School Administrators' Perceived Limitations on Discipline and Crime Policy Implementation

• In Event: The Potential and Challenges of Using National Data Sets to Answer Questions in Education

Abstract

School administrators experience pressure from multiple sources when attempting to implement policy, especially when the policy concerns discipline or crime. The current study uses a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to explore measurement invariance of this construct over the period from 1998 to 2008 with data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety with a nationally representative sample of n=10,326. A two-factor structure, composed of local limitation and state or federal limitations, demonstrated measurement invariance over this period. Factor means were compared across time and demonstrated a decline in external pressure on school administrators from 2000 to 2008 with respect to school discipline and crime prevention.

Authors

• Tracey Nicole Sulak, Baylor University

• Kevin Wells, Baylor University

• Kari Hodge, NACE International Institute