Methods and resources used by administrators in Indiana secondary schools for handling student discipline
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the methods and resources used by Indiana secondary school principals for handling student discipline problems. This study was designed to provide information to administrators about methods and resources that are and are not effective in dealing with student misbehavior. Selected administrators from Indiana were surveyed by questionnaire and interviewed by telephone in order to obtain information about current discipline problems and how these problems are being handled. The survey instruments were designed, pretested, and sent to eighty-eight randomly selected Indiana secondary school administrators. A total of seventy-four questionnaires were returned, providing a return rate of 84 percent. Respondents were offered the opportunity in the survey to participate in a telephone interview. Of the seventy-four administrators who completed a survey, fifty-one of them (64 percent) said they would participate. These respondents were called by telephone for an interview. The data was tallied and percentages were calculated. Effective reactive discipline methods were found to be alternative schools, out-of-school suspensions, and Saturday schools. The least effective reactive discipline method was determined to be detention. The primary cause of student discipline problems was found to be the lack of parental involvement. The number one discipline problem and the most frequent reoccurring discipline problem was found to be student tardiness. In comparing school sizes, it was determined that larger schools more frequently use severe consequences such as out-of-school suspensions. It was also determined that the intensity of student discipline problems is greater in larger schools than in smaller schools.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Hirth, Purdue University.
Subject Area
School administration|Academic guidance counseling
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