Discipline

Learn more about how schools handle student discipline and how disciplinary actions affect students
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Law & Courts Court Rejects Discipline of Student Whose Post Mocked George Floyd's Death
An appeals court ruled that a student's off-campus social media post is constitutionally protected.
Mark Walsh, October 31, 2025
4 min read
Student Keiran George uses her cellphone as she steps outside the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts High School in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 13, 2024.
Student Keiran George uses her cellphone as she steps outside the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts High School in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 13, 2024. California last year approved limits on the use of the devices in schools.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
Ed-Tech Policy Do School Cellphone Bans Work? What Early Findings Tell Us
A pair of research projects look at the impact on discipline and academic achievement.
Arianna Prothero, October 24, 2025
6 min read
Cropped photo of a caucasian elementary school boy standing alone in a hallway holding his books and looking up at someone or something not shown.
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Teaching ADHD Is Punished in Schools. How Teachers Can Flip the Script
These strategies can help manage the behavior of students with ADHD more effectively.
Elizabeth Heubeck, October 2, 2025
7 min read
In this Sept. 7, 2018 photo, a student at Grant High School in Portland, Ore., waits for a ride after school. Portland Public Schools relaxed its dress code in 2016 after student complaints that the rules unfairly targeted female students and sexualized their fashion choices.
In this Sept. 7, 2018 photo, a student at Grant High School in Portland, Ore., waits for a ride after school. Portland Public Schools relaxed its dress code in 2016 after student complaints that the rules unfairly targeted female students and sexualized their fashion choices. A new brief has nine recommendations to make dress codes more inclusive in schools.
Gillian Flaccus/AP
Equity & Diversity Q&A Student Dress Codes Can Send the Wrong Message. How to Get Them Right
Recommendations include a climate survey for students and reevaluating subjective language in dress code policies.
Jennifer Vilcarino, August 1, 2025
6 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Teaching Profession Opinion 'The Worst Rule I Ever Had to Live With ...': The Policies Teachers Hate
Sometimes, teachers are baffled by the directives coming their way.
Larry Ferlazzo, July 31, 2025
9 min read
President Donald Trump signs an executive order regarding education in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Washington, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon watch.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order regarding education in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Washington, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon watch.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal Trump to Schools: Banish 'Equity Ideology' in Discipline
Trump’s latest action continues to take aim at diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
Brooke Schultz & Evie Blad, April 24, 2025
8 min read
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Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
Teaching Profession Data Teachers Say These 5 Factors Could Boost Their Morale
Short of a pay raise, here are the things that could improve teachers' morale.
Holly Kurtz, March 4, 2025
8 min read
School kids placing putting phones away during class
Dobrila Vignjevic/E+
Ed-Tech Policy What Schools Look Like Without the Cellphone Distraction
Student behavior has improved and disciplinary referrals have gone down, administrators say.
Olina Banerji, February 4, 2025
7 min read
Photograph of three student engineers working on a new mechanical model. Multi-ethnic group of young people in a STEM class.
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Equity & Diversity What the Latest Civil Rights Data Show About Racial Disparities in Schools
The U.S. Department of Education released new data from 2021-22 covering students' access to STEM courses, school discipline, and more.
Ileana Najarro, January 16, 2025
7 min read
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum Big AI Questions for Schools. How They Should Respond 
Join this free virtual event to unpack some of the big questions around the use of AI in K-12 education.
January 9, 2025
Custom illustration by Stuart Briers showing two identical male figures sitting in a chair with a computer dot matrix pointing to different parts of the body. The background depicts soundwaves, a play button, speaker icon, eye, and ear.
Stuart Briers for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence From Our Research Center Why Schools Need to Wake Up to the Threat of AI 'Deepfakes' and Bullying
Schools are underprepared to deal with a deluge of AI-created videos that harm the reputations of students and educators.
Olina Banerji, December 9, 2024
11 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Opinion Restorative Justice, the Classroom, and Policy: Can We Resolve the Tension?
Student discipline is one area where school culture and the rules don't always line up.
Rick Hess, October 29, 2024
8 min read
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Artificial Intelligence Parents Sue After School Disciplined Student for AI Use: Takeaways for Educators
The Massachusetts lawsuit is one of the first to highlight the benefits and challenges of generative AI use in the classroom.
Lauraine Langreo, October 24, 2024
5 min read
An illustration of a small person of color dragging a very large bookbag on their back.
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Special Education How Students With Disabilities Fare in Both Charter and Regular Public Schools
Students with disabilities experienced inequities in both types of schools, a new analysis shows.
Brooke Schultz, October 8, 2024
6 min read