What Does It Look Like When a School Cuts Discipline Referrals in Half? Four Real Examples

Quick answer: Schools and districts using CharacterStrong report about 50% fewer office referrals in Boone County School District (19 schools) and at one Jefferson County Public Schools school (436 to 217), fights falling from 100 to about 5 at Gray Middle School in its first year of full implementation, and a 73% decrease in lost instruction from suspensions in Merced Union High School District. 

Behind every referral count is a hallway that got louder, a teacher who stopped teaching to manage behavior, and a principal with a line outside the door. Here is what four schools and districts report changed, and how to read their numbers without overselling them.

Which schools have reduced discipline referrals with CharacterStrong?

How can you measure your own results?

The leaders above could point to a number because they had a starting point. You can build yours in four steps:

1. Pick the one measure your community cares most about: referrals, fights, suspension days, or lost instruction.
2. Record a baseline for the past four months, the window used in the elementary trial, and write down how you define the measure.
3. Add Tier 1 character instruction alongside your current systems.
4. Re-measure with the same definition and share the change with staff and your board.

Frequently asked questions

How much can a school reduce discipline referrals? Boone County School District reports a 50% reduction across 19 schools, and one Jefferson County Public Schools school reports about 50%. In the randomized trial, students in elementary classrooms using PurposeFull People had 88% lower odds of having a referral. Results in your building will vary.

Does CharacterStrong reduce suspensions? Merced Union High School District reports a 73% decrease in lost instruction from suspensions. That measures instruction time lost, not the number of suspensions.

How soon did these schools see changes? Gray Middle School reported its changes by mid-November of its first year of full implementation, and the Jefferson County school reported its referral drop over one year.

Did attendance change in any reported case? Jefferson County Public Schools reports districtwide chronic absenteeism down 5%.

Sources

• Boone County School District case study
• Jefferson County Public Schools case study
• Gray Middle School case study
• Merced Union High School District case study
• Zhang, Cook and Smith (2023), School Mental Health