Equity in School Discipline & Climate

In episode three, Alexis discusses school climate with Dr. Vicki Nishioka, Principal Researcher on Equity and School Climate at Education Northwest. Their discussion of school climate incorporates research, policy, and day-to-day strategies. 

One focus of their conversation is how to prevent school discipline incidents with proactive school climate strategies such as helping students and teachers to build authentic relationships and the necessary social and emotional learning skills required to build relationships. As they delve more into relationship building, they examine a key element in building relationships with students: How educators and students can build relationships when they’re coming from very different cultural backgrounds and lived experiences. For example, how can educators use praise that aligns with students’ cultural values? 

On the research and policy side, Vicki and Alexis discuss the “zero tolerance” policy,  discipline disparities found based on race, especially regarding Black, Latinx, and Native American students, and the accompanying research that shows not a difference in behavior but a difference in perception of behaviors. Vicki works in partnership with many districts in Oregon and acknowledges that sometimes policy and shifts in practice are hard to coordinate. 

 

Resources:

Strengthening Relationships with Students from Diverse Backgrounds (video) - Education Northwest

Shift the Current School Climate: Sense of Belonging and Social Emotional Learning - REL Northwest

Building Connections with Students from Diverse Cultural Backgrounds Through Perspective-taking - Vicki Nishioka

Resources for Building Teacher-Student Relationships - Education Northwest