What Impact Do Alternate Disciplinary Techniques Have On School Climate And Student Behavior In A K–5 Title I Elementary School?

What Impact Do Alternate Disciplinary Techniques Have On School Climate And Student Behavior In A K–5 Title I Elementary School?

The New Jersey Department of Education reported that more than 50,000 students were suspended from school in 2017–2018. Over 17,000 students were suspended more than once that school year. As public school districts create their code of conduct, many are focused on maintaining a safe, distraction-free school environment with the primary use of student removal from the classroom—but at whose expense and to whose benefit? Positive approaches to school climate and student behavior have been presented to address concerns within public schools by the NJ Department of Education. The goal of this action research was to determine the relationship between the joint implementation of Responsive Classroom and restorative practices on school climate and student behavior from the perspectives of students and staff. Restorative practices and Responsive Classroom were selected because they support student knowledge of social and emotional competencies that extend beyond the classroom. The school that was the focus of this study was experiencing discipline problems associated with student behavior, lack of school wide consistency, and overall school climate issues. A quantitative correlational research design was utilized for this study to examine the impact on these two alternate disciplinary techniques on school climate and student behavior within a K–5 Title I elementary school. Findings from this study did not indicate a correlation between the use of these strategies and an improved school climate and student behavior.

Dickens-Simon, Nicole P.

Rider University
College of Education and Human Services

Sherman, Sharon
Goduto, Leonard
Rocco, Scott

Adobe Acrobat PDF

English

Dissertation