Attendance Problems and Disciplinary Procedures in Nebraska Schools

• NCJ Number: 196758
• Journal: Journal of Drug Education Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: 2002 Pages: 149-165
• Author(s): David M. Scott M.P.H; David Friedli, B.A.
• Editor(s): Robert M. Huff M.P.H
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 17 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Education
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In this study school principals in rural and urban Nebraska were surveyed to compare policies and procedures on school attendance and to contrast the use of disciplinary procedures for attendance, violence, and substance abuse.

Abstract

This article reports on the results of a survey sent to a 50 percent random sample of rural and urban Nebraska schools, containing questions on demographics, attendance policies, methods used to track attendance, who was in charge of handling chronic absences, follow-up procedures on chronic absences, and suggestions on preventing school withdrawals. Tables are included which show demographic information on schools and students; student access to tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs in the community; student first-time offense for each disciplinary problem(s) and administrator's choice of disciplinary procedures; student first-time offense, second-time offense, and third or more offenses for a disciplinary problem and administrator's choice of disciplinary procedures for all schools; and substance abuse prevention/intervention programs available at school and their perceived importance. Results showed that of the 464 principals surveyed, 86.2 percent were from rural schools and 13.8 percent from urban schools. The list of disciplinary problems included occasional attendance problems, chronic attendance problems, fighting with another student, and using drugs other than alcohol or tobacco at school. Procedures for addressing these problems, based on first-, second-, third-time offense categories, included parent contact, discipline by a teacher followed by discipline by principal and parent contact, parent contact and short-term suspension, long-term suspension, semester expulsion, conflict resolution training, the Boys Town social skills and behaviors model, a zero tolerance policy, and combinations of the above. In conclusion, it was found that school principals generally reported similar disciplinary actions for most disciplinary problems, with tougher disciplinary procedures being used for recurrent offenses and serious problems. However, there were discrepancies which indicate the need for consistent enforcement and communication of policies for both urban and rural schools. 5 Tables, 22 references