| The present dilemma for school leaders is whether the value of requiring the use of school uniforms is wishful thinking or empirical evidence. The purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences existed between appearance and behavior among youth in public middle and high schools. More specifically, this study was designed to determine if the use of school uniforms significantly improved student discipline, student attendance rates, and school safety.;The following research questions provided focus for the parameters of this study: (1) Does the use of school uniforms in a large urban school district improve student discipline (i.e., decreased overall school discipline incidents, fights, vandalism/arson incidents, suspensions, and expulsions)? (2) Does the use of school uniforms in a large urban school district improve student attendance (i.e., increased student attendance rates)? (3) Does the use of school uniforms in a large urban school district make schools safer (i.e., decreased weapon possession incidents, assault and battery incidents, and school crimes)?;This study used a quasi-experimental design. The independent variable for this study was the addition of school uniforms. The dependent variables for this study were overall school discipline incidents, student attendance rate, fights, weapon possession incidents, assault and battery incidents, vandalism/arson incidents, suspensions, expulsions, and school crimes.;There were nine null hypotheses formulated and tested in this investigation. All nine were tested for significant differences regarding school incidents before and after the requirement of school uniforms. Two null hypotheses (attendance and expulsions) were found to have significant differences at the .05 level; therefore they were not accepted. The remaining seven mill hypotheses (school discipline incidents, fights, weapon possession incidents, assault and battery incidents, vandalism/arson incidents, suspensions, and school crimes) were all found not to have significant differences. Therefore, all seven were accepted.;Based on the overall findings, requiring students to wear school uniforms did not cause significant improvement in discipline or school safety. However, there was a significant improvement in student attendance and a significant decrease in expulsions after requiring students to wear school uniforms. The findings support the conclusion that there are no quick fixes for improving student discipline. |
