The survey comes at a time when Texas schools are facing significant funding cuts from the state. It was also released in anticipation of a senate meeting involving how to deal with problematic students in public schools. The survey was meant to open discussion on the most effective, and most budget-friendly, ways to deal with students who present discipline challenges to schools today. Based on the figures released by Texas Appleseed, it does appear that discipline through suspension and expulsion can be a costly venture.
But does the effectiveness of the discipline make it worth the expense? To determine whether suspension and expulsion are effective means of discipline, one only needs to look at a recent report by the San Mateo County Times. According to this publication, the California Department of Education issued , out-of-school suspensions during the school year alone — enough students to fill every professional stadium in the state. However, out-of-school suspensions have been tied to low completion rates , low academic performance and a higher incidence of juvenile justice involvement.
In addition, the students that are subject to this sort of discipline tend to fall into very specific demographics in terms of race, gender and even disability. Academic failure is a significant predictor of later occupational and legal problems as an adult. Figuring out how to appropriately discipline students at highest risk for academic failure should be a part of discussion about educational reform. Otherwise we risk leaving behind the most vulnerable of our citizens. Send to Kindle.
Parsing Disciplinary Disproportionality: Contributions of Infraction, Student, and School Characteristics to Out-of-School Suspension and Expulsion American Educational Research Journal The paper examines how factors such as infractions and school characteristics contribute to racial disparities in out-of-school suspension and expulsion.
Race Is Not Neutral: A National Investigation of African American and Latino Disproportionality in School Discipline School Psychology Review The paper reviews the documented patterns of office discipline referrals in elementary and middle schools during the — academic year. The Color of Discipline: Sources of Racial and Gender Disproportionality in School Punishment The Urban Review Drawing upon one year of middle-school disciplinary data for an urban school district, researchers explored three of the most commonly offered hypotheses for disproportionate discipline: gender, race, and socioeconomic status.
Department of Education Produced for the Departments of Education and Justice, and vetted by the White House and 26 National Associations, this Action Guide provides practical steps schools can take to design and implement school safety plans to reduce violence in our schools and help children get access to services they need.
Alternatives to Suspensions Center for Child and Family Policy Duke University This brief was created to inform policymakers of the range of evidence-based practices that can be adopted to reduce suspension rates without burdensome costs to schools. How Educators Can Eradicate Disparities in School Discipline: A Briefing Paper on School-Based Interventions Disciple Disparities The paper highlights a list of practical and evidence based interventions that can be used to reform and improve equity in school discipline.
Building School and Teacher Capacity to Eliminate the School-to-Prison Pipeline Teacher Education and Special Education In this article, researchers examine four factors that amplify the pipeline to prison, which if addressed effectively by educators can reduce it while creating alternative pathways to success. Stopping Out of School Suspensions: A Guide for State Policy National Opportunity to Learn Campaign This guide provides state leaders with a systemic approach for stopping suspensions, including guiding questions, action steps and promising examples of state level solutions.
Addressing the Out of School Suspension Crisis: A Policy Guide for School Board Members National School Boards Association This local policy guide offers a snapshot of ideas, models, and processes that school boards are using to promote student growth through positive school discipline reform models. Suspension rates at U. Schools nationwide The Center for Civil Rights Remedies This tool will identify the suspension rates for students by school district across the country.
Fix School Discipline: How We Can Fix School Disciple Toolkit California: Fix School Discipline This toolkit is a step-by-step guide that includes ready-to-use documents, sample discipline policies, and information about alternative approaches to school discipline that have proved effect in reducing suspension and expulsion rates in California.
Highlight: Garfield High School Fix School Discipline The paper highlights the Los Angeles Unified School District who began requiring schools to implement schoolwide positive behavior interventions and support programs in as an alternative to the existing disciplinary framework of suspensions and expulsions. Stopping Out of School Suspension: A Guide for State Policy National Opportunity to Learn This summary of state policies highlights legislation that promotes student growth through positive school discipline reform models.
Chicago Public Schools Release an Outreach Plan to Strengthen its Suspension and Expulsion Reduction Plan Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools is strengthening its Suspension and Expulsion Reduction Plan with the release of an outreach plan that will engage parents, stakeholders and community partners to build on the plan the district has made to decrease suspensions.
When there are lots of problem behaviors happening, the quickest way to address it is to send a student out of the room. Maybe you get a sense of relief. However…the relief we adults get when we remove students from our classrooms is temporary. Suspensions don't get you the academic goals you're after and they definitely don't teach students how you want them to act in class.
A strong foundation of school-wide practices will make implementing new strategies so much easier. Make sure your action plan for reducing suspensions includes items to:. Start the upcoming school year off by teaching every student how you expect them to behave.
Pay particularly close attention to the way those expectations work in classrooms throughout the year. When you see someone doing the right thing, let them know. When you notice someone doing the wrong thing, take the time to remind them of those expectations. Clarify with all staff which behaviors are classroom-managed and which warrant a major office discipline referral ODR. Consequences for minor behaviors span a continuum with removing students as the last possible option.
Teachers need to use every good classroom management strategy they know before sending students out of the room. You still need to hold students accountable when they make mistakes. If suspending a student for their behavior is something you would have done last year, what could you do instead? A growing body of research suggests restorative practices are effective alternatives to suspensions. A restorative practice is anything that puts repairing a relationship above the need to assign blame or dole out a punishment.
It creates an inclusive climate rather than a punitive one. Maybe this sounds like a utopian solution where everything is pop tarts and rainbows, but these practices actually create schools where students are valued members of the community and everyone has equal space to be understood. Your school likely does some form of restorative practice already without calling it that.
These are informal examples of restorative practices. How these strategies look in your building can vary from small conversations all the way to formal restorative circles and peer mentoring.
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