Online resources to make school discipline reform easier for educators are available from a website that launched this week. The website, National Clearinghouse on Supportive School Discipline, is operated by the American Institutes for Research and features alternatives to zero tolerance policies, including positive approaches to discipline “that can make schools safe and keep kids in class and out of the ‘school-to-prison pipeline,” according to a press release.

The site, located at SupportiveSchoolDiscipline.org, gives professional development tips and offers resources in four topic areas: “Conditions for Learning;" "The Pipeline to Prison;" "Positive Approaches to School Discipline," and "Discipline Disparities."

"Each spotlights the strategies and tools that work best to keep kids in school, address misbehavior and improve a school's learning environment," the press release said. "One tool, the NCSSD Conditions for Learning School Audit Tool, enables administrators to gauge the health of their school's learning climate."

The "school-to-prison pipeline" refers to zero tolerance policies and other actions that can "push students out of school and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems with suspensions, expulsions and school-based arrests."

"The National Clearinghouse is the most comprehensive assembly of practical information available anywhere for practitioners who want to improve discipline, engagement and conditions for learning," said Dr. David Osher, vice president and AIR Institute Fellow and the principal investigator for NCSSD. "It's not just information on the latest studies, but tools and links for building district, school and educator capacity to reduce disparities and problem behavior and to increase student self-discipline and engagement."

Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor