An Analysis of Predictors of Exclusionary Discipline Practices and the Relationship with Student Achievement Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling

• Main Author: Dahir, Amanda
• Other Authors: Noell, George H.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: LSU 2010
• Subjects: Psychology
• Online Access: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-06242010-163803/

School discipline plays an important role in maintaining a safe and orderly learning environment for students. Disruptive behavior in the classroom interferes with classroom learning time making it difficult to accomplish academic goals. A common method of handling discipline problems within schools is removing the disruptive student from their classroom (e.g. suspension or expulsion). There is a great need to study and understand the differences between school disciplinary practices and to allow research findings to guide the way in which discipline is administered. The current study examined a large database for the entire state of Louisiana to determine the relationship between discipline practices and academic achievement for students receiving exclusionary discipline sanctions through the use of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Analyses also examined which student and school level variables predict discipline through the use of logistic regression (LR). The LR analysis showed that students identified as male, African American, and Emotionally Disturbed significantly increased their odds of being disciplined. A student identified as Gifted, Mild Mentally Retarded, and Special Education-Other significantly decreased their odds of being disciplined. Results of the HLM analyses showed all discipline variables had significant negative effects on both English Language Arts and Mathematics achievement test scores.