The school-to-prison pipeline (STPP)—disproportionately impacting students of color— involves a set of interactions between and among children, youth, their families, school personnel, other service providers, and gatekeepers to such outcomes as incarceration or college. Educators can, through their interactions with and expectations for students, contribute significantly to negative outcomes or lead the charge toward more positive outcomes. In this article, the authors first examine four factors that amplify the pipeline to prison, which if addressed effectively by educators can reduce it while creating alternative pathways to success. They then provide concrete suggestions for bolstering educator and school capacity to eliminate the STPP and implications for teacher preparation.

In this article, we, a group of experts from three federally funded educational technical assistance centers housed at the American Institutes for Research, describe four ways teachers and school leaders can affect children's trajectory into and through the pipeline to prison. We then detail the competencies necessary to promote the kinds of positive interactions with children, youth, and their families that will help block the pipeline. We also describe promising approaches to enhancing those competencies and capacities among educators throughout their career continuum. Examples of successful research‐based initiatives for each approach are included. Keypoints Teachers and school administrators can affect children's trajectory into and through the pipeline to prison in at least four ways: (1) through their relationships, (2) through their attitudes and social emotional competence, (3) by contributing to the conditions for learning, and (4) through their responses to student behavior. Educator competencies to block the pipeline to prison include the ability to establish supportive and productive relationships with students and their families and the ability to model social emotional competence and integrate social emotion learning strategies/activities/programs into the academic curriculum throughout the school year, among others. Enhancing educator competencies to block the pipeline requires a holistic approach, from improving preparation to ongoing professional learning.

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Effective instructional coaching won’t happen across a district without a well-specified coaching program and a reliable way to guide coaches. Fortunately, there are innovations from research and development efforts that can help districts put into practice the best ideas about instructional coaching. Andrew Wayne and Jane Coggshall describe how detailed manuals, online platforms, and clear monitoring routines can help district leaders ensure that the chosen coaching program is being implemented with fidelity.