Discipline Policy, School Connection, and Safety: A Mixed-Methods Study Connecting School Behavior Policy with Student Feelings of School Connectedness and Safety

Background/Purpose

Youth violence at school generates considerable concern for school administrators. Youth violence is associated with increased risk for violence in adulthood and needs to be recognized as a major risk to youths’ health and safety. Despite widespread attention on governing policies related to bullying and cyberbullying, other forms of youth violence, such as sexual harassment and dating violence, are insufficiently addressed, and school administrators’ ability to prevent or mitigate instances of varying forms of interpersonal and/or co-occurring school violence is limited.

We need to understand the gaps in school violence policies. This research provides a nuanced view into students’, teachers’, and principals’ perceptions of policies that govern school violence. In this mixed-methods analysis, we utilize a cross-section of data collected during a longitudinal study funded by the CDC (1U01CE002843). The purpose is twofold; first to provide rich qualitative descriptions of students’, teachers’ and administrators’ perceptions of anti-violence school policies, second to examine factors that influence high school students’ feelings of safety and school connectedness.

Methods

The study was conducted in a mid-western metropolitan area. Three schools that participated in both quantitative and qualitative research activities, one from each community risk-level, were selected for this analysis. Qualitative data were collected from written school policies, focus groups, and principal interviews. Policies were coded for mode of dissemination and content. Focus group and interview transcripts were coded using themes of policy and safety.

Survey data were collected from 279 tenth- graders attending three schools, one from each community risk-level; low, medium, and high. Gender and racial composition was nationally representative. One-way ANOVA was used to examine between-context comparisons of safety and feelings of school connectedness.

Results

Qualitative data indicated students and teachers see widespread bias in behavior policy implementation. They observed gender differences, with girls held to higher expectations, and differences for athletes, with higher expectations for behavior in one school and in another consistently escaping consequences. Understanding of the purpose and implementation of progressive discipline was uneven, and communication about policies to the school community was minimal.

One-way ANOVA indicated significant differences in concern for safety at school and feelings of school connectedness between the three community risk levels. Students at the high-risk school reported feeling more concerned for their safety, F(2, 274)=40.0, p< .001, and less connected, F(2, 276)= 9.31, p < .001, than students at medium and low-risk schools.

Conclusions/Implications

Schools need to increase feelings of safety and school connectedness. Our qualitative results indicate simply having a written governing policy is not enough. Attention to policy implementation training for teachers and improved communication about policies to the school community is essential to promote feelings of safety and school connectedness. Progressive discipline matrix approaches, where students’ personal factors are considered in determining consequences, can be useful. However, when the school community does not understand the matrix or its logic, it appears as bias. Communication about progressive discipline might alleviate this perception and increase perceptions of equity within a school.