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Task Force on the Impact of Elementary & Secondary School Zero Tolerance Policies
APA Board of Directors

APA’s Board of Directors established a task force to examine and make recommendations regarding the development and implementation of Zero Tolerance policies in elementary and secondary schools. The Task Force on the Impact of Elementary and Secondary School Zero Tolerance Policies met September 7-8 and December 14-16, 2005 in Washington, D.C.

As APA President, Ronald Levant appointed the following six-person task force:

Chair: Cecil Reynolds, Ph.D., Texas A&M University

Jane Conoley, Ph.D., Texas A&M University

Board of Educational Affairs

Sandra Graham, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Board of Scientific Affairs

Peter Sheras, Ph.D., University of Virginia

Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice /Board of Professional Affairs

Russell Skiba, Ph.D., Indiana University

Division 16

Enedina Vazquez, Ph.D., New Mexico State University

Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest

Task Force members have different types of expertise related to child development, behavior management, evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of children with disabilities, and the function of elementary and secondary schools as complex organizational systems as well as the role of psychology in creating change in schools. The Task Force convened September 7-8, and December 14-16, 2005.

Background

Over the past decade, the United States elementary and secondary school systems have begun implementing strict rules for dealing with violations of school rules. Nicknamed “Zero Tolerance,” these policies can be written without adequate empirical or theoretical foundation. It is imperative that psychology examine this issue, and take on the role of providing guidance in how to develop and administer effective policies that will help children and the schools they attend. Natural leadership on the issue of how best to implement such policies to avoid undesired, adverse impact on children and obtain the result of safer, more effective schools would seem to flow logically from the field of psychology.

Implementation Plan

The work of the Task Force will include analyses of issues related to ethics and diversity in the implementation of Zero Tolerance policies. The work product of the Task Force will be a report that will include an analysis of these issues. The Task Force will focus particularly on formulating Zero Tolerance policies that are consistent with psychological science and public policy with a special emphasis on providing recommendations for methods of implementing Zero Tolerance policies in ways that benefit children as opposed to inflicting damage upon them. The report and executive summary were reviewed by the Board of Directors in February 2006 and forwarded to boards and committees for review at the Spring 2006 Consolidated meetings. The Task Force convened September 7-8, and December 14-16 in Washington, DC.

December 14-15, 2005 Meeting

The Task Force convened on December 14-15, 2005 in Washington, D.C. to examine issues related to ethics and diversity in the implementation of Zero Tolerance policies, and prepared a report and set of executive recommendations for legislative action, including the need for alternatives to Zero Tolerance policies such as threat assessment, restorative justice, and preventive measures that reconnect alienated students to schools; systematic prospective studies on the outcomes of children who are suspended or expelled from schools due to Zero Tolerance policies, including follow-up and monitoring functions; training for teachers in culturally-sensitive pedagogy and behavior management; and systematic efficacy research, including quasi-experimental designs to compare outcomes of programs with and without Zero Tolerance policies.

The report and executive summary were reviewed by the Board of Directors in February 2006 and forwarded to boards and committees for review at the April 2006 Consolidated meetings cross cutting agenda. If you are interested in learning more about the Task Force on the Impact of Elementary and Secondary Schools Zero Tolerance Policies, please contact Heidi Sickler or Ashley Edmiston

Updated 3.15.06

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