Committee Meeting Experience

Out of school suspensions (OSS) are often enforced with the assumption that students receiving the suspension are less likely to repeat the problem behavior in the future. However, this has been proven to be false. Suspending a student for engaging in a certain behavior does not in fact serve as a deterrent from the behavior but as a deterrent from attending school instead. In actuality, receiving just a single suspension can increase the probability of a student experiencing academic failure, school dropout, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. Knowing this, some educators still believe that for many students, suspension can serve as an effective lesson. One of the greatest concerns that educators and administrators face is the matter of classroom management. It is part of their job to ensure a safe, productive and supportive classroom allowing students to learn and grow to their greatest potential. Though there are several strategies gauged towards managing a classroom, the most severe offences often lead to either in or out of school suspension. Some of the largest concerns faced with out of school suspensions is that they are often ineptly applied, used unfairly against students of color and seemingly ineffective at producing better behavior. Also known as exclusionary discipline, the majority of offenses that led to OSS have not been centered around violence but instead emphasised issues of classroom insubordination and defiance. In some rather extreme cases

In the case study Appropriate Punishment Versus Political Expediency, nine African American male teenagers were severely punished for their involvement in a violent altercation at a high school football game. Some people in the local community; especially the African American population became outraged by the school board’s ruling. Other community members, including many white residents, and school board officials thought the punishment was just. This situation exposes many controversial issues occurring within the educational system. Topics such as race relations and appropriateness in student discipline were prominent. With strong political and social context associated with these subject matters, there are complexities in addressing these types of situations. In any event, educational leaders and district representatives should aim to handle matters by considering the child’s best interest. They should also use the principle of subsidiarity to deal with challenges that may arise. School executives ought to implement effective solutions

Often times it’s the student’s needs and the school being unable to meet the student’s needs that lead to the student being disciplined. Kids who are behind academically, and unable to perform at the same level as their peers often act out in frustration or humiliation (Noguera, 2003). Once these students are labelled as difficult, incorrigible, and unteachable they tend to believe these things about themselves and act out more in class which leads to a cycle of discipline that can ultimately lead to permanent expulsion. For some of these students, these continued rule violations lead to run-ins with the police and the criminal justice system. School administrators who are at times frustrated themselves from failed attempts to steer children from a “bad path” don’t realize that in throwing their hands up and giving up on these students, are in a way helping shuttle students from school to the penitentiary (Noguera, 2003).

Through my teaching experience I have found that school violence encompasses many forms such as verbal harassment, non-verbal harassment, cyber-bullying, intimidation and any act that devalues a student’s self-worth. According to Detroit Public Schools, “it is the intention of the District to provide as safe and nonviolent learning environment for its employees, students, parents, and visitors as is possible. To this end, the District strives to maintain an environment free of threats, harassment, intimidation, physical and verbal abuse, and coercion” (Detroit Public Schools, 2009). The purpose of this policy is create a safe environment where students are free from any tape of harassment. The policy goes on to state it is the staff's responsibility to, “be educated and aware of potential signs and signals of violent or threatening behavior in students”(Detroit Public Schools, 2009). In other words, it is necessary for the school staff to remain vigilant of these signs and address them as soon as appear. Based off the nature of the action the school will follow a course of discipline suited to the accused

List at least 4 institutional committees currently at your practice site. Explain the main purpose of each committee and who is required to attend each meeting. (12 pts)

We the students of Anaheim High School, find it inevitable to join together in order to create a better school environment, which would dissolve the ineffective ways of discipline and create a more comfortable learning environment for the students. The ineffective ways of correcting bad behavior being employed by the Anaheim Union High School District, and the administrative, teacher and staff bodies of this school. With all due respect, we would like to bring into light the issues with our discipline system and put forth our opinions on the matter.

Originally created as a discipline action of last resort for students who cause unsafe or threatening environment or substantive clear and present danger with threats of violence and are possession of weapons in the school, out of school suspension are now being used to address minor offenses such as disobedience, disrespect, attendance issues, or other general disruptions (Stinchcomb, Bazemore & Riestenberg, 2006). Suspension were used judiciously and cautiously as the impact on the student and the perceptions of that suspension by the community was understood to be socially debilitating and cast the student and the family in a bad light (Advancement Project, 2015). It was not until the move towards school reforms in the

Most school districts these days have initiated Zero Tolerance Policies against a variety of different substances, items, and actions. These include anything from drugs and alcohol to weapons and bullying. In this specific incident a New Jersey School District’s Zero Tolerance Policy derailed a third grade classroom party and traumatized a nine year old boy. In May, the school along with the local police and the county prosecution office agreed that incidents would now be turned over to the police. The Superintendent of the New Jersey School District estimated that police officers may have been called in about five times per day to handle issues in the school of just under two thousand students (Platoff, 2016). At the end of the school year,

