There is no evidence that physically restraining or putting children in unsupervised seclusion in the K-12 school system provides any educational or therapeutic benefit to a child. In fact, use of either seclusion or restraints in non-emergency situations poses significant physical and psychological danger to students. Yet the first round of data…

Horrific events such as the fatal shooting of three high school students in Chardon, Ohio, in the winter of 2012 places tremendous pressure on state and local agencies to ensure that schools provide a safe and conducive learning environment for all students. To help curb school violence, schools have adopted zero-tolerance policies, which often…

The increasing use of zero tolerance discipline policies in the USA has led to a "discipline gap," in which minoritized students receive harsher and more frequent suspensions and expulsions than their peers from dominant cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Though disciplinary decisions are made by educators at the school level,…

The causal link between educational exclusion and criminalization of youth is called the "school-to-prison pipeline." This is a byproduct of "zero tolerance" polices that have been widely discredited by research (APA, 2008; Skiba, 2014). However, these practices are still widespread in the United States and have been exported…

In January, 2014, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education (ED) issued a joint "Dear Colleague Letter" to K-12 schools. The topic discussed in their joint letter is whether administrators are punishing minority children more harshly than white children for…

In this article, we tackle the disadvantaging conditions of zero tolerance policies in school settings and advocate using an alternative approach--critical restorative justice through peacemaking circles--to nurture resilience and open opportunity at the school level. In the process, this article builds on theory and qualitative research and…

There is no doubt that the safety of children in schools and in communities is paramount. Incidents of school violence in the United States have motivated researchers and practitioners to explore and employ effective methodologies and strategies to promote safety in classrooms and schools. Still, issues of disruptive behavior top the list of…

This study estimates the effect of zero tolerance disciplinary policies on racial disparities in school discipline in an urban district. Capitalizing on a natural experiment, the abrupt expansion of zero tolerance discipline policies in a mid-sized urban school district, the study demonstrates that Black students in the district were…

Taking a cue from U.S. military operations, surveillance cameras, police officers, metal detectors, hall sweeps, expulsion, zero tolerance policing, and biometrics contour young people's everyday life in public schools. Given this influx in policing and surveillance in schools, recent critical scholarship broadly attends to the increase in…

Bullying has been around for ages, but in the past decade it has been in the spotlight because of suicidal deaths and a push for legislation to put these bullies behind bars. Numerous national surveys report that a large percentage of bullying in schools is a form of direct bullying. Recently all but one state has now enacted harsher anti-bullying…

A knowledgeable teacher may fail in teaching due to inability to work effectively with pupils. Thus, pupils may be entertaining each other during class time, talking aloud incessantly, walking around aimlessly in the classroom, and bothering others, among other annoyances. When supervising university student teachers in the public schools, the…

In the United States, students with disabilities are disproportionately exposed to exclusionary discipline. Using Intergroup Threat Theory, literature was analyzed to identify expressed perceptions from school administrators that indicated perceived threat. Analysis revealed perceived threats to administrator beliefs, values, job performance, and…

Since 2003, Ontario, Canada's high school graduation rates have increased 13% while suspensions and expulsion rates have simultaneously decreased. This article examines relationships between the province's safe school policy and Student Success/Learning to 18 (SS/L18), a policy designed to increase graduation rates. Analyses of teachers'…

Objective: Schools are likely to be better able to achieve compliance with smoke-free regulations if principals and teachers perceive the importance of a smoke-free policy. The purpose of this study was to measure teacher and administrator attitudes towards the smoke-free policy in Turkish schools, which promotes a total smoking ban. Method: The…

The impact of exclusionary discipline on students is clear and negative as we report herein. The impacts of exclusionary discipline have been negatively linked to the academic and social development of disciplined students. We argue that this discipline form has been disproportionately used among certain groups, particularly those students of…