children & Schools, 31(1), 6–14.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ829884. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274171088
From the ERIC abstract: “In many U.S. school districts,
there has been a near epidemic of out-of-school suspensions
(OSSs) for relatively minor or vaguely defined student
offenses. Suspension provides temporary relief to frustrated
teachers and administrators and may result in more parental
involvement. However, for a large number of at-risk youths, it
appears that being suspended leads to significant problems
outside of school, increases the likelihood of receiving
additional OSSs, and may result in dropping out of school. As
a result, school social workers need to be made aware of
programs that focus on the elimination of students’
problematic behaviors rather than the elimination of students
themselves. This article summarizes recent research on
individual and school factors that have been shown to be
associated with and predictive of OSSs. On the basis of these
findings, the authors present a set of practice guidelines for
reducing OSSs and identify and describe promising and proven
programs within each practice guideline. They conclude with a
discussion of challenges facing school social workers seeking
to implement alternatives based on these practice guidelines.”
Freeman, J., Kern, L., Gambino, A. J., Lombardi, A., & Kowitt,
J. (2019). Assessing the relationship between the Positive
Behavior Interventions and Supports framework and student
outcomes in high schools.
Journal of At-Risk Issues, 22(2), 1–11.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1231342
From the ERIC abstract: “The relationship between PBIS
implementation fidelity and reductions in student office
discipline referrals (ODR) has been relatively
well-established in the literature; however, results related
to other student outcomes such as suspensions, attendance, and
academic performance are not well explored especially at the
high school level. The purpose of this study was to examine
the relations between PBIS implementation fidelity and
student-level behavior (ODR, suspension), attendance (days
absent, tardies), and academic (GPA) outcomes in a large
sample of 12,127 students from 15 high schools implementing
PBIS in a natural context without direct research support. Our
findings suggest high schools implementing PBIS with fidelity
may see improvements in student outcomes beyond reductions in
ODRs. After controlling for student and school demographic
variables, schools which were implementing with higher
fidelity in this sample had fewer absences, unexcused tardies,
ODRs, and suspensions. This study extends the current
literature by exploring typical measures of academic
achievement (i.e., GPA) rather than focusing upon only
standardized assessments and by examining student-level rather
than school-level aggregate outcomes. Notably, results from
the current study focus entirely on high school settings and
demonstrate desired changes in student-level outcomes in a
large sample.”
Gregory, A., Allen, J. P., Mikami, A. Y., Hafen, C. A., &
Pianta, R. (2014). Eliminating the racial disparity in
classroom exclusionary discipline.
Journal of Applied Research on Children, 5(2), 1–22.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1188521
From the ERIC abstract: “Advocates call for schools
with high suspension rates to receive technical assistance in
adopting ‘proven-effective’ systematic supports. Such supports
include teacher professional development. This call is
justified given evidence that good teaching matters. But what
types of professional development should be funded?
Increasingly, research points to the promise of programs that
are sustained, rigorous, and focused on teachers' interactions
with students. The current study tests whether a professional
development program with these three characteristics helped
change teachers’ use of exclusionary discipline
practices—especially with their African American students.
Exclusionary discipline is when a classroom teacher sends a
student to the administrators’ office for perceived
misbehavior. Administrators then typically assign a
consequence, usually in the form of suspension (in-school or
out-of school). The My Teaching Partner-Secondary (MTP-S) aims
to improve teachers’ interactions with their students when
implementing instruction and managing behavior. MTP-S helps
teachers offer clear routines, implement consistent rules, and
monitor behavior in a proactive way. The program also supports
teachers in developing warm, respectful relationships that
recognize students’ needs for autonomy and leadership.
Teachers are paired with a coach for an entire school year
(sustained approach), they regularly reflect on video
recordings of their classroom instruction and carefully
observe how they interact with students, and they apply the
validated Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS-S) to
improve the quality of their interactions (rigorous approach).
