The Effects of Teaching School Expectations and Establishing a Consistent Consequence on Formal Office Disciplinary Actions

Abstract

This study evaluated how establishing, teaching, and reinforcing schoolwide rules and routines and systematically responding to disruptive behavior affected the number of formal office disciplinary referrals. One elementary school was studied over 4 school years. A continuous intervention time series design was used, along with a nonequivalent comparison group. Results revealed that actively planning for and establishing clear standards throughout the school and having in place a systematic response to disruptive behavior had positive effects. However, it seemed that the systematic response to disruptive behavior may have played a key role in the decrease in the amount of formal office disciplinary referrals.

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