DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37300.v1
title: A Multiple Perspectives Analysis of the Influences on the School to Prison Pipeline in Virginia, 2013-2015
title: Version 1

description: This study consists of both qualitative and quantitative investigation of the influences on the school to prison pipeline. The quantitative study, the one included in this release, brings together four large datasets maintained by the Virginia Department of Education (DOE; Discipline Crime and Violence [DCV]), Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS; School Safety Audits and School Climate Data), and Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ; Juvenile Referrals and Intakes). These datasets were used to compare what characteristics (individual or building level) either increase or decrease the odds that a student will become involved with the criminal justice system, as a result of school behaviors. The qualitative study involved in-depth individual interviews with 34 educational stakeholders across Virginia, who are involved in the discipline process in the schools (e.g. administrators, counselors, School Resource Officers). The analysis of these interviews found that the themes in how school discipline is differentiated from law enforcement in the schools, and the efforts that schools communities are making to keep children in the classroom and out of the courtroom. Individuals are the unit of analysis. The sample includes the following vulnerable populations: children, minorities, institutionalized persons, and persons with disabilities.
description: The purpose of this study was to examine patterns that predict characteristics in schools that lead to increased or decreased use of exclusionary discipline and referrals to law enforcement. Five main questions were investigated, each with more specific sub questions. They were: 
Research Question 1: What is the influence of school resource officers (SROs) and the related policies on student appearances at intake?
Question 1A: Will schools with SROs have higher numbers of appearances at intake for nonviolent offenses
Question 1B: Will schools with MOUs have higher numbers of appearances at intake for nonviolent offenses?
Research Question 2: What is the effect of school safety factors on the use of exclusionary discipline and appearances at intake?
Question 2A: Will less safe schools have higher rates of the use of exclusionary discipline?
Question 2B: Will less safe schools have higher rates of appearance at intake enforcement?
Question 2C: Will schools that have zero-tolerance policies have higher rates of the use of exclusionary discipline and appearance at intake?
Question 2D: Will schools with higher rates of zero tolerance-policy use have greater rates of exclusionary discipline use and appearances at intake?
Research Question 3: What is the relationship between the school climate and the use of exclusionary discipline and student appearances at intake?
Question 3A: What is the relationship between the school climate and the use of exclusionary discipline?
Question 3B: What is the relationship between the school climate and appearances at intake?
Research Question 4: What are the influences of cultural factors on the STPP in Virginia?
Question 4a: Are certain groups of students (defined by gender, IEP status, and race/ethnicity) overrepresented in terms of offenses and appearances at intake compared to their representation in the Virginia school student population?
Question 4B: What is the relationship between cultural factors and days of exclusionary discipline assigned for offenses that appear in the DCV data set?
Research Question 5: To what extent do each of the influences of school climate, school safety, threat assessment, and cultural background contribute to the STPP in Virginia?
description: Not applicable
description: Response Rates: The quantitative analysis utilized only existing datasets held by the Virginia Departments of Juvenile Justice, Education, and Criminal Justice Services. The Qualitative data was gathered via interviews with stakeholders in exemplar schools across Virginia. We began with a list of 10 schools, and ultimately expanded that to 40. Of the 76 individuals we contacted regarding interviews we were able to interview 34.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None
description: The quantitative analysis utilized only existing datasets held by the Virginia Departments of Juvenile Justice, Education, and Criminal Justice Services. The participants for the qualitative interviews were selected from exemplar schools in Virginia.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: 2013-14 Individual Offense Level File
DS2: 2013-14 School Level File
DS3: 2014-15 Individual Offense Level File
DS4: 2014-15 School Level File
description: Students in K-12 schools in Virginia, involved with discipline and/or juvenile courts in the 2013-14 and 14-15 school years, as well as school stakeholders (administrators, counselors, school resource officers). Smallest Geographic Unit: None
description: face-to-face interviewThe qualitative data is not included in this release.