Degree Name

Education Specialist (EdS)

Semester of Degree Completion

1995

Thesis Director

Donald W. Smitley

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate and assess the effectiveness of the student disciplinary procedures in the twelve elementary K-8 rural school districts in Jefferson County, Illinois, since the Illinois legislative body banned the use of corporal punishment by P.A. 88-346 which became effective January 1, 1994. Discipline has been a major concern in the effectiveness of schools for quite some time and appeared as the number one concern of the public pertaining to our public schools in the 1994 Gallup Poll. Since corporal punishment has been banned, personnel in many schools are concerned about how effective their present disciplinary procedures really are.

The survey instrument was mailed to each of the superintendents of the twelve rural elementary K-8 school districts in Jefferson County, Illinois. The study provided specific data concerning the change in the overall number of occurrences in the usage of disciplinary procedures and in the individual areas of removal from the classroom, before and after school detentions, in-school detentions, and suspensions since the banning of corporal punishment. Alternative disciplinary procedures instituted after the banning of corporal punishment, if any, were also examined.

All twelve of the superintendents within the field study responded to the survey instrument. The results of the data showed that, in the perception of the superintendents who responded to the survey, the use of disciplinary procedures has increased since the banning of corporal punishment. The results showed that, in eleven out of the twelve districts, the overall number of disciplinary occurrences had increased and an increase was also shown in the removal of students from the classroom because of disruptions. In ten out of the twelve districts the superintendents perceived increases in the occurrences of in-school suspensions and suspensions. Ten of the twelve superintendents perceived that the banning of corporal punishment did have an effect on the number of occurrences of disciplinary procedures used within their particular school districts. Ten of the twelve superintendents agreed that corporal punishment should be reinstated in the state of Illinois.

Download

Share

COinS