| This study was designed to examine the underlying influential factors that affect the decision-making process of secondary principals when having to choose an appropriate discipline in relation to a student discipline issue. In an era of high accountability and increased emphasis on improving student achievement, student discipline, an age old concern, continues to be a major distraction to this end. Developed from a comprehensive review of the literature of both decision theory and theory of planned behavior, a general hypothesis was proposed. The hypothesis reads: The decision-making process in student discipline by secondary principals is influenced (weighted) by factors referred to as perceptions of influence in varying degrees and in combination (aggregation principle) which ultimately affect discipline decision outcomes. Developed from this hypothesis were research questions exploring the proposal that five influential factors may be most instrumental in affecting the discipline outcome of any principal. A survey instrument was developed to measure these factors by a sample population of secondary principals throughout the State of Idaho. A pre-survey and pilot survey was conducted with an expert panel of secondary principals and culminated in a field survey of 200 principals statewide. A mailed single stage self-administered survey was used to gather data for analysis. The survey asked respondents to read a case study scenario of a student/teacher interaction resulting in the student being referred to the principal for disciplinary action, to choose a level of discipline, and to rate 40 variables determining the amount of influence each variable had on their choice. Examination of the data was performed using factor analysis followed by standard multiple regression. Six stable factors were identified with high inter-item reliability between factor variables. Standard multiple regression analysis revealed four factors to be highly significant in affecting the level of discipline choice. The four influential factors are (1) perceptions of subjective norms, (2) values and ethics, (3) student and teacher perceptions, and (4) special education. Based upon the findings of this study, recommendations for further study are suggested to test and measure the identified influences and to explore additional influences on principals. |
