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Students with disabilities are highly at-risk for administrative disciplinary actions that remove them from school for misconduct. School leaders have the authority and expertise to reduce the amount of these removals by reconsidering their current methods for discipline, reflecting on how these affect their students, and making changes to student consequences. The purpose of this study was to determine what highly skilled principals in the field have found to be the most effective strategies in reducing or eliminating out-of-school suspensions for students with disabilities. This insight is invaluable to the discussion on next steps to close the discipline gap between special education and regular education students. This study used a Delphi model for research building consensus through three rounds of surveys. This input was collected from a panel of 15 principals from 13 school divisions across Virginia that were identified as having already achieved success in eliminating out-of-school suspensions for students with disabilities. The panel concluded that principals must ensure a positive relationship with every student, use alternative, logical, and authentic consequences, and identify and implement individualized supports and accommodations when addressing student misconduct to eliminate out-of-school suspensions for their students with disabilities. Principals should implement practical strategies that proactively build positive relationships and help them better understand the child as an individual in order to reduce or eliminate suspensions in their schools. Doctor of Education Students with disabilities are highly at-risk for administrative disciplinary actions that remove them from school for misconduct. School leaders have the authority and expertise to reduce the amount of these removals by reconsidering their current methods for discipline, reflecting on how these affect their students, and making changes to student consequences. The purpose of this study was to determine what highly skilled principals in the field have found to be the most effective strategies in reducing or eliminating out-of-school suspensions for students with disabilities. This insight is invaluable to the discussion on next steps to close the discipline gap between special education and regular education students. This study used surveys to gather input and find agreement on best practices from a panel of elementary school principals from many school divisions across Virginia. The panel concluded that principals must ensure a positive relationship with every student, use alternative, logical, and authentic consequences, and identify and implement individualized supports and accommodations when addressing student misconduct to eliminate out-of-school suspensions for their students with disabilities. Principals should implement practical strategies that proactively build positive relationships and help them better understand the child as an individual in order to reduce or eliminate suspensions in their schools.

In 2015, Congress reauthorized the latest version of the Elementary Secondary Education Act through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). In addition to the requirements for all students, this document includes provisions for English Language Learners (ELLs) and immigrant students. ESSA (2015) not only required annual assessments to ensure high level learning but also requires annual assessments for assessing ELL language acquisition. School divisions are required to monitor and report on how many ELLs made language acquisition growth and how many successfully met English language proficiency. The benefit of both ESSA (2015) and the resulting state policies is to ensure ELLs are afforded the appropriate supports to learn and achieve at the same high levels as their native English speaking peers. The purpose of this study was to identify a possible relationship between elementary school enrollment size and the academic success for ELLs in high ELL and low ELL population schools. This quantitative study examined existing data from a large suburban school district on Standards of Learning assessment achievement for ELLs over three academic years (2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019). Findings suggest total enrollment size and ELL population size impact academic achievement for ELLs. The researcher used two way ANOVA to determine if a difference exists in academic success for ELLs based on elementary school enrollment size and ELL population size. This study adds to research on conditions for high achievement for all students. Doctor of Education In 2015, Congress reauthorized the latest version of the Elementary Secondary Education Act through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). In addition to the requirements for all students, this document includes provisions for English Language Learners (ELLs) and immigrant students. ESSA (2015) not only required annual assessments to ensure high level learning but also requires annual assessments for assessing ELL language acquisition. The benefit of both ESSA (2015) and the resulting state policies is to ensure ELLs are afforded the appropriate supports to learn and achieve at the same high levels as their native English speaking peers. The purpose of this study is to identify a possible relationship between elementary school enrollment size and the academic success for ELLs in high ELL and low ELL population schools. This study examined existing data from a large suburban school district on Standards of Learning assessment achievement for ELLs over three academic years (2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019). These data showed academic achievement for different enrollment sizes and for different ELL population sizes. This study adds to research on conditions for high achievement for all students.