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Elementary school discipline lowers students’ sense of belonging

Ha Ryong Kim et al.

Social Science Research2026https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103296article
AJG 3
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

This study examines the relationship between student discipline receipt and students' perceptions of school among elementary school students in a large urban school district. Using a quasi-experimental regression discontinuity in time design leveraging the timing of disciplinary incidents around a districtwide climate survey, we estimate the short-term impact of school discipline on student-reported sense of belonging at school. We show that students who were disciplined before they took a school climate survey reported a sense of belonging at school that was more than half a standard deviation lower than students who were disciplined after they took the survey. By contrast, there were no significant differences in students' knowledge and perception of rules. Our results suggest that even one instance of disciplinary action can erode young students’ sense of belonging in school, underscoring the developmental stakes of early disciplinary experiences and highlighting the need for improving elementary school discipline practices.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103296

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{ha2026,
  title        = {{Elementary school discipline lowers students’ sense of belonging}},
  author       = {Ha Ryong Kim et al.},
  journal      = {Social Science Research},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103296},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.