Education Policy

Discipline Policy

IDRA Policy Issues for Texas in 2019

Fair Discipline that Keeps Children in Safe Schools

IDRA Stands

• Ensure school safety and foster positive school climates by providing critical funds and supporting research-based programs and school-based professionals, like counselors and social workers.
• Eliminate harmful, unnecessary exclusionary discipline and policing practices inside schools.
• Make sure the same high-quality curriculum is available in all schools to all students, including those removed from their regular classrooms.

Why?

In Texas, students of color, boys, and students with disabilities are much more likely than their peers to be punished in school and have interactions with school police. In 2017-18, Black Texas students were suspended over four times more than their White classmates, even though Black students are not more likely to misbehave.

Pushing students out of the classroom results in missed learning time and an increased likelihood of justice system involvement. Punitive discipline practices also compromise student success and campus safety. To improve student outcomes and make schools safer, the state must ensure access to research-based school climate programs, provide training opportunities for educators and other school personnel, and increase the number of school-based counseling and mental health professionals.

See…

• IDRA’s School Discipline Research website
• Study: Zero Tolerance Policies Push Students Away
• Data Story: Zero Tolerance Policies in Texas Push Black Students and Hispanic Students Away from School
• Data Story: School Policies and Practices Impact High School Attrition Rates in Bexar County
• Article: Partnerships, Not Push Outs – Collaboration is Critical to Dealing with Disparities
• Article: In-Grade Retention in the Early Years – What’s Holding Children Back?
• Policy Update: Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas – A 2009 Update
• National Clearinghouse on Supportive School Discipline
• eBook: Resources on Student Discipline Policy and Practice