New Research Finds Excessive Discipline Harms Student Achievement

In a report by the Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative, discrepancies in school discipline are found to be a serious problem that result in a wide range of negative student outcomes, including lowered academic achievement, increased risk of dropout, and increased likelihood of contact with the juvenile justice system.
Funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and Open Societies Foundations, the Collaborative consists of 26 researches, educators, advocates, and policy analysts that spent nearly three years working to develop and support a policy agenda for reform to improve students outcomes in school discipline and encourage effective interventions.
Some of the key points discussed in the briefing papers include:

• Removal from school for minor rule breaking happens too often and increases dropout risks, juvenile justice involvement, and can severely impair the economy.
• Excessive disciplinary exclusion harms some groups more than others, including black males and Latinos.
• There are effective and promising alternatives to exclusionary discipline and interventions, which can improve learning conditions for all students.

Find the full briefing papers from the Discipline Disparities Series here >>
 

Ashley Heinonen writes the Friday news roundup, opportunity board roundup, and contributes articles featuring information about juvenile justice reform to ReclaimingFutures.org. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University and is currently an assistant account executive for Prichard Communications.