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Discipline, Behavior, and School Climate
CDE’s Dropout Prevention Office supports the implementation of statute and district strategies in discipline, behavior, and school climate. This includes the following:
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Partnering with CDE’s Data Services team on the statewide Discipline data collection, reporting, and use of discipline data.
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Facilitating work groups and task forces, managing training related to discipline statute, and supporting districts and the public in finding information about school discipline, behavior, and school climate statute.
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Supporting implementation of effective practices through management of the Expelled and At-Risk Student Services (EARSS) grant and compiling information on best practices and training from CDE offices or other organizations.
Trends in Discipline Collection
During the 2022-2023 school year, there were 118,254 behavior incidents and 96,218 students received one or more disciplinary action.
The number of behavior incidents has seen large fluctuations during the last three years due to the pandemic, but the incident count in the past two school years is similar to the ranges seen in the 2016-2019 school years.
In terms of disciplinary actions, most exclusionary discipline actions have decreased during the 2022-2023 school year, with the exception of suspensions which have had a slight increase over the years.
Regarding the demographic information of students disciplined in the last school year, the proportion of students in each category is similar to past years, except for race/ethnicity that has had a shift from the highest category of students disciplined being White to Hispanic or Latino.
Male students accounted for 68% of those disciplined, students in 7th and 8th grade accounted for 33% of those disciplined, and Hispanic or Latino and White students accounted for 83% of those disciplined.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reported the following statistics regarding disciplinary trends across the country: Discipline most commonly includes students of color and students with disabilities. In addition, "Disparities in student discipline begin as early as preschool and are widespread and persistent". In 2017-18, Black students accounted for 15% of student enrollment but 38% of students who received one or more out-of-school suspension. In 2017-18, students with disabilities accounted for 13% of student enrollment but 25% of students who received one or more out-of-school suspension. - U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Seeks Information on the nondiscriminatory administration of School Discipline, 2021
Section Navigation
Navigate to the pages below to explore discipline-related topics in the following categories:
Provides background information on state policy related to discipline, recently passed legislation, and key definitions that are outlined in statute.
Provides an overview of the data that is collected in Colorado related to discipline and behavior, district profile reports, current and previous school year discipline data, and navigation to information about the discipline data collection.
Provides information on evidence-based strategies, resources, and connections to organizations that support improvements in discipline, behavior, and school climate.
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