Suspension

Description of the Strategy

Suspension is a form of school disciplinary action in which the privilege of attending school is “suspended” for a period of time. A suspension occurs when a building administrator makes a decision that a student should not be attending school for a relatively brief period, up to several school days.

Although its origins are obscure, the use of suspension has probably existed since before the advent of universally mandated education in the United States. At present, the purpose of suspension as a disciplinary consequence is usually connected to a serious rule violation. The intent is to reduce the likelihood that students will engage in future ruleviolating behavior. Nevertheless, its original purpose before universal education may simply have been to exclude students who, for whatever reason, caused problems. Today it is also used as a vehicle to create a “cooling off” period for a student and for staff involved in some serious incidents at school.

Students may be suspended from school for a variety of reasons. While suspensions have been given for communicable diseases (head lice, for example), lack of immunizations, or other non–behavior-related issues, they most typically occur as a result of violations of the school's “code of conduct.” A school's code of conduct is a written policy document that is distributed to students and parents and establishes the expected behavior and disciplinary procedures for the school or school district. The code of conduct typically identifies the types of behavior or activities that are inappropriate in school and the disciplinary consequences for these behaviors, including those which may lead to suspension.

Suspension, like corporal punishment and other punitive consequences, is a coercive form of discipline generally assumed to be inherently punishing. However, being excluded from school in fact may be reinforcing [Page 1553]for some students, from a modern behavioral perspective, because these students engage in rule-violating behavior to (a) escape or avoid aversive classroom and school conditions (i.e., negative reinforcement), or to access adult or peer attention (positive reinforcement). Similarly, teacher and administrator use of suspension may be maintained by the removal of students whose behaviors are disruptive and aversive while they are in class and at school (negative reinforcement).

In schools where multiple disciplinary consequences are specified in the code of conduct, suspension is usually reserved for serious offenses, such as fighting, drug or alcohol abuse, smoking violations, and serious insubordination. However, depending on the particular school's policies, the administrator handling the situation, and the student's attitude and prior disciplinary history, suspensions also have been used for almost any disciplinary infraction, including inappropriate dress or language, lack of cooperation, tardiness, unexcused absences, and so on.

Although suspension is intended as a short-term removal from school, the length varies considerably. Suspensions may vary in duration from the remainder of the current school day to several weeks. Typically, suspensions are in the 1- to 5-day range. Multiple suspensions might occur for a student during a school year, resulting in a large number of cumulative days of suspension. However, for students with disabilities, a maximum of 10 cumulative days of suspension has been specified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA-97). Additional information on special requirements for students with disabilities is provided here.

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