MEND CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE

School discipline addresses schoolwide, classroom, and individual students needs through broad prevention, targeted intervention, and development of self-discipline. Schools often respond to disruptive students with exclusionary and punitive approaches that have limited

value. Approaches to improving school discipline practices and student behavior: ecological approaches to classroom management; schoolwide positive behavioral supports; and social and emotional learning. Schools face a number of challenges related to disruptive and antisocial students. The behavior of these students interferes with learning, diverts administrative time, and contributes to teacher burnout (Byrne, 1999; Kendziora & Osher, 2009). This deals with the range of discipline issues that include horseplay, rule violation, disruptiveness, class cut-ting, cursing, bullying, sexual harassment, refusal, defiance, fighting, and vandalism. Failure to deal effectively with this low-level aggressive behavior contributes to poor individual, school, and community outcomes (Conoley& Goldstein, 2004).

Schools typically respond to disruptive students with external discipline, which consists of sanctions and punishment such as office referrals, corporal punishment, suspensions, and expulsions. For example, at least 48% of Such responses present a short-term fix to what often is a chronic and long-term problem. Little evidence supports punitive and exclusionary approaches, which may be iatrogenic for individuals and schools. For example, segregation with antisocial peers can increase antisocial behavior and punitive approaches to discipline have been linked to antisocial behavior particularly when they are perceived as unfair. Similarly, suspension and expulsion disproportionately affect students with emotional and behavioral disorders and students disengagement, lost opportunities to learn.

--oOo— The author is Teacher III, Division of City of San Fernando (P)