What Works to Remedy the School-to-Prison Pipeline? Lessons From Successful Districts

• In Event: Breaking the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Policies, People, and Practices

Abstract

Objectives
The research design identifies examples of school districts making effective progress to reduce disciplinary exclusion that had average or greater than average representation among student subgroups students with the highest suspension rates. The paper provides a description of the actions, resource use, and problem solving in two districts and draws inferences regarding common discipline reform approaches that appear to be effective.
Theoretical Framework
Guided by organizational development and change theory, the research seeks to understand the process by which districts apply and transfer “behavioral science knowledge to the planned development, improvement, and reinforcement of the strategies, structures, and processes that lead to organizational effectiveness,” (Cummings & Worley, 2005 p.1) in discipline reform.
Data and Methods
Using Office of Civil Rights data, we examined 6000 school districts’ discipline rates to identify ones that appear effective in their discipline reform efforts. Suspension rates were analyzed separately at the elementary and secondary levels and for subgroups. Additional checks were made to ensure that the period of discipline reform did not correspond with a major decrease in academic achievement. In addition, the selection process was designed to ensure that the selected districts were showing positive results for sizeable numbers of students from those subgroups that tend to have higher than average suspension rates.
In two selected districts, mixed methods research was conducted. Following IRB approval, site visits were conducted in each, and between 25 and 40 subjects were interviewed. In each district, researchers interviewed all administrators in charge of programs or schools that played a particularly important role in their discipline reform efforts, as well as teachers, parents, and reform advocates. Each interview followed a protocol designed to elicit descriptions and evaluations of the discipline reforms implemented by these districts.
Findings
Each case study highlights the process of change in those districts and explains the reasons for success, including the adoption of new policies and practices and the ongoing effort to overcome obstacles. Although the two districts’ data had shown reduced OSS rates and disparities in OSS rates without a corresponding decrease in academic achievement, our site visits revealed uneven progress. This paper helps describe: a) the context for positive practice provided at the district level; b) enactment of policy change (or lack thereof) at the school level, as well as the school outcomes that result; and c) the transactional process between school and district that contributes to the process of change and its outcomes. The study also describes high performing schools within districts that are engaged in the change effort.
Contributions
By focusing on discipline policy and practice reform efforts, the paper provides critical information for schools and school districts seeking to restructure school discipline and reduce inequality. Ultimately our description of these districts’ reforms is intended to provide a road map for other districts on replacing counterproductive discipline policies and practices with what works.

Authors

• Daniel Losen, University of California - Los Angeles

• Russell J. Skiba, Indiana University

• Monica Stigler, Arizona State University

• Mariella Isabel Arredondo, Indiana University