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New York State United Teachers
Briefing Bulletin
Research and Educational Services

Effective Student Discipline Programs
July 1997 - No. 97-09

Selected Highlights from the NYSUT Questionnaire for Presidents of Elementary and Secondary Teacher Locals, 1996-97

Introduction

Presidents were asked if their districts had any highly effective district-wide or school-wide programs for handling disruptive students; 121 (24%) indicated there were such programs. About half of these were district-wide and about half were school-wide; 12 were both.

Involvement of Teachers' Union

In at least four districts, development or approval of the discipline policy involved the teachers' union. Two presidents commented that the issue of discipline or student behavior was addressed through their contract. It's not known if other locals have such provisions - the survey did not specifically ask about contractual provisions.

Types of Highly Effective Programs

Listed here are the types of highly effective discipline programs mentioned most often by local presidents:

Alternative Education Programs (reported by 43 presidents)

These included programs operating:

  • within a school (14);
  • off-campus at a separate school or learning center (20);
  • especially for classified students (mostly BOCES) with emphasis on alienated average or above average students (1); and
  • evening high schools and school-to-work programs.

    Codes of Conduct or Established Protocol (reported by 22 presidents)

    These clear codes spell out expected behaviors and consequences; protocols specify the measures to be taken at each step in the discipline process.

    Detentions (reported by 16 presidents)

    Suspensions (reported by 15 presidents)

    These included:

  • in-school suspensions (10);
  • in-school suspensions at alternative sites (1);
  • out-of-school suspensions (2); and
  • home tutoring (2).

    Peer Mediation; Student Intervention/Conflict Resolution (reported by 12 presidents)

    Staff Interventions (reported by 11 presidents) These included:

  • assertive discipline (3);
  • teacher-to-student mediation with trained teachers (1);
  • youth officer (1);
  • intervention specialist (1);
  • review and guidance (2);
  • shared decisionmaking discipline committee (2); and
  • crisis intervention teams (1).

    Supportive or Highly Effective Administration (reported by 5 presidents)

    Zero Tolerance (reported by 4 presidents)

    Other effective strategies mentioned included early parental involvement, more stringent dress code, a program to build self-esteem, and a "child development" project at the elementary level.

    Effective programs or projects that were mentioned but not defined included the "ALP" Program, Americorps, a "Cope" program, Project "Forward," and Project "Transition."

  • NYSUT's Division of Research and Educational Services annually conducts a survey of presidents of K-12 teacher locals. The 1996-97 Questionnaire for Presidents of Elementary and Secondary Public School Teacher Locals was conducted in September 1996; the results of that survey are the basis for this bulletin. The statewide response rate for the 1996-97 survey was 82%, with 498 out of 611 public school teacher locals (including BOCES) responding. All percents in this bulletin are based on the 498 responding locals unless a subset of data is analyzed and noted.

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