Violence And Disruption In Nevada Schools: A Legislative Proposal

Problem. This descriptive study endeavored to establish the profile of violent and disruptive behavior occurring in Nevada public schools during the 1976-77 school year with the purpose investigating the extent to which line school administrators are empowered under the law to cope with the most important behaviors. The study was organized according to two components. (1) Profile Development Component. The profile of violent and disruptive behavior present in Nevada schools, as reported by line school administrators, is similar to that occurring nationally as reported in the literature. (2) Statutory Analysis Component. Recommendations for alteration and/or addition to Nevada statutory law can be assembled with the intent of providing line school administrators with assistance in coping with the profile of violent and disruptive behavior present in Nevada schools; Procedure. After an extensive review of literature, a listing of 40 violent and disruptive behaviors was identified and subsequently incorporated into a survey instrument resembling Q-sort. Respondents were asked to arrange each of the behavior cards, by forced choice, into an array from the most to least disruptive influence to their campus during the 1976-77 school year. All principals and assistant principals (N = 305) throughout the state received a survey packet while 202 (67.1%) selected to respond. These data were then treated and the most important violent and disruptive behaviors were assembled into a profile; The profile of violent and disruptive behavior was then applied to the investigation of Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) to determine the extent to which line school administrators were afforded provision under the law to cope with that profile; Finally, a series of recommendations was offered for strengthening the ability of line school administrators to act under the law to cope with the profile of violent and disruptive behavior present in Nevada schools; Findings/Conclusions. (1) The profile of violent and disruptive behavior established to be occurring in Nevada schools was determined to be similar to that reported to be occurring throughout the nation. (2) No consistent pattern among respondent groups, based upon selected demographic characteristics, was evidenced, although behavior-by-behavior analysis showed some subtle trends. Therefore, it was further concluded that, regardless of the population served or grade level serviced, the profile of violent and disruptive behavior was found to be generally applicable to the entire state. (3) Education receives substantial support in Nevada law with allowances made for delegation of rule-making responsibility to boards who may, through their regulations, empower principals to act in their behalf for enforcement purposes and the maintenance of safety and discipline of students. (4) Principals, by name, are mentioned in only a very limited number of provisions in NRS with regard to the Nevada profile of violent and disruptive behavior, yet are assigned substantial responsibility in the maintenance and operation of schools. (5) The school principal\u27s ability to cope with the most important of violent and disruptive behaviors present in Nevada schools could be strengthened by some specific alterations and/or additions to NRS (detailed in recommendation section of dissertation). (6) Some behaviors (e.g. vandalism, profanity) which rank as extremely important in the Nevada profile have received extensive coverage in the statutes, yet persist as a disruptive influence on the campus