Date of Award
9-12-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Timberly Baker
Second Advisor
Donna Madison-Bell
Committee Members
Courtney Ellis
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2024 S77
Abstract
This quantitative study identified if associations existed between a participant’s adverse childhood experiences (ACE) group and four additional factors of the school-to-prison nexus (SPN), which served as the framework for this study. For the purposes of this study, the SPN was represented by exclusionary suspension, detrimental interactions with school police (SPO), non-exclusionary behavior inventions, detrimental interactions with law enforcement (LEO) beyond high school, and ACE group. The specific problem that this study addressed was that there are detrimental post-graduation outcomes for students and schools may contribute to those outcomes. This research study was conducted by administering an ACE survey and a researcher developed and validated post-graduation outcomes survey. The ACE survey was used to determine the ACE score, which was later used to place participants into ACE groups, and the second was used to assess what SPN factors each participant experienced. The 151 participants represented a large school district in Missouri that attended high school between 2013-2019. To determine if any associations existed between the ACE groups and the components of the SPN, the researcher conducted a series of Mann-Whitney U-tests and two chi-square tests. Through this process, it was determined that statistically significant associations existed between the low and moderate ACE groups, as well as the low and high ACE groups for each of the factors of the SPN. However, statistically significant associations did not exist between the moderate and high ACE groups. Through further analysis, it was determined that participants that reported receiving non-exclusionary discipline and exclusionary discipline had a statistically significant association with having detrimental interactions with LEOs beyond high school. Therefore, determining that neither of the aforementioned variables are independent from having detrimental interactions with LEOs. These findings, combined with literature reviews, suggest that exclusionary discipline is ineffective at deterring undesired behaviors. However, inclusionary practices create a sense of community and a desire for students to be a part of a productive environment. Therefore, recommendations for school and community leaders would be to educate themselves in inclusionary behavior intervention strategies and restorative re-entries for students that commit infractions that require removal from the learning environment.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Strohm, Sara Erin, "A Quantitative Study on The Association Between Ace Groups and Experiences Beyond High School" (2024). Student Theses and Dissertations. 50.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/50
