Don’t Suspend Me! An Alternative Discipline Framework for Shifting Administrator Beliefs and Behaviors about School Discipline

Abstract

Traditional exclusionary methods of school discipline have resulted in inequitable practices throughout the nation. The use of suspensions as the only means of school discipline has become a commonly engrained practice even though it has demonstrated to be ineffective in helping students achieve or behave. Fifty-two school administrators across California who participated in the Don’t Suspend Me! Alternative Discipline Framework workshop took part in this mixed-methods study to identify school discipline beliefs of administrators and identify factors that support and/or impede implementation of alternative discipline practices prior to and three months after the initial workshop. Findings indicate a shift in ratings from the participants of the Alternative Discipline Framework workshop toward emergent and innovative disciplinarians. The factors identified for supporting implementation included (a) having the practical resources and tools to know how to implement, (b) having a strong tiered system of supports in place for prevention, intervention, and remediation for behavior, and (c) staff willingness to use alternative discipline. The factors identified that impeded implementation are (a) lack of district office level alignment and support for the alternative discipline framework, (b) parent and community pushback, (c) communication gaps between the school administrators and teachers/staff around alternative discipline and (d) lack of administrator follow through due to the time it requires. This article concludes with recommendations for practice.