American adults favor supportive student-discipline solutions, like school climate efforts and training for teachers, over stricter practices like detentions or suspensions, a new survey finds.
The poll, conducted by Gallup on behalf of Communities in Schools, also found that 54 percent of respondents said most teachers are “unprepared” or “very unprepared” to handle discipline issues.
The results come from a phone survey of 1,000 adults conducted in February.
Ninety percent rated more training for educators and increased efforts to create positive school environments as “very effective” or “somewhat effective” discipline interventions. Practices like more detentions, suspensions, or expulsions got the same ratings from just 55 percent of respondents.
