Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

School discipline has increasingly become an issue for policymakers and practitioners alike.  The evidence suggests that exclusionary practices such as suspension are predictive of a host of negative outcomes and that such practices disproportionately impact minority students.  Consequently, federal agencies are pushing for improved equity in school discipline and a move away from exclusionary practices at large.

            Improvements in this area are complicated, however, by the varied sources of laws, regulations, and policies overseeing school discipline.  Though school discipline is governed by federal law, state law, district policy, school policy, and the classroom rules and procedures established by individual teachers, we know little about the relative importance of each in determining school discipline policy, the degree to which their influence varies across schools, or how such influence has changed over time.  Having answers to these questions is important as it may inform the proper level of governance on which to focus reform efforts while also revealing potential differences across districts that may contribute to differential rates in discipline for minority students.

            This study explores the relative influence of states, school boards, principals, teachers, and other stakeholders over disciplinary policy while also assessing variation across schools, such as those serving a high proportion of minority students and those not, and changes in this influence over time.  Using nationally representative data from the Schools and Staffing Surveys I document changes in each stakeholder’s influence over time while also comparing relevant subgroups, such as districts serving a high proportion of minority students. 

            Findings suggest that principals consistently rate themselves and teachers as the most influential stakeholders with regard to setting disciplinary policy in schools.  Few differences in influence over disciplinary policy are found across schools serving high and low proportions of minority students, high and low proportions of economically disadvantaged students, or across schools that report high or low levels of serious behavioral problems.  Charter schools, however, report significantly less influence from districts and states with regard to setting disciplinary policy as compared to traditional public schools.  The data suggests that the perceived influence of principals and teachers over setting disciplinary policy has increased significantly over the last several decades. 

The results of this work hold the potential to inform both policymakers and practitioners as they work to improve equitable disciplinary outcomes for students.  In particular, the results suggest that differences in disciplinary outcomes across different schools may be less a product of differences in the locus of control over discipline policy and more a result of the policies implemented by the various stakeholders.