Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Jackson, Austin Kaye
URN	etd-08072006-175333
Title	The Effects of Reduced Duration In-School Suspension on the Classroom Behavior of Elementary School Students
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Psychology, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Jon S. Bailey Committee Chair Bruce Thyer Committee Member Ellen Berler Committee Member Frank Johnson Committee Member Tom Welsh Committee Member
Keywords	Student Punishment Timeout Length Duration In-School Suspension Behavior
Date of Defense	2006-08-01
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract In-school suspension is one of the most commonly used disciplinary procedures in schools today. It enjoys broad support from administrators, teachers, and parents and has become a favored alternative to out-of-school suspension. Despite its wide-spread use, virtually nothing is known about its effect on student behavior. Among the parameters of in-school suspension that have received little or no scientific evaluation, duration of assignment – an oft researched topic in the timeout literature – possesses particular practical, ethical, and legal implications. In this study, a within-subjects reversal design was used to compare the effects of short, 2-hour assignments to in-school suspension to more commonly used 2-day (12-hour) assignments on the classroom behavior of seven elementary school students. A visual inspection of the results revealed a reduction in participant classroom disruptive behavior and a corresponding increase in engagement immediately following in-school suspension for all participants. A small decrease in classmate disruptiveness and an accompanying increase in classmate engagement following participant suspension was also observed. Surprisingly, visual inspection of the data revealed no difference in participant or classmate behavior between in-school suspension conditions. The 12-hour condition, however, was associated with a 466% increase in lost instructional time over the 2-hour condition. Longterm behavior change was not achieved under either condition. Implications of these findings for the educational community are discussed.
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