title: Student and school factors associated with school suspension: A multilevel analysis of students in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States.
abstract: One of the common issues schools face is how best to handle challenging student behaviors such as violent behavior, antisocial behavior, bullying, school rule violations, and interrupting other students' learning. School suspension may be used to remove students engaging in challenging behaviors from the school for a period of time. However, the act of suspending students from school may worsen rather than improve their behavior. Research shows that suspensions predict a range of student outcomes, including crime, delinquency, and drug use. It is therefore crucial to understand the factors associated with the use of school suspension, particularly in sites with different policy approaches to problem behaviors. This paper draws on data from state-representative samples of 3,129 Grade 7 and 9 students in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia sampled in 2002. Multilevel modeling examined student and school level factors associated with student-reported school suspension. Results showed that both student (being male, previous student antisocial and violent behavior, rebelliousness, academic failure) and school (socioeconomic status of the school, aggregate measures of low school commitment) level factors were associated with school suspension and that the factors related to suspension were similar in the two states. The implications of the findings for effective school behavior management policy are that, rather than focusing only on the student,bothstudent and school level factors need to be addressed to reduce the rates of school suspension.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Locked Bag 4115, Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065, Australia & Centre for Adolescent Health, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, sheryl.hemphill@acu.edu.au.
authors.forename: A Hemphill
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Sheryl
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Locked Bag 4115, Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065, Australia & Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne & Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; stephanie.plenty@acu.edu.au.
authors.forename: M Plenty
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Stephanie
authors.affiliation: 3DL Partnership, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Campus Box 354900, 4101 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105-6299, USA & Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, tih@u.washington.edu.
authors.forename: Todd I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Herrenkohl
authors.affiliation: Professor and Chair in Health Psychology, Prevention Sciences, School of Psychology and Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing Research, Deakin University, Geelong Waterfront Campus, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia & Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Australia: john.toumbourou@deakin.edu.au.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Toumbourou
authors.affiliation: Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 3rd Avenue NE, Suite 401, Seattle, WA 98115, USA, catalano@u.washington.edu.
authors.forename: Richard F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Catalano
keywords: bi-national study; correlates; school exclusion; school level risk factors; school suspension