A Descriptive Analysis of Harassment, Intimidation, or Bullying Student Behaviors: 2015-2016
Author: Whisman, Andy
Date: 2017-02-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Student Behavior,Bullying,Discipline,Referral,Behavior Problems,Incidence,Intervention,State Departments of Education,Aggression,Discipline Problems,Student Characteristics,Educational Legislation,Educational Policy,School Statistics,Discipline Policy,At Risk Students,Elementary Secondary Education,Disabilities,Race,Ethnicity

This report describes the occurrence of discipline referrals and corresponding interventions and consequences used by schools for harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors during the 2015-2016 school year. Using data entered into the West Virginia Education Information System (WVEIS), two sets of analyses were conducted--one focusing on discipline referrals to examine the number, seriousness, and types of harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors and interventions used by schools; and a second addressing questions about the characteristics of students reported for these behaviors. Of the 240,387 student discipline referrals reported in WVEIS and useable for this report, 3,507 (1.5%) were for harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors. Most of these referrals were at the middle school level (47%) followed by high school (32%) and elementary school (20%). WV Code §18-2C requires the reporting of the reasons, if known, for harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors. The reason reported for 61% of these behaviors was &quot;other characteristic,&quot; suggesting they were not definitively known. Other reported reasons were physical appearance (10%), gender (6%), mental/physical/developmental/sensory disability (6%), or sexual orientation (5.5%). Students referred for harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors also were referred for other categories of inappropriate behaviors, including disruptive/disrespectful conduct (50%), failure to obey rules/authority (27%), tardiness or truancy (11%), and aggressive conduct (10%). The main disciplinary interventions or consequences used by schools in response to harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors included out-of-school suspensions (35%), followed by in-school suspensions (19%), detentions (11%), and administrator/teacher and student conferences (11%). All other interventions or consequences were used at lower rates. Of the 2,936 students referred for disciplinary action for harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors, most (86%) were referred for a single offense. Nearly three quarters of the students were male. White students were referred at a slightly lower rate than their respective statewide representation (85% vs. 91%), while Black students were referred at a higher rate (11% vs. 5%). Other races made up roughly the same proportions as their representation in the overall student population. More than a quarter (27%) of students referred for these behaviors were identified as eligible for special education services. Risk ratio calculations indicate Black students were 2.5 times as likely to experience discipline referrals for these behaviors compared to White students. Similarly, students with disabilities were twice as likely to be referred compared with students without disabilities. Based on the findings of the study, several best practices are suggested: (1) address harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors with evidence-based interventions integrated into a school-wide approach aimed at improving behaviors and overall conditions for learning; (2) build staff capacity to provide appropriate behavioral interventions in the context of a multi-tiered framework as part of school-wide approaches to promote appropriate behavior; (3) minimize the use of out-of-school suspensions and couple in-school suspensions with interventions to avoid depriving students of needed supports; and (4) investigate the issue of subgroup disparity in discipline practices and deliver professional development and technical assistance to schools to help minimize disparities.