Despite the attention given to dramatic incidents of school violence, many studies show that schools are very safe for students. Nonetheless, classroom disruptions, bullying, and truancy are common at many schools. The time teachers and administrators spend disciplining students’ misbehaviors may reduce other students’ opportunities to learn. It is important, then, to reduce problems and disruptions caused by poor behavior. The National Network of Partnership Schools conducted a “Focus on Results” study to learn whether school, family, and community partnerships help improve student behavior at school.
Forty-seven schools participated in two rounds of data collection. The schools were located in urban, suburban, and rural communities. Most were elementary schools (73%), and about two-thirds of the schools received some Title I funding. Information was collected on the quality of their partnership programs, their use of family and community involvement practices, and rates of student disciplinary actions.
Analyses showed that, regardless of prior levels of disciplinary actions, schools that improved the quality of their partnership programs from one year to the next reported lower levels of students involved in school disciplinary actions. Specifically, schools that improved their partnership programs reported that lower percentages of students were sent to the principal, received detention, and received in-school suspensions. These findings suggest that schools’ overall efforts to improve relationships with families and the community may help improve students’ behavior in school.
The number of involvement activities that focused on improving student behavior was related to the percentages of students involved in disciplinary actions from one year to the next. Specifically, schools that implemented more activities to help parents understand the schools’ expectations for student behavior and schools that implemented more activities for family and community volunteers at the school to monitor students’ behavior reported lower percentages of students being sent to the principal, receiving detention, and receiving in-school suspensions. Schools that implemented more communication activities with families reported lower percentages of students receiving in-school suspensions. Finally, after accounting for prior levels of disciplinary actions, schools that used more practices to involve families in school decisions about student behavior reported lower percentages of students receiving detention from one year to the next.
These findings provide encouraging evidence that the development of quality school, family, and community partnership programs, and the implementation of partnership activities targeted at improving behavior can help reduce the need for disciplinary actions with students. By implementing family and community involvement activities to support good student behavior, teachers and administrators may be able to focus more time and effort on student learning and less on behavior management.
From: Sheldon, S. B. & Epstein, J. L. (2001). Improving Student Behavior and Discipline with Family and Community Involvement. Johns Hopkins University: Baltimore, MD. Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR).