Alabama’s schools saw a huge increase in student discipline incidents during the 2021-22 school year, according to an annual report.

An AL.com analysis of student incident reports collected by the Alabama Department of Education found that reports of some types of serious incidents doubled or tripled or more – such as firearm possession, weapons use and sexual battery.

Schools reported 156,018 coded incidents in 2021-22, the highest known number of specific infractions in the last decade. Schools reported problems with vaping, profanity, bomb threats, guns and fighting.

But there’s a big problem with the data, which is the best window parents, community members and law enforcement have into school discipline and safety: It’s hard to find, it’s hard to understand and it’s not accurate.

Auburn schools’ data included a reported homicide. But the school district said the incident actually involved harassment. Enterprise schools’ data showed 76 violations involving a rifle; a school official said there actually were no incidents.

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Errors and questions about how incident reports are gathered, reported to the state and analyzed make it hard to assess whether school officials know what’s in the reports – and whether some issues may be missed entirely.

“Teachers don’t even see the data from the students that they refer, let alone the data from [the whole school],” University of Alabama’s Sara McDaniel told AL.com.

The Alabama State Department of Education did not return multiple requests for comment. Officials also did not respond to questions about the accuracy of the data and reporting process.

What the numbers show about school discipline

Schools are required to record an incident when it is serious enough to consider punishing a student by one of the following methods: corporal punishment, in-school suspension, out of school suspension, placement in alternative school or interim setting, referral to law enforcement or expulsion. State officials decide which types of incidents to track and offer definitions of different offenses.

Schools recorded the highest number of incidents in 2021-22 since the 2012-13 school year, the earliest for which AL.com has available. And numbers of reported incidents increased substantially in just the past year, according to an AL.com analysis.

Behavior-related and technology-related incidents, which likely reflect use of phones during class, increased by more than 10 times.

The pandemic was tough for a lot of schools and families, according to Laura Bruce, the mental health services coordinator for Ozark City Schools. Bruce said disciplinary infractions can be a window into what a student is struggling with, she said. Students who misbehave at school are often usually struggling with something happening at home or at school.

Calling attention to themselves may not be the intention, but it is the result, she said, and once schools begin to monitor a disciplinary issue, counselors and teachers can work to identify the best way to help.

“We put supports in place once we get to the root,” Bruce said.

Here are noteworthy data points, according to an AL.com analysis:

• In 2012-13, schools reported 143,043 incidents. In 2021-22, schools reported 156,018 coded incidents, the highest known number of specific infractions.
• Handgun and firearm possession jumped from 13 incidents two years ago to 122 incidents in 2021-22.
• In addition to 156,000 incidents with codes, schools reported 77,700 “local use” infractions. It is not clear what types of behavior was reported in those infractions.

Alabama Education Lab compiled five years of student incident reports into an interactive database, allowing you to look up your child’s school and district to see what types of disciplinary problems are happening.

These are types of incidents that saw the greatest percentage increase from 2018-19 to 2021-22:

• Electronic Pagers/Unauthorized communication device – 580% – 1,080 to 7,340
• Handgun possession – 442% – 12 to 65
• Disruptive demonstrations – 262% – 4,058 to 14,684
• Other weapon, use – 258% 19 to 68
• Truancy/Unauthorized absence – 192% – 4,606 to 13,457
• Firearm component possession – 147% – 19 to 47
• Sexual battery – 138% – 16 to 57
• Disorderly conduct – other – 93% – 8,625 to 16,645
• Tobacco possession – 91% – 2,446 to 4,661
• Bomb threat – up 83% from 18 to 33

Errors and questions

AL.com found last year’s discipline numbers are not accurate.

An AL.com analysis found errors in the data after noticing unusual increases in a few serious incidents. School district officials verified some errors. We present the data as it is currently posted on the state department website for consistency.

AL.com talked with multiple superintendents who believe changes in incident numbers don’t necessarily reflect an increase in discipline issues.

Cullman City schools reported 34 incidents two years ago and 890 incidents in 2021-22. But Superintendent Kyle Kalhoff said that last year, the state began counting infractions and incidents in a different way.

For example, he told AL.com, a vaping incident may be recorded three separate times if school officials held a student conference, a parent conference and gave the student in-school suspension.

“We intentionally populated all three outcomes,” Kalhoff wrote, “so we have a record of how we handled the incident. However there was only one incident that is being counted three times.”

Why quality discipline data is important

As important as it is to report accurate information, UAB professor Peter Jones said it isn’t surprising that schools might struggle to do so. Few school districts have personnel devoted to data quality, he added, and when schools are deciding where to spend money, other priorities – like instruction – often come first.

But it’s important to get the numbers right, he said.

“Good data in gets you quality decisions out,” Jones said. “Bad data, you’re going mostly off your gut.”

University of Alabama professor Sara McDaniel and the Center for Interconnected Behavioral Mental Health Systems help schools use discipline data to improve student behavior.

McDaniel and her colleagues work with teachers and administrators to implement Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, requiring schools to identify discipline problems and break down the incidents by what she calls “the big five.”

That means looking at incidents by location, time of day, day of the week, the problem behavior, and teacher at the end of every month. That breakdown helps educators identify solutions that make sense for students, McDaniel said.

If the breakdown shows increased discipline problems for seventh graders in the lunchroom, for example, seventh grade teachers could talk with students about expectations in the lunchroom, she said, or add a few adults to the lunchroom when students are there.

“The magic really happens when we look at the data,” she said.”Once we’re able to identify a pattern, we train the [school’s] team on how to make decisions on that.”