This is a summary of the report

Discipline Policies, Successful

Schools, and Racial Justice, writ-

ten by Daniel J. Losen, published by

the National Education Policy Center

and funded by the Ford Foundation

and the Great Lakes Center for Edu-

cation Research and Practice.

The complete report, along with sug-

gested statutory changes to implement

the report’s recommendations, will be

available as of October 5, 2011, at:

http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/

discipline-policies.

Federal legislation is an important lever forimproving the equity and efficacy of school, dis-trict, and state discipline policies. Legislationshould ensure that all students are treated fairly,regardless of race, gender, or class. Following arethree recommendations for changing federal leg-islation to accomplish this goal.

Federal Policy Recommendations to PromoteFair and Effective School Discipline

N E P C D I S C I P L I N E R E S O U R C E S H E E T

RECOMMENDATION 1

Strengthen Support and Training for Teachers toImprove Classroom and Behavior Management

Teachers in all schools and districts, especiallyschools or districts with high exclusion rates,should receive technical assistance on classroomand behavioral management and positive behaviorsupports.

POSSIBLE LEGISLATIVE CHANGES

• Add incentives to Title I of the Ele-mentary and Secondary EducationAct (ESEA) to encourage districts toadopt Positive Behavior Interventionand Supports (PBIS) and providetraining in classroom and behaviormanagement.

• Strengthen and enforce the ESEA’srequirement that low-income andminority students are not more likelythan their higher-income and Whitepeers to be taught by inexperienced,unqualified or “out-of-field” teachers.This requirement ensures that all stu-dents have equitable access to teach-ers who deliver effective, engaginginstruction.

RECOMMENDATION 2

Improve Annual Collection and Public Reportingof Discipline Data

Annual reporting should include all types of disci-plinary actions taken and their frequency and dura-tion. Annual reporting should also includedisciplinary actions taken by type of offense(weapons and violence, but all minor violations aswell), disciplinary actions taken for first-timeoffenses, and the number of students suspendedmore than once per school year.

All of the above should be reported at the school,district, and state level and be disaggregated byrace, gender, disability status, ELL status, andsocio-economic status.

RECOMMENDATION 3

Align Discipline Policy With Academic Achieve-ment Goals by Helping Schools Reduce High Suspension Rates

All schools and districts in the bottom 15 percentof academic achievement whose suspension ratesexceed the state average should be required toadopt research-based behavioral supports such asPBIS and provided with financial and technicalsupport to ensure successful implementation. Fed-eral and state legislation should also trigger partic-ular interventions for schools and districts whenhigh suspension rates – for all students or for sub-groups – exceed a certain threshold.

POSSIBLE LEGISLATIVE CHANGES

• Amend Title IV of the ESEA usingwording such as that contained in S. 919, the Safe, Successful, andHealthy Students Act (SSHSA).

• Amend the Annual State Report Card requirements in Title I of theESEA to incorporate the annual anddisaggregated collection and report-ing requirements from the Individualswith Disabilities Act. This way, thecurrent requirements for students with disabilities would apply to allstudents.