In the current study, a randomized controlled trial found that
teachers receiving MTP-S relied less on exclusionary
discipline compared to the control teachers. Specifically,
MTP-S teachers issued fewer exclusionary discipline referrals
to their African American students. This is the first study to
show that programs like MTP-S that focus on teacher-student
interactions in a sustained manner using a rigorous approach
can actually reduce the disproportionate use of exclusionary
discipline with African American students. More broadly, the
findings offer policymakers direction in identifying types of
professional development programs that have promise for
reducing the racial discipline gap.”
Gregory, A., Huang, F. L., Anyon, Y., Greer, E., & Downing, B.
(2018). An examination of restorative interventions and racial
equity in out-of-school suspensions.
School Psychology Review, 47(2), 167–182.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1182043. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325720503
From the ERIC abstract: “Districts have been engaged in
efforts to reduce "differential processing" of
discipline-referred students based on their racial
backgrounds. They strive for fair assignment of exclusionary
consequences across racial groups. The current study examines
discipline records for one academic year in an urban school
district (N = 9,039 discipline-referred students) to identify
the factors associated with equitable assignment of
out-of-school suspension (OSS). Multilevel logistic regression
found that student participation in restorative interventions
substantially reduced the odds that individual students
received OSS. However, such participation was only marginally
associated with more comparable assignment of OSS to Black
students relative to their White peers. Together these
findings suggest that alternatives to suspension, such as
restorative interventions, may yield benefits for all student
groups, but they may result in only marginal narrowing of the
disparities in suspension rates between Black and White
students. This indicates that greater attention is needed to
address the inequitable school contexts in which disparities
arise.”
Kim, J., McIntosh, K., Mercer, S. H., & Nese, R. N. T. (2018).
Longitudinal associations between SWPBIS fidelity of
implementation and behavior and academic outcomes.
Behavioral Disorders, 43(3), 357–369.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1178803
From the ERIC abstract: “The purpose of this study was
to examine associations between implementation fidelity of
school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports
(SWPBIS) and student outcomes over time. The sample included
477 K-12 schools across 10 states implementing SWPBIS for
varying numbers of years and at varying levels of fidelity
(but with 78% of schools at or above established fidelity
criteria). Results indicate that, in general, schools showed a
decline in office discipline referrals (ODRs) and
out-of-school suspensions (OSSs) over 3 years. SWPBIS fidelity
of implementation was positively associated with initial
levels of ODRs and OSSs, and the relations between fidelity
and OSSs varied based on years of SWPBIS implementation.
Levels of fidelity did not predict change in ODRs or OSSs.
Despite no statistically significant associations between
fidelity and student academic outcomes, schools that had
implemented SWPBIS for 3 years or more had higher achievement
in mathematics after controlling for prior achievement.”
Nese, R. N. T., Bastable, E., Gion, C., Massar, M., Nese, J.
F. T., & McCroskey, C. (2020). Preliminary analysis of an
instructional alternative to exclusionary discipline.
Journal of At-Risk Issues, 23(1), 1–14.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1253864
From the ERIC abstract: “Decades of research have shown
that exclusionary discipline practices are not only
ineffective for changing student behavior, they lead to worse
social, behavioral, and academic outcomes for students. This
article explores the findings from a pilot study of the
‘Inclusive Skill-Building Learning Approach’ (ISLA), an
instructional alternative to exclusionary discipline
practices. The purposes of ISLA are to improve student social
and behavioral problem-solving, teacher and administrator
practices, and student-teacher relationships while also
reducing lost instructional time for student excluded from
their learning environment. Results from the pilot indicated
that implementation of ISLA was associated with reductions in
exclusionary discipline practices (Cohen’s ‘h’ effect sizes
ranged from 0.06 to 0.18 across schools and outcomes), and a
substantial decrease in instructional minutes lost (~ 92%).
Educational staff also reported favorable impressions of the
intervention. Practical and conceptual implications,
limitations of this study, and directions for future research
are further discussed.”
Nese, R. N. T., Nese, J. F. T., McCroskey, C., Meng, P.,
Triplett, D., & Bastable, E. (2020). Moving away from
disproportionate exclusionary discipline: Developing and
utilizing a continuum of preventative and instructional
supports.
