NCJ Number
106978
Date Published
1986
Length
19 pages
Annotation
A 1985 survey of secondary school principals obtained data on disruptive classroom behavior, student law violations, disciplinary actions, and factors which limited school administrators' ability to maintain order.
Abstract
Discipline is still a problem in American junior and senior high schools, although principals report a decline in disruptive classroom behavior in recent years. Principals in 96 percent of secondary schools reported suspending students for disciplinary reasons, with the occurrence rate being 10 per 100 students. In 69 percent of the schools, one or more students were assigned to in-school alternatives to suspension; the occurrence rate was 10 per 100 students. Student law violations were reported to the police by school authorities in 72 percent of the schools, and 35 percent reported having caught one or more students selling illegal drugs at school. Two-thirds of the principals reported that disruptive classroom behavior had decreased over the past 5 years. Only 12 percent saw an increase in such behavior, and 22 percent reported they had observed no change. 10 notes, 8 tables, and the survey questionnaire. (Author summary modified)