Hardy County Schools Bus Discipline Action Research Project

1. School Bus Discipline:
Driving for a Change in
Bus Behavior

2. Action Research Project
Sheena Van Meter
Assistant Principal, Moorefield Elementary School
Hardy County
471 Students
Preschool – 2nd Grade
64.97% Free/Reduced Lunch
11.25% Minority
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3. The Problem
• Currently, there is only a Bus Code of Conduct and
no Bus Discipline Policy in Hardy County.
• The Bus Code of Conduct is not sent home with
students annually. Parents may obtain a copy of the
Bus Code of Conduct upon request to the Board of
Education Office.
• There are inconsistencies in how the School Bus
Operators manage bus behaviors and disciplinary
action determined by the principals.
• There is a lack of communication with parents,
therefore expectations of student behavior is not
clearly defined.
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4. Baseline Data

5. Data

6. And the Survey Says…
• 23 out of 28 School Bus
Operators surveyed state that
they feel they do not have the
backing and support of the county
school administration regarding
student discipline.

7. Projected Implications of this
Research Project
• The number of Discipline Referrals for
disruptive behaviors on the school bus
will decrease by 10% the first month a
bus behavior program is in place, and an
additional 5% for 3 months thereafter.

8. Current Research
• Teaching Interrupted: Do Discipline Policies in Today's Public Schools
Foster the Common Good? A Report by Public Agenda, New York, NY,
2004. (As summarized in Effective Schools Research Abstracts Volume 19,
Issue 6)
• PARENT ACCOUNTABILITY IS KEY
• Boynton, Mark and Christine Boynton, The Educator's Guide to
Preventing and Solving Discipline Problems. ASCD, Alexandria, VA,
2005. (As summarized in Effective Schools Research Abstracts Volume 20,
Issue 6)
• EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE REQUIRES CONSISTENCY

9. Continued Research
• Michelle Layer Rahal, "Bullying Prevention."
Educational Research Service, Alexandria, VA, 2010
(www.ers.org): 1-20. (As summarized in Effective
Schools Research Abstracts Volume 24, Issue 7)
• BULLIES ON THE BUS WITHOUT DIRECT ADULT
SUPERVISION

10. Action Plan Proposal
Date Action Plan Individuals Data Collection
Initiative Responsible Source
January – March 2012 Development of Policy Team – (County Meetings (face to face)
Transportation Director, Bus Operator Surveys
County Behavior Specialist, 6
Bus Operators, 6
administrators)
April – July 2012 Present to BOE for approval Team County Feedback
and readings. Accepted as
Policy.
August 2012 Staff Development for Drivers, Team Parents’ signed and returned
Develop Bus Education portion of the New Policy.
Program, Develop Bus
Education Program Review
Schedule. Bus Policy goes
home for parents to review
and sign.
September 2012 Meet with principals to ensure Team # of Bus Discipline Referrals
implementation and address
concerns. Collect Referrals.
October-December 2012 Continue to collect referrals Team # of Bus Discipline Referrals
January – May 2013 and analyze data.
June , 2013 Examine the number of Bus Team # of Bus Discipline Referrals,
Discipline Referrals since administrator interviews, bus
implementation of new policy operator surveys, overall
and determine if there has decrease/increase percentage.
been a decrease since
implementation of new policy.

11. The Plan…
Population: All Hardy County Students (grades pre-K – 12)
who utilize school bus transportation.
Team Members: Hardy County Transportation Director,
Hardy County Behavior Specialist, an administrator from
each of the six schools in the county, and six bus
operators (three from each side of the county).

12. The Plan Continued…
• Procedure:
1 – Develop Policy based upon current county data and
driver, administrator, and Superintendent feedback.
2 – Policy Reading and approval.
3 – Send home with students and obtain parent signature.
4 – Implement the bus education program in the
classrooms.
5 – Analyze Data from August through May to determine if
the policy has made a positive impact.

13. Materials
• Copies of the new Bus Discipline Policy to distribute
to parents of Hardy County school Students
(including level I, II, and III behaviors and
disciplinary actions)
• Bus Education Program to support the new Bus
Discipline Policy through instructional strategies
taught in the classroom.

14. Data
• Bus Discipline Referral
• Bus Operator feedback collected via
monthly surveys
• Parent feedback collected via monthly
surveys

15. Anticipated Impact on Instructional
Leadership
• I believe that through this project I will learn to lead a
team through collaboration, research, and data collection
in order to modify county policies to best meet the needs
of all individuals involved. My goal is to build upon my
leadership abilities by working with a variety of individuals
within the school system. By developing a relationship
with service personnel in the county school system I am
recognizing the valuable role they play in the education of
our students.

16. QUESTIONS?