Preventing School Failure, Special Issue (1), 1–32.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED604960. Retrieved from
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/25367/Nese%20et%20al._In%20press_PSF%20Special%20Issue.pdf
From the ERIC abstract: “Ample scientific research has
documented that exclusionary discipline practices are both
ineffective for reducing unwanted behaviors and harmful to the
long-term social and academic outcomes of students. Further,
exclusionary discipline practices are especially harmful given
their disproportionate use with students of color, students
with disabilities, students living in poverty, and students
who are struggling academically. To address these issues, the
authors describe a process that uses instructional strategies
as alternatives to exclusion. These instructional strategies
hold promise for reducing the use of disproportionate
discipline, improving student behavior and social skills, and
strengthening student-teacher relationships.”
Nocera, E. J., Whitbread, K. M., & Nocera, G. P. (2014).
Impact of School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports on student
behavior in the middle grades.
RMLE Online: Research in Middle Level Education, 37(8), 1–14.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1032366
From the ERIC abstract: “Research shows that
school-wide positive behavior supports (SWPBS) can be an
effective alternative to traditional reactive, punitive
approaches to problem behavior. However, few studies examine
the use of the approach as part of a comprehensive school
improvement process involving academic as well as behavioral
goals, particularly with regard to use of data-driven decision
making and data teams. This article describes the efforts of a
low-performing middle school in establishing preventative
measures and interventions within such a framework. Results
indicate a reduction in teacher discipline referrals and
student suspensions, including those involving students with
disabilities and statistically significant improvement on 30
of 47 items of a school climate and student resiliency survey.
In addition, school scores on state mastery tests in both
reading and math improved by 25% and 11%, respectively. This
study suggests that the implementation of a SWPBS framework
may result in improved academic and behavioral outcomes for
all students.”
Noltemeyer, A., Palmer, K., James, A. G., & Petrasek, M.
(2019). Disciplinary and achievement outcomes associated with
school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports
implementation level.
School Psychology Review, 48(1), 81–87.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1210611
From the ERIC abstract: “A positive behavioral
interventions and supports (PBIS) framework has been
associated with a variety of positive student and school
outcomes. However, additional research would be useful to
further understand the relationship between school-wide (i.e.,
Tier 1) PBIS implementation level and student outcomes. This
study examined whether there were differences in discipline
and academic outcomes based on Tier 1 PBIS implementation
fidelity level in 153 Ohio schools when accounting for key
covariates. Schools with higher implementation fidelity were
found to evidence a significantly lower number of
out-of-school suspensions per 100 students than schools with
lower implementation fidelity when accounting for demographic
covariates. However, a significant trend was not evidenced for
the academic achievement outcome variable. Limitations and
implications of this study are discussed.”
Simonsen, B., Eber, L., Black, A. C., Sugai, G., Lewandowski,
H., Sims, B., et al. (2012). Illinois statewide positive
behavioral interventions and supports: Evolution and impact on
student outcomes across years.
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 14(1),
5–16.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ950461. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258174595
From the ERIC abstract: “More than 1,000 Illinois
schools are implementing schoolwide positive behavior support
(SWPBS) to enhance outcomes for students and staff.
Consequently, Illinois established layered support structures
to facilitate scaling up SWPBS. This paper describes the
development of this infrastructure and presents the results of
HLM analyses exploring the effects of implementing SWPBS, with
and without fidelity across time, on student behavior and
academic outcomes (office discipline referrals, suspensions,
and state-wide test scores in reading and math) for a sample
of 428 Illinois schools implementing SWPBS. Results indicate
that (a) most schools implemented with fidelity and maintained
or improved student performance across time and (b)
implementation fidelity was associated with improved social
outcomes and academic outcomes in math. Study limitations and
implications are discussed.”
