Comparison
of office discipline referrals in U.S. schools by population densities: Do
rates differ according to school location?
Scott A. Spaulding
and Jennifer L. Frank
June, 2009
Research Statement and Rationale
This evaluation brief examines the
rate of office discipline referrals (ODRs) for different school-grade levels
based on locale. Using a cohort of schools that recorded ODRs over 3-years with
the School-wide Information System (SWIS), rates are compared across years for
elementary, middle, high school, and K-8/12 grade levels.
The two evaluation questions
addressed by this brief are (a) “Based on locale, what is the number of schools
with ODRs for each grade level across a 3-year cohort?” and (b) “Based on
locale, what is rate of ODRs for each grade level, across each year?” Data
descriptions that evaluate school-level demographic information such as
geographic “locale” can provide ODR comparison data for school and district
staff using SWIS. In addition, these summaries can serve as a foundation for
extending evaluation questions in the area school-wide behavior support
research and practice.
Data Sources
The data sources for this
evaluation brief are (a) the School-wide Information System (SWIS) and (b) the
Common Core of Data provided by the U.S. Department of Education’s National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES). SWIS is a web-based application that
allows school personnel to record, track, and use office referral data to make
data-based decisions for behavior support at individual-student, student-group,
and school-wide levels (May et al., 2003). The NCES Common Core of Data
includes information describing school, student, and staff characteristics for
public elementary and secondary schools in the United States, reported annually
by state education officials (Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics, 2006).
Data Presentation
Sample
The cohort of schools
in this report included public schools from any U.S. state if they met the
following criteria: (a) used SWIS with integrity1 to collect ODR
data during the entire 3-year span of 2005-06 to 2007-08; and (b) agreed to
share their SWIS data, in aggregated form, for research purposes. Preschools,
private schools, and alternative schools were excluded from analyses.
These 1,129 schools were classified
by grade level and by student enrollment. Grade-level categories included K-6 (n = 750), 6-9 (n = 213), 9-12 (n = 61)
and K-8/12 (n = 105). Using data
reported to NCES in 2005-06, schools also were categorized into the following
five locale categories: large city (population of at least 250,000), mid-size
city (between 25,000 and 250,000 residents), and rural (fewer than 25,000). See
Table 1 for classification of sample by grade level and enrollment.
Table 1
Number
of SWIS Schools with ODRs Based on Locale Across a 3-year Cohort
Locale |
Grade level |
K-6 |
6-9 |
9-12 |
K-8/12 |
Large citya |
299 |
88 |
17 |
27 |
Mid-size cityb |
240 |
68 |
16 |
17 |
Ruralc |
211 |
57 |
28 |
61 |
Total |
750 |
213 |
61 |
105 |
Note.
Metro-centric locale categories are based on 2005-06 NCES data.
n = 1,129 schools across 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 academic years.
aPopulation of at least
250,000.
bPopulation of 25,000 to
250,000.
cPopulation less than
25,000.
Rates of ODRs
ODR rates were calculated for each
school by dividing the total number of ODRs by the number of students enrolled
for the year. In order to improve comparability across schools with varying
school days, this value was then divided by the total number of days for the year
and multiplied by 100, thus providing an “average daily rate” of ODRs per 100
students for each school. Only “major” ODRs were included in the analyses
(referrals recorded by schools as a result of a “minor” behavior violation are
used inconsistently across elementary schools and less commonly by middle and
high schools).
Tables 2-4 provide ODR rates for
each grade level, classified into NCES school locale categories, for each of
the three cohort years.
Table 2
Office Discipline
Referrals by Locale for 3-year Cohort of 1,129 Schools During 2007-2008
Localea |
K-6 |
6-9 |
9-12 |
K-8/12 |
ODR rate
M (SD) |
ODR rate
M (SD) |
ODR rate
M (SD) |
ODR rate
M (SD) |
Large city |
.31 (.44) |
.70 (.55) |
.89 (.86) |
.68 (.62) |
Mid-size city |
.44 (.45) |
1.07 (.85) |
.77 (.57) |
1.02 (1.00) |
Rural |
.32 (.30) |
.85 (.69) |
1.16 (1.42) |
.60 (.48) |
Total |
.36 (.41) |
.86 (.71) |
.99 (1.12) |
.69 (.63) |
Note. ODR rate =
ODR per 100 students per day.
a Metro-centric locale categories are based on
2005-06 NCES data.
