Exploring the Use of Suspension in High School Codes of Conduct for Mild, Moderate, and Severe Behaviors

The purpose of this investigation is to describe the outcomes of a multi-state study of written discipline policies in a high school setting. This study examines discipline codes of conduct and analyzes the content for behaviors ranging in severity (mild, moderate, and severe) while specifically examining the use of suspension as a punitive measure. Publicly available written discipline policies (n=120) were drawn from state board of education web-sites in six states (Illinois, Iowa, Georgia, Texas, New York, Oregon). The Analysis of Discipline Codes Rating System (ADCR-R) was used as a tool to analyze the behaviors. The frequency of school responses listing the consequence of suspension will be compared to behaviors ranging in severity (mild, moderate, severe), in each code of conduct. In addition, comparisons of policy content will be made by state and setting type (urban versus rural) as it relates to using suspension as a punitive measure