Forum Guide to Discipline Data. NFES 2023050

This guide is designed for use by school, district, and state education agency staff to improve the effectiveness of efforts to collect and use discipline data, including reporting accurate and timely data to the federal government. It explains the importance of collecting discipline data, identifies key considerations for agencies implementing and managing a discipline data system, and discusses how discipline data can be used and reported effectively. Case studies provide examples of successful practices used in local education agencies (LEAs) and state education agencies (SEAs). One goal of the Forum is to improve the quality of education data gathered for use by policymakers and program decision makers. An approach to furthering this goal has been to pool the collective experiences of Forum members to produce "best practice" guides in areas of high interest to those who collect, maintain, and use data about elementary and secondary education. The accurate, consistent, and timely collection and reporting of discipline data by schools, districts, and SEAs is one of those high-interest areas. This guide reflects the judgment of experienced data managers. There is no mandate to follow these principles. The authors hope that the contents are a useful reference to others in their work.