Text

theses

The constructs of school discipline and school climate have gained much attention as key factors contributing to racial, ethnic, and socio-economic disparity across the US public school system. This discussion has been fueled, in large part, by data demonstrating the impact of negative school climate and higher rates of school discipline on outcomes such as poor academic achievement, increased school dropout rates, and increased involvement in the criminal justice system disproportionately impacting minority and low income students (Darensbourg, Perez, & Blake, 2010; Gregory, Allen, Mikami, Hafen, & Pianta, 2015; Skiba, Michael, Nardo, Peterson, 2002; Thapa, Cohen, Guffey, & Higgins-D’Alessandro, 2013). Noticeably absent from the literature is a nuanced evaluation of the interaction between school office discipline referrals (ODRs) and perception of school climate at the individual, student level in low-income urban schools. This study evaluated this relationship in a group of 229 sixth graders from an urban middle school in New Jersey (57% female; 94% Hispanic, 100% qualifying for free or reduced lunch). The interaction between perception of school climate and student ODR counts from the beginning to end of their first year in middle school was examined. Overall perception of school climate did not significantly moderate the relationship between fall and spring discipline referrals. However, analysis of the climate subscales revealed that student’s ability to shape their environment did significantly moderate the relationship between fall and spring discipline referrals, and that perceived support from teachers and staff approached significance (p = .057). For students with more positive perception of peer relationships, there was a large variance, approaching significance (p < .06) in spring ODRs, indicating that positive relationships with peers were associated with both high and low discipline counts. Exploratory analysis revealed that overall perception of school climate between fall and spring was moderated by fall ODRs. Across analyses, when separated by gender, results were consistently significant only for female students. Study results imply that a relationship between perception of school climate and discipline referrals is particularly meaningful for female students, and that interventions aimed at improving perceptions of teacher and staff support and student’s ability to shape the environment may be most influential deterrents of ODR trajectories.

ETD_7845

M.S.

Includes bibliographical references

by Arielle Claire Linsky

doi:10.7282/T3CR5WS2

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.