The school support positive behaviors with discipline. They have a zero tolerance policy to physical contact, despite some student with behavioral disorders which causes occasional distraction

I recommend including students, faculty, parents, and community representatives in the process of developing the school safety plan. The plan should be responsible for providing advice and making decisions about critically important cases of violence and crime, evaluating the state of school safety, and proposing revisions to the school discipline code and school safety plan as deemed necessary. A safety assessment should be conducted to determine the state of school order and safety. A survey of staff, parents, and students could help to determine their views and recommendations regarding school crime and violence. The survey data should be analyzed so the leadership team and community can address the issues. The school is gated off from the community and ringing a bell is required before the gate is

During the past decade, school safety has been at the forefront of many school districts safety polices and plans. With recent high profile school shootings, the question school districts continue to ask is how do we keep our schools safe? Administrators face heavy scrutiny when weighing approaches to school safety and student discipline. Likewise, school employees have the right to work in safe environments devoid of life-threatening behaviors (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). America’s founding fathers understood the importance of a public school education. They believed educating its citizens would allow them the opportunity to learn new skills while becoming successful and productive people in society. However, our founding fathers did not predict the severe behavior changes our schools face in educating disruptive and dangerous students. America’s school districts are charged with providing solutions for disruptive and dangerous students (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). School officials must address these issues with research-based interventions and collaborative resources that provide a safe learning environment for all stakeholders (Elliott and Mihalic, 2004; Schoenwald and Hoagwood, 2001). Boards of education continue to support school efforts to rethink best practices for disciplinary alternative middle schools (DAMS). Many school districts focus on research-based interventions and resources that manage aggression and

This activity meets the needs of ACE program outcome rationale of School and Community Leadership. This activity allowed me to display the benchmark providing opportunities for stakeholders to develop and use skills in collaboration, shared decision making and responsibility for the purpose of maintaining a comprehensive program of positive home/school relationships. The purpose of the PLC professional development session was to improve school relationships between students and their peers. It was also to help develop relationships between students and their teachers. We want our students to be able to come to us at Laurel when they are experiencing a difficult time. Also, we want the environment to be safe so that all students can achieve at their highest level. As a PLC team we collaborated together on identifying students at-risk. We want to make sure that we use data to track behavior problems that we are facing on campus. Bullying is an epidemic that needs to be stopped. By using developing plans to try to eliminate bullying we can help make our students feel safe on our campus. It will also allow for the students to have better communication with the staff when they need help. Developing trusting relationships with students will help with effective communication between students and staff.

Schools need to maintain a disciplined and safe learning environment. There are many disciplinary actions that are in use today and although some can disagree about the amount of discipline that is best for maturing children, it is reasonable to be in agreement that a positive learning environment begins with physical and emotional safety. School safety includes a broad range of matters, including, fighting, bullying, drugs, alcohol, weapons, and etc. Many schools use varying methods in an effort to maintain school safety. Some schools limit school access and require all visitors to sign in. Physical surveillance is another common method of addressing school safety issues along with use of staff and student identification. Among all these

Student behavior and discipline in the classroom have been impacted by legislation and litigation as was discussed in an article written by Mitchell Yell and Michael Rozalski, The Impact of Legislation and Litigation on Disciple and Student Behavior in the Classroom. The authors believe that all students should receive their education in safe, orderly, and well-disciplined schools but maintaining these environments has become a major challenge for educators (Yell, M & Rozalski, M, 2008). Most states have laws that govern discipline in schools which also protect the rights of students in public education (Yell, et.al, 2008). These state laws control the actions of school officials when they carry out certain discipline-related functions, such as gathering evidence (e.g., searching students, their lockers, or their personal property), seizing contraband from students’ backpacks, or conducting any administrative actions that restrict a student’s property interest to attend school (e.g., suspension, expulsion) (Yell, et.al, 2008). A student’s entitlement under state law to a public education is

School discipline is to ensure that students and the campus staff are safe and peaceful. According to the U.S. Department of Education on Rethinking Discipline (2017), “Teachers and students deserve school environments that are safe, supportive, and conducive to teaching and learning.” The idea is to decrease bad behavior and school violence which will lead to fewer suspensions and expulsions. There are rules and limitations when it comes to student discipline; there are acts in which students can and must be disciplined. For examples, if a student quality’s for special needs some different guidelines protect them under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA). Furthermore, the Education Code, Section 48900 was implied to discipline students who committed any wrongful doing such as attempting or threatening to physical harm another person. In the case f any wrongfulness, the student is forced to be disciplined by being suspended or expulsed from school.