Date of Award
1-23-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Brownlyn MacFarlane
Second Advisor
Peter Ghazarian
Committee Members
Steve Bounds
Abstract
School discipline was intended to keep students safe in schools, but exclusionary discipline methods fail to meet this goal. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact of exclusionary discipline methods on student achievement, with an emphasis on ethnic and socioeconomic differences. The problem addressed how subjective referrals, cultural differences, unequal disciplinary tactics, and ineffective reprimands contribute to inequalities in disciplinary outcomes. Drawing on Glasser and Gordon's behavioral theoretical frameworks, this study emphasized proactive educational settings, effective classroom management, student accountability, and positive relationships as paramount to managing misbehavior. The study used a correlational research design, which sought to identify significant differences in disciplinary consequences across ethnic groups and to explore the relationship between exclusionary discipline practices and student achievement. Furthermore, a non-experimental research design incorporated a survey of 28 educators to gather their perspectives on exclusionary discipline. The findings from question one indicated that exclusionary discipline policies and practices lead to increased discrimination against different ethnic groups. Future studies addressed the inconclusive results of the second research question. The third question indicated a negative correlation between increased exclusionary discipline consequences and diminished student achievement, illustrating a harmful impact on learning. The fourth research question assessed teachers' perspectives, revealing that educators perceive exclusionary disciplinary policies as frequently misapplied and current practices as ineffective in mitigating misbehavior. The study's implications have a substantial effect on school district policies, staff disciplinary practices, stakeholder perspectives, and the strategic procedures for implementing exclusionary discipline. The recommendations provided insights for future research and promoted strategies to prevent ineffective discipline, mitigate harm to student achievement, reduce inequalities, foster supportive learning environments, and address student misbehavior.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Branch, Ulanda Latreace, "Exclusionary Discipline’s Impact on Minority and Low Social Status Student Achievement" (2026). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1122.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1122
