Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Mary Ann Ratliff
Committee Member
Cathern Wildey
Committee Member
Ronald P. Kern
Keywords
African American male students, classroom management, community, Consistency Management and Cooperative Discipline, cooperation, discipline, discipline referrals, elementary school, Grades 3-5, organization, positive reinforcement, prevention, school safety, school-wide discipline program, southeastern United States, staff development, student surveys, suspensions, teacher referrals, teacher surveys, training, urban elementary school, zero tolerance policy
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-wide discipline program in lowering referrals and suspensions of African American male students in Grades 3-5 in an urban elementary school in southeastern United States. The student body was 99% African American (48% African American male), and 82% of the student body received free or reduced-priced breakfast and lunch through the district’s nutrition program. At the time of this study, the school served 560 students in prekindergarten through Grade 5. The school-wide discipline program, Consistency Management and Cooperative Discipline (CMCD) focused on five themes: (a) prevention, (b) caring, (c) cooperation, (d) organization, and (e) community.
The researcher used teacher and student surveys and district discipline data to determine whether the school-wide discipline program was effective in reducing suspensions and teacher referrals of African American male students in Grades 3-5. Data from 2002-2003 through 2008-2009 school years were collected.
The results of this applied dissertation study indicated that the CMCD program is an effective tool when continued staff development is provided.The researcher discovered that the CMCD program lowered discipline referrals and suspensions when proper training and monitoring were consistent throughout the program. Survey questions revealed that teachers felt that the training that was provided aided in the success of implementing the CMCD program. The researcher recommends that further research be conducted.