Discipline

Snapshot: A teacher in a charter school must decide how to respond when she witnesses a colleague harshly reprimanding a student in class; while her colleague’s behavior isn’t out of line with the school’s strict discipline code, she herself relies more...

Snapshot: At an independent boarding school, a development officer who also serves as a mentor in the dorm must balance competing values as she decides what to do after witnessing her mentee engaged in sexual activity with a classmate. School policy...

Snapshot: As schools across the United States rely on virtual instruction for some—or even all—instructional time, they continue to grapple with dilemmas initially raised during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this fictional case, members of a fourth-grade...

Snapshot: In this case study, Arlington, VA, faced criticism from teachers and parents when the district announced a plan to make homework more equitable by eliminating deadlines and other requirements. How can schools address inequalities in the...

Snapshot: A pair of seventh graders in Madrid take a topless photo of a female classmate using WhatsApp and forward it to the rest of the class. This case asks teachers and families to think about dilemmas that arise when underage students at home misuse...

Snapshot: Should a student who skipped school be allowed to make up missing work? This case explores dilemmas that arise when academic consequences are linked to behavioral infractions. How can schools discourage dangerous behavior without endangering...

Snapshot: This case probes the ethical challenges that admissions officers at elite schools face in the age of social media. Should all of a young person's online history be open for scrutiny? How should admissions officers balance the recognition that...

Snapshot: For months, college students who run an after-school program have struggled to manage the challenging behaviors of a child with disabilities. As volunteers with no special education credentials and little training, can and should they continue...

Snapshot: A group of teachers and administrators grapple with how to discipline a student who posted a nasty meme on a classmates social media feed. Should sharing a violent meme be treated differently than other violent speech?

Snapshot: A teacher in a new community struggles with whether or not a family's disciplinary choices constitute abuse. And - if she does indeed think that one of her students is being abused - is calling a dysfunctional DCS going to make things better for...