Steinberg, M. P., & Lacoe, J. (2018). Reforming school
discipline: School-level policy implementation and the
consequences for suspended students and their peers. American
Journal of Education, 125(1), 29–77.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1194269. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ec61/5e3c9dba3556b705ae7b62034e7074e0acb7.pdf
From the ERIC abstract: “States and districts are
revising discipline policies to reduce out-of-school
suspensions (OSSs), but the consequences of these reforms are
largely unknown. We examine a reform in Philadelphia that
prohibited OSS for classroom disorder infractions. Employing a
difference-in-differences approach, we examine the
relationship between the reform and student suspensions,
achievement, and attendance. For students suspended before the
reform, classroom disorder OSS decreased and attendance (but
not academic achievement) improved following the reform.
Postreform changes in peer outcomes varied with school-level
implementation: in schools that eliminated classroom disorder
OSS, peer math achievement and attendance were unaffected,
whereas peer math achievement declined and attendance
decreased in schools that did not fully implement the
district-level reform.”
Additional Organizations to Consult
Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports –
https://www.pbis.org/
From the website: “Funded by the U.S. Department of
Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and
the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), the
Technical Assistance Center on PBIS supports schools,
districts, and states to build systems capacity for
implementing a multi-tiered approach to social, emotional and
behavior support. The broad purpose of PBIS is to improve the
effectiveness, efficiency and equity of schools and other
agencies. PBIS improves social, emotional and academic
outcomes for all students, including students with
disabilities and students from underrepresented groups.”
REL Southwest Note: PBIS resources relevant to this
topic are listed below. They can be downloaded directly from
each hyperlink provided.
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
(CASEL) –
https://casel.org/
From the website: “The Collaborative for Academic,
Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is a trusted source for
knowledge about high-quality, evidence-based social and
emotional learning (SEL). CASEL supports educators and policy
leaders and enhances the experiences and outcomes for all
PreK-12 students.”
Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center –
https://csgjusticecenter.org/
From the website: “We combine the power of a
membership association, serving state officials in all three
branches of government, with the expertise of a policy and
research team focused on assisting others to attain measurable
results.
We synthesize and contextualize data to help policymakers
enact and implement major reforms that address criminal
justice challenges, many of which intersect with other
systems, such as health, education, and housing.
Improving Outcomes for Youth (IOYouth) is a program that works
with state and local jurisdictions to align their policies,
practices, and resource allocation with what research shows
works to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for youth
while enhancing public safety.”
International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) –
https://www.iirp.edu/
From the website: This Restorative Practices in
Schools K–12 page (
https://www.iirp.edu/resources/restorative-practices-in-schools-k-12-education) provides links to the following resources: Research and
Evaluations, Reports and Recommendations, Guides for
Implementation, School Conduct, Integrating Related
Evidence-Based Strategies, Professional Journals, Articles and
Videos, and Supporting Evidence.
National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) –
https://intensiveintervention.org/
“NCII is housed at the American Institutes for Research, and
works in conjunction with many of our nation’s most
distinguished data-based individualization (DBI) experts. It
is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of
Special Education Programs (OSEP) and is part of OSEP’s
Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network (TA&D).
The Mission of the NCII is to build capacity of state and
local education agencies, universities, practitioners, and
other stakeholders to support implementation of intensive
intervention in reading, mathematics, and behavior for
students with severe and persistent learning and/or behavioral
needs.”
REL Southwest note: The NCII website includes a
course on behavior support for intensive intervention and a
set of behavior strategies for intensifying behavior
interventions.
From the website: “The course includes eight modules
that can support faculty and professional development
providers with instructing pre-service and in-service
educators’ knowledge of behavioral theory and skills in
designing and delivering effective behavioral supports for
students with intensive needs.”
From the website: “NCII developed a series of
behavioral strategies to support teachers working with
students with primary academic deficits and challenging
behaviors. Each strategy incorporates key terminology, an
overview of the purpose, and all associated materials.”
National Clearinghouse on Supportive Discipline (NCSSD) –
https://supportiveschooldiscipline.org/
From the website: “With funding from Atlantic
Philanthropies and Open Society Foundations, the American
Institutes for Research® (AIR) founded the National
Clearinghouse on Supportive School Discipline (NCSSD) to
provide educational practitioners with the resources needed to
facilitate:
-
The reduction of harsh and exclusionary discipline
practices to stem the pipeline to prison
-
The implementation of supportive school discipline
practices”