Table 3
Office Discipline
Referrals by Locale for 3-year Cohort of 1,129 Schools During 2006-2007
Localea |
K-6 |
6-9 |
9-12 |
K-8/12 |
ODR Rate
M (SD) |
ODR Rate
M (SD) |
ODR Rate
M (SD) |
ODR Rate
M (SD) |
Large city |
.28 (.26) |
.79 (.61) |
.84 (.63) |
.84 (1.02) |
Mid-size city |
.47 (.48) |
1.17 (.88) |
.94 (.86) |
1.16 (1.03) |
Rural |
.34 (.31) |
.96 (.76) |
1.26 (.94) |
.71 (.47) |
Total |
.36 (.37) |
.95 (.75) |
1.06 (.85) |
.82 (76) |
Note. ODR rate =
ODR per 100 students per day.
a Metro-centric locale categories are based on
2005-06 NCES data.
Table 4
Office Discipline
Referrals by Locale for 3-year Cohort of 1,129 Schools During 2005-2006
Localea |
K-6 |
6-9 |
9-12 |
K-8/12 |
ODR Rate
M (SD) |
ODR Rate
M (SD) |
ODR Rate
M (SD) |
ODR Rate
M (SD) |
Large city |
.28 (.25) |
.88 (.65) |
1.20 (.97) |
.63 (.57) |
Mid-size city |
.52 (.70) |
1.22 (1.07) |
1.09 (.95) |
1.18 (.64) |
Rural |
.36 (.35) |
1.17 (.96) |
1.25 (.94) |
.80 (.58) |
Total |
.38 (.48) |
1.07 (.90) |
1.19 (.94) |
.82 (.61) |
Note. ODR rate =
ODR per 100 students per day.
aMetro-centric locale categories are based on 2005-06
NCES data.
Summary of Findings
Across all 3
years observed, suburban locales had the highest ODR rate at the elementary
(K-6) and middle school (6-9) level, whereas rural locales had the highest ODRs
at the high school level (see Tables 2-4). As with elementary and middle
schools, the schools in the K-8/12 category with the highest ODR rates are in
mid-sized cities.
Total ODR rates indicate differences
from 2005-06 to 2007-08 for all grade levels. Elementary school (K-6) ODR rates
are .38 in 2005-06 and .36 in both 2006-07 and 2007-08. Middle schools vary from
1.07 to .95 to .86 for the three years, and high school ODR rates vary from
1.19 to 1.06 to .99 for the same three years. Schools in the K-8/12 category
have an ODR rate of .82 in the earlier two years with.69 in 2007-08. Although these
differences in the average daily rate of ODRs are apparent across all grade
levels, they are less pronounced for elementary schools. When these data are
disaggregated into locale categories, these rate differences are apparent for
each year, within each locale classification, for all grade levels.
Importantly, even though these
analyses were conducted using a 3-year cohort, rates across years are presented
as differences rather than reductions. This description allows for varying
years of SWIS implementation across schools, a variable not controlled for in
these analyses.
References
Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics (2006). Public
Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey Data, 2005-06 [Database].
Retrieved August 20, 2008, and available from Common Core of Data, National
Center for Education Statistics Web site, http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
May, S., Ard, W., Todd, A. W.,
Horner, R. H., Glasgow, A., Sugai, G., et al. (2003). School-wide information system. Eugene: Educational and Community
Supports, University of Oregon.
1 To reduce potential error in the data, several
data checks were conducted prior to descriptive analyses which resulted in
removal of schools with extreme or outlying SWIS values (e.g., schools sharing
SWIS accounts, schools with multiple SWIS accounts, schools where students with
ODRs was greater than the school enrollment).