Creating A Safer And More Productive School Environment For All Students

Improvement in security will also contribute to a safe environment. High schools should implement the use of metal detectors as well as random searches. Although, it may be tedious to remove all metal and coins from your pockets, it will ensure safety. This security measure can be specific to each school. An example being to make the checks random throughout the week or only require it for students to have a late arrival. Random searches can also be specified such as only searching lockers or classrooms. Motion sensored cameras can also be a very effective with safety. In many school’s cameras are only in the hallways and lunchroom, but what happens when violence occurs in a classroom? All evidence will be based off hearsay. This is not an effective way of assessing the incident considering there are 3 sides to every story. Adding motion cameras to classrooms will make evidence accurate. Not only will student-student altercations be recorded, but teacher-student altercations will be recorded. Security guards themselves should also be improved. Security guards should be posted in hallways upon children arrival, during passing periods, and upon school dismissal. Security guards should also be fit enough for the job. “The results indicated that utilization of multiple security measures reduced the likelihood of exposure to property

Consequences have to be set for those students that get involved in bad behaviors. As leaders this take a lot of creative thinking to where students can really learn from their mistakes, this helps the students make the decision that they don’t want to do them anymore. Constant OSS days doesn’t affect students nowadays, so coming up with a program for the constant offenders to help them get back focused on what is important.

Eye contact: Teachers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth and credibility.

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

A school’s Behavior Matrix can create a school climate that reinforces good behavior, a positive and safe environment, encourages responsibility of actions, builds positive relationships, ensues high expectations, and builds community (Muscott, Mann & LeBrun, 2008). The consistency of responses, consequences, and rewards will create an atmosphere that promotes positive behavior and discourages negative behaviors. The strategies set forth by the Behavioral Matrix are set up for the entire school population focusing on the students that do not necessarily have behavioral issues. It is mainly for the purpose of increasing student achievement, discourage problematic behaviors, and increase positive interactions throughout the school environment (Bradshaw & Pas, 2011). Therefore, the goal of a Behavioral Matrix is in fact to strengthen positive behaviors that are already in place and give a consistent disciplinary action guideline to move those individual that commit negative infractions towards positive direction. Positive Behavior Support systems are set up to acknowledge the good that students accomplish, and does not allow infractions to define who they are and allows for them to reinstatement the good

School data suggests that the decision to suspend or excel a student depends on several factors including prior history of the student, particulars of the situation, and the teacher’s ability to manager classroom behavior (Skiba, 2003). However observations of classroom behavior show that the majority of students removed from urban classrooms were not primarily due to dangerous or major infractions of disciplinary policies and usually they weren’t even the worst offenders.

Students all have their own personalities, which affects their actions within the classroom. Many times, a students’ behavior is caused by outside factors causing them to act out with disruptive behaviors and disciplinary issues. During these times, a teacher must have a behavior management approach to deter similar behaviors in the future. Many first time teachers are unable to handle dealing with the behaviors and leave their jobs making it all the more important to come up with an effective behavior management approach to curtail those worrisome behaviors before it gets to that point (Sugai, 2009). In an effort to thoroughly discuss an efficient behavior management approach, a common disciplinary problem within classroom and the foundation of the issue will be considered. A combination of approaches may be to needed to stop behavioral issues, such as providing motivation and establishing rules and procedures in a clear way will deter behavioral issues. Finally, an in-depth look at the steps needed in order to implement the approach into the classroom.

Since the establishment of public education in the United States, schools have provided a sense of security and belonging to their students. Although sitting through lectures and doing homework may not be the most exciting thing in the world, students will always have a lunch to eat, a roof over their head, and a supportive teacher or counselor that they can talk to. Despite the “safe” environment and presence of authoritative figures on school campuses, trouble always finds a way to break out. Simple misbehaving and occasional fights are a common occurrence on most school campuses, however a new breed of troublesome and violent students has hatched. The

The article “No! I will not! Understanding and responding to student defiance” is published by Andrea Smith and Elizabeth Bondy, 4-th grade teacher and a University of Florida College of Education professor respectively, in Childhood education magazine. It contains a thorough analysis of the defiance issue as well as a manual, regulating the conduct of a teacher, who pursues a goal of effective students’ behavior management.

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.

For reasons unknown, some students simply cannot or choose not to behave during class. Caroleo opens her article, “An Examination of the Risks and Benefits of Alternative Education”, with the claim, “One size education does not fit for all children and youth” (35). It is true that blanket instruction does not work for most at-risk students. A specialized educational setting results in an increase in supervision and guidance. Specialized settings lower the possibility of frequent outbursts; therefore, placement into a smaller class would benefit the disruptive student. In most alternative classrooms, the student-teacher ratio is low. In a local alternative school hosted by New Brockton High School, the class roster rarely reaches above ten students. Smaller settings allow teachers the chance to minimize down time and focus on individuals. Increased one on one time allows students to find more productive outlets for their excess energy. In addition to being beneficial for the troublesome student, alternative schooling would allow other members of the class a productive environment in which to learn. Students’ outbursts are detrimental to not only the other students’ education but also the education of the delinquent as well. Placement into an alternative school will allow typical students to attend class uninterrupted and encourage the cause of distraction to focus on continuing their education. If the disruptive student is removed from the classroom, then it is likely that all students’ grades will flourish accordingly in the now positive

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

School violence has become of the most pressing educational problems in the United States. Gang violence and high profile shootings across the nation cause concern within schools. Communities struggle to understand why these events take place and how they can be prevented. The overwhelming response to solve the issue of violence in schools is the increasing societal pressure to execute zero tolerance. Zero tolerance is driven by the educational philosophy, policies, and practices of school communities. Stakeholders expect schools to be a safe place for staff and for students. Stakeholders assume that a positive classroom environment, safe students, and school enjoyment are conditions necessary to create a positive climate where learning takes place. This assumption can be backed with research. A calm classroom environment, teachers’ management of disruptive behavior, and students’ view of school safety are factors that have been found to directly correlate with student achievement in the classroom (Ma & Willms, 2004). Safety and a feeling of not being threatened during school hours have been found to be important to students’ achievement. Failure to remove a disruptive or an unruly student from school has been found to have a negative impact on achievement and creates a great risk to school staff and students (Garbarino et al., 1992). Teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn in an

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

When implementing a discipline program, it is important that a teacher identify the difference between misbehavior and off task behavior. Misbehavior is a more serious action and should be treated accordingly. Misbehavior includes actions that are pre-meditated, habitual, unsafe, or demeaning. Off-task behavior includes actions like, talking out of turn or with other students, doing activities other than what the teacher has assigned, and lack of following instructions. While both types of behavior cause unwanted classroom distraction and should not be tolerated, there is an important difference between the two that must be identified. In the case of off-task behavior, the strategy to guide the student back on-task may require imposing a consequence as well as making an adjustment to the classroom management plan in order to re-route the student. In the case of misbehavior, imposing a consequence along with the addition of recruiting support from parents or administration may be needed to retrain the behavior.(Ross, 2009)