Rethinking Discipline

Teachers and students deserve school environments that are safe, supportive, and conducive to teaching and learning. Creating a supportive school climate—and decreasing suspensions and expulsions—requires close attention to the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of all students.

Administrators, educators, students, parents and community members can find on this site tools, data and resources to:

Increase their awareness of the prevalence, impact, and legal implications of suspension and expulsion;

Find basic information and resources on effective alternatives; and

Join a national conversation on how to effectively create positive school climates.

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Discipline Resources: Accelerating Positive School Culture and Discipline Practices through the Charter Sector

The National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC) is dedicated to helping charter schools reach their aspirations and furthering understanding of the charter schools. To meet those goals, NCSRC offers a diverse selection of objective resources on every aspect of the charter school sector. Their suite of discipline resources is helping educators create stronger school communities by adopting creative strategies that reimagine the role of discipline in their schools and to support initiatives that build positive school climates and develop less punitive approaches to school discipline.

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Suspension 101

Suspension impacts everyone

In 2011-2012, 3.45 million students were suspended out-of-school.

(Civil Rights Data Collection, 2011-2012)

Of the school districts with children participating in preschool programs, 6% reported suspending out of school at least one preschool child.

(Civil Rights Data Collection, 2011-2012)

Students with disabilities and students of color are generally suspended and expelled at higher rates than their peers.

(Civil Rights Data Collection,2011-2012)

Suspensions don't work—for schools, teachers, or students

Evidence does not show that discipline practices that remove students from instruction—such as suspensions and expulsions—help to improve either student behavior or school climate.

(Skiba, Shure, Middelberg & Baker, 2011)

Suspensions have negative consequences

Suspensions are associated with negative student outcomes such as lower academic performance, higher rates of dropout, failures to graduate on time, decreased academic engagement, and future disciplinary exclusion.

(Achilles, McLaughlin, Croninger,2007; Arcia, 2006; Christle, Jolivette, & Nelson, 2005; Costenbader & Markson, 1998; Lee, Cornell, Gregory, & Fan, 2011; Raffaele-Mendez, 2003; Rodney et al., 1999; Skiba & Peterson, 1999)

There are effective alternatives to suspension