Reaching a Critical Juncture for Our Kids: The Need to Reassess School‐Justice Practices

• Date: 01 July 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12034
• Published date: 01 July 2013
• Author: Russell J. Skiba

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLES

REACHING A CRITICAL JUNCTURE FOR OUR KIDS:

THE NEED TO REASSESS SCHOOL-JUSTICE PRACTICES

Russell J. Skiba

Perceived increases in school disruption and violence led to an increased reliance on punitive and exclusionary approaches to

school discipline in America’s schools in the 1980s and 1990s. Evaluation of these policies has shown little evidence that

reliance on suspension and expulsion has led to improvements in school safety and student behavior. Indeed, removal from

educational opportunity associated with exclusionary school discipline places students at increased risk of a variety of negative

outcomes, including academic disengagement, school dropout, and contact with the juvenile justice system. These risks are

even more likely to befall students of color, especially African American students, as they are disproportionately exposed to

exclusionary approaches. In recent years, a preventive approach to discipline, stressing instruction and relationship rather than

punishment, has begun to provide a clear alternative to zero tolerance.

Keypoints:

• Although zero tolerance was thought to be a promising disciplinary approach, extensive study has found that it does not

contribute to preventing school violence or improving school behavior.

• Students of color, especially Black students, are overrepresentedin out-of-school suspension and expulsion, and this is

not due to poverty or higher rates of misbehavior among African American students.

• Removing students from school through suspension and expulsion seems to place students at risk for a host of negative

long-term outcomes, including decreased school engagement, negative academic outcomes, dropout, and increased risk

for juvenile justice involvement.

• There are effective alternatives to suspension and expulsion that can keep schools safe without threatening students’

opportunity to learn.

Keywords: Alternatives to Suspension;Disproportionality;Equity;School Discipline;School Safety;Violence Prevention;

and Zero Tolerance.

There is no doubt that the safety of our children in our schools and in our communities is

paramount. Incidents of school violence in the United States have motivated researchers and practi-

tioners to explore and employ effective methodologies and strategies to promote safety in classrooms

and schools. Still, issues of disruptive behavior top the list of concerns about education among

teachers and parents.

The controversies about promoting safety and discipline in our schools are not about whether to

address those issues, but rather how best to address them. For the last 20 years, fear for the welfare of

our children has led us down a “no-nonsense” path of increased punishment and school exclusion in

responding to school and community disruption through an approach that has come to be known as

zero tolerance.These policies have dramatically increased the number of students put out of school for

disciplinary purposes, and may be accelerating student contact with law enforcement. In today’s

climate it seems school leaders are being asked to make a tough choice between keeping their school

Correspondence: skiba@indiana.edu

FAMILY COURT REVIEW,Vol. 51 No. 3, July 2013 380–387

© 2013 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts