School Discipline: Dismantle the Pre-K to Prison Pipeline

Effective school discipline, positive school climate and eliminating racial bias are critical factors in ensuring quality and excellence for students.

Suspensions and expulsions often disengage and disconnect students from school, feed students into juvenile system and criminalize children at increasingly younger ages: instigating a Cradle to Prison Pipeline. 

Harsh and punitive policies, including zero tolerance and the overuse of suspension and expulsion, can devastate the lives of children.  AASA is committed to educational equity and reform to ensure the highest quality education for all students.  

As superintendents and principals work to improve school climate and enhance the learning environment for students, addressing school discipline policies and practices are critical levers for meaningful change.

Dan Domenech, Former AASA Executive Director

Measures can and should be taken to build positive school climates, respond to special circumstances of students, prevent student misbehavior and address violations of school rules in a restorative manner.

School and district leaders have shown that positive discipline strategies can be effective in advancing the district’s responsibility to keep all people safe, ensure students are learning and treat everyone fairly.

AASA works with school system leaders to examine racial disproportionality, bias and the potentially harmful effects of school discipline, especially on students of color. 

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

PBIS is a multi-tiered, evidence-based model that seeks to support and enhance both academic and behavioral outcomes for all students.

Restorative Justice Practices in Schools

Schools and school districts around the country are turning to restorative justice practices as an alternative to harsh exclusionary discipline practices. Restorative justice is a philosophy, rather than a specific program or curriculum, which focuses on repairing the harm done when a member of a community violates the standards of conduct.

Restorative practices include a variety of methods used to uphold the philosophy. In many cases, educators use restorative practices not only when harm is done, but also as a preventive tool to help members of the school community build healthy and positive relationships and address needs and challenges as they arise.