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National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Child and Young Adult (NLSCYA)

School Discipline

 

Child

School Behavior

Information about child behavior at school is collected from the mother, starting with the 1988 survey. The mother reports, for all school age children, whether the child has ever had any behavior problems at school resulting in a note or being asked to come in and talk to the teacher or principal. She also reports, in each survey round, whether the child has ever been suspended or expelled from school and the grade in which the event first happened. These items are assigned to the year-specific MOTHER SUPPLEMENT area of interest and can be found in the Child documentation as follows: 

Question Name   Variable Title  
MS880852 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD'S BEHAVIOR REQUIRED PARENT AT SCHOOL 1988
MS901447 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CH'S BEHAVIOR REQUIRED PARENT AT SCHOOL 1990
MS921447 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD'S BEHAVIOR REQUIRED PARENT AT SCHOOL 1992
MS941611 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD'S BEHAVIOR REQUIRED PARENT AT SCHOOL 1994
MS961611 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD BEHAVIOR REQUIRED PARENT AT SCHOOL 1996
MS985007 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD BEHAVIOR REQUIRED PARENT AT SCHOOL 1998
BKGN-38 CHILD BACKGROUND: CHILD BEHAVIOR REQUIRED PARENT AT SCHOOL 2000-2004
MS-BKGN-38 CHILD BACKGROUND: CHILD BEHAVIOR REQUIRED PARENT AT SCHOOL 2006-2014
MS880855 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD EVER SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL 1988
MS901451 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD EVER SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL 1990
MS961631 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: WAS CHILD EVER SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL 1996
MS985012 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: WAS CHILD EVER SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL 1998
MS921451 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: WAS CHILD EVER SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL? 1992
MS941615 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: WAS CHILD EVER SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL? 1994
BKGN-40 CHILD BACKGROUND: WAS CHILD EVER SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL 2000-2004
MS-BKGN-40 CHILD BACKGROUND: WAS CHILD EVER SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL 2006-2014
MS961633 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD GRADE WHEN FIRST SUSPENDED 1996
MS985012A SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD GRADE WHEN FIRST SUSPENDED 1998
MS921453 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD'S GRADE WHEN FIRST SUSPENDED 1992
MS941617 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD'S GRADE WHEN FIRST SUSPENDED 1994
MS880856 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD'S GRADE WHEN SUSPENDED 1988
MS901453 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: CHILD'S GRADE WHEN SUSPENDED 1990
BKGN-40A CHILD BACKGROUND: CHILD GRADE WHEN FIRST SUSPENDED 2000-2004
MS-BKGN-40A CHILD BACKGROUND: CHILD GRADE WHEN FIRST SUSPENDED 2006-2014

In 2000 only, the above items were asked in the Child Supplement and therefore assigned to the year-specific CHILD SUPPLEMENT area of interest. In all other survey rounds, they are found in the MOTHER SUPPLEMENT area of interest.

School Survey

As part of the 1995-1996 Child School Survey, there is information on the number of times the child was suspended in 1993-1995 and the number of students suspended from the same school at the same grade level. The School Survey also reports the number of times the child was expelled and the number of children at the same grade level expelled in the child's school. These items, documented as follows, are assigned to the CHILD SCHOOL SURVEY area of interest:

Table 1. Variable titles and question names for school discipline questions from Child School Survey

Variable Title School #1 School #2
SCHOOLING #(1 OR 2): NUMBER TIMES CHILD SUSPENDED IN 1994-1995 YEAR C1Q15 C2Q15
SCHOOLING #(1 OR 2): NUMBER TIMES WAS CHILD SUSPENDED IN 1993-1994 YEAR C1Q31 C2Q31
SCHOOLING #(1 OR 2): NUMBER TIMES THIS CHILD HAS BEEN EXPELLED FROM SCHOOL C1Q39 C2Q39
SCHOOLING #(1 OR 2): NUMBER OF CHILDREN SUSPENDED AT THIS GRADE LEVEL C1Q49 C2Q49
SCHOOLING #(1 OR 2): NUMBER CHILDREN EXPELLED AT THIS GRADE LEVEL C1Q50 C2Q50

For some children, information was obtained from more than one school, since the child attended more than one school during the interview window. The question names for variables from the Child Schooling Questionnaire are prefixed with a "C" following by the school number (1 or 2). Titles for questions from the first school begin wtih "SCHOOLING #1", and titles for questions from the second school begin with "SCHOOLING #2".

BPI Scale

As part of the antisocial subscale of the Behavior Problems Index, completed by mothers in all survey years for children ages 4 and older, there are two items related to school discipline:

BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS INDEX: CHILD IS DISOBEDIENT AT SCHOOL
BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS INDEX: CHILD HAS TROUBLE GETTING ALONG WITH TEACHER

The BPI items are assigned to the MOTHER SUPPLEMENT area of interest for each survey year. Since 2008, the BPI items are also assigned to the ASSESSMENT ITEMS area of interest.

Survey Instruments Questions related to school discipline are found in the Mother Supplement. Questions about school suspensions and expulsions were asked as part of the Child School Survey.
Areas of Interest MOTHER SUPPLEMENT
CHILD SCHOOL SURVEY
CHILD SUPPLEMENT
ASSESSMENT ITEMS

 

Young Adult

While Young Adult respondents are not asked explicitly about any school discipline, they do provide information about the main reason they left school, as well as the main reason for any gaps in secondary school attendance, with one of the answer categories for those questions being suspension/expulsion.

Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: The 1980 NLSY79 survey included several questions on school discipline problems: whether respondents had ever been suspended or expelled from school, and if so, the number of times, date of most recent disciplinary action, and when/if the youth had returned to school. Similar to the Young Adult, the questions in the NLSY79 schooling section about reasons for nonenrollment include expulsion/suspension. Information was collected on behavior problems evidenced by children of NLSY79 respondents that resulted in either the parent's notification or disciplinary action. NLSY97 respondents are asked whether they have been suspended and, if so, for what periods. The Young Women and the Young Men surveys ask respondents whether they have ever been suspended or expelled from school. For more precise details about the content of each survey, consult the appropriate cohort User's Guide using the tabs above for more information.

Survey Instruments Questions related to school discipline are found in the Young Adult Instrument, Section 4, Regular Schooling.
Areas of Interest YA Schooling