My action research project was designed to track the
progress of our new discipline policy at my high school. At the close of last school year, all of the
school’s stakeholders participated in a PRIDE survey to assess the climate and
culture of the school. From the results
it was evident that teachers did not have much faith in our school’s discipline
policies and students did not seem to have any respect for them. Because of this, the administration decided to
form a discipline committee to oversee the creation and implementation of a new
discipline policy. Much has been
accomplished so far on this project, although the preliminary official results
of its effectiveness will not be in until the end of the first grading period
this year and the formal overall results will not be in until the end of the
this school year after the PRIDE survey is given again.
So
far, a discipline committee has been formed made up of one administrator and
approximately ten teachers. These
teachers began meeting last year in April and met every week until the end of
the school year in order to discuss and create a new discipline policy. Once all of the discipline policies were
reviewed and their effectiveness evaluated, a draft of the new discipline
policy was created. This draft was then
reviewed by the principal, the administration team, and me over the summer and
revisions were made according to the feasibleness and logistics of the plan. Three weeks before school started the
discipline committee met to look over the new and finalized plan in order to
discuss details of implementation, etc. Then,
two weeks before school parents came to registration and were given a copy of
the discipline plan and signed that they had read and understood it. When
faculty came back for in-service week, we all attended a discipline meeting
where the details of the plan were communicated to teachers, and during the
second week of school all students attended discipline meetings by class where the
administration went over all details of the plan so that students knew what was
expected of them.
Overall,
it seems that the new discipline plan is successful and that teachers are
feeling more confident in it and students are respecting it. For example, one of the school rules is that
all students wear their IDs at all times.
Last year, it was a constant battle to get students to wear their IDS,
but this year, due to the clear expectations and consistent enforcement, over
90% of students are wearing their IDs on a regular basis and the other 10% have
their IDs and put them on when directed.
Another example is that there are many less dress code violations
because our new female APs are serious about enforcing the new policy and
teachers are helping out more as well. The
true first test will be at the end of the first grading period when the
discipline report is run so that it can be compared to last year’s.
