Date of Award

Spring 6-5-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Nyaradzo, Mvududu

Second Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Jorge Preciado

Third Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Scott Beers

Keywords

Office Discipline Referrals (ODR), discipline disparities, students with disabilities (SWD), multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), exclusionary discipline, discipline inequity

Abstract

This two-part qualitative study examined the experiences of students with disabilities (SWD) in the middle school discipline. Phase one was a qualitative document analysis study that examined school discipline for SWD through the lens of Critical Disability Theory (CDT), Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Constructivist Learning Theory, and the Vulnerable Decision Point model (VDP) in a midsize suburban district in Washington state. The study explored alignment of ODR teacher-written narratives with behavioral categories assigned to the ODR at the time of issue to determine variance based on behavior category or student disability status. Phase two a semi-structured interview (shown on Appendix C) with 11 SWD to explore their perspectives of school discipline. Interviews were analyzed for themes. Findings revealed that the overall rate of referrals for SWDs was substantially larger than the number of SWD in the school population. Additionally, while full alignment of the category codes identified by researchers and by school staff was largely the same across all the student groups investigated, substantial disparities occurred within specific category codes, and generalized codes often obscured the prevalence of specific problematic behaviors. Interviews returned themes regarding impact of the discipline experience that included bullying and harassment, communication and staff rapport, gender and gender expression, impact on student growth, perceptions of fairness, and student agency.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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