David R. Dupper

Student Discipline Problems and the Transition From Elementary to Middle School

The transition from elementary to middle school is difficult for many students. However, the association between such transitions and changes in the types and frequencies of student discipline problems has not been adequately investigated. Using data from two school years, infractions and dispositions for all 5th-grade students (N = 4,196) from one school district are followed from the final year of elementary school through the first year of middle school. Results show a substantial increase in reported student discipline problems and the use of in-school suspension in middle school.This increase is most dramatic for subjectively defined infractions like “class disturbance” and “failure to follow rules” compared to more concrete, objective infractions. Implications for educators and school administrators are discussed.

Do Teachers Bully Students? Findings From a Survey of Students in an Alternative Education Setting

Students need a strong, positive relationship with caring adults in school. Although the vast majority of adults in authority interact respectfully with students, some adults physically and psychologically bully students. This article examines the extent to which 50 alternative education students reported being victimized by teachers or other adults during their school career. Of respondents, 86% reported at least one incident of adult physical maltreatment in school and 88% reported at least one incident of adult psychological maltreatment in school. Almost twice as many students reported that an adult, rather than a peer, was involved in their worst school experience (64.4%), with several students indicating that their worst school experience involved being physically mistreated by an adult; half reported being upset by the experience “a lot.” These findings indicate that students are being bullied by teachers to a surprising degree and in a wide range of destructive and harmful ways.

School bullying: New perspectives on a growing problem.

Preface 1. An ecological-systems perspective of bullying in schools 2. What do we know about face-to-face peer bullying? 3. Cyberbullying: Taking bullying to new levels of cruelty and brutality 4. LGBTQ bullying and sexual bullying in schools 5. Under the radar bullying: Religious bullying and bullying by teachers in schools 6. Best practices in preventing school bullying: A Whole-School approach and beyond Appendix References Index