Fairwood Elementary School Case Study

Racial disparities in school discipline have garnered recent attention in national reports issued by the U.S. Department of Education and Justice (U.S. Department of Education, 2014; Gregory, Hafen, Ruzek, Mikami, Allen, & Pianta, 2016). Suspension rates Black students are two to three times higher than those from other racial and ethnic groups. Various research has documented that Black students remain overrepresented in school discipline sanctions after accounting for their achievement, socioeconomic status, and teacher- and self-reported behavior (Gregory et al, 2016). There is a difference as to the reasons why White students are sent to the office versus Black students. Black students are sent to the office for subjective reasons such as “disrespect” and “perceived threat”, while White students are more than likely to be referred for more objective reasons including, smoking, vandalism, and leaving school without permission. (Gregory, et al, 2016). African Americans and especially African American boys, are more likely to be disciplined and often receive more out-of-school suspensions and expulsions than white students (Todd Rudd, 2014). Suspending students is taking away time from them being in the classroom. Students who receive suspensions, lose instructional time, fall behind on course work, become discouraged, and ultimately drop out…recent research has shown each suspension a student receives can decrease their odds for high graduation by any

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).

As an engaged member of the community I am deeply concerned with the progress and well-being of our children. I am led here today to encourage you to consider taking a new path as you rewrite the code of conduct for the students of this district. There is a terrible system at work in the public school circuit, which is the school-to-prison pipeline. For those of you who are not aware, this is a force to be reckoned with. I have seen its destructive path rummage through neighborhoods of color. As a result of zero-tolerance laws that were adopted in the 1980s and 90s student’s actions are under extreme scrutiny, and the consequences of those actions are great (Heitzeg, 91). They include in and out of house suspension for actions that include bringing “…all sorts of ‘weapons’ but also alcohol/drugs, threatening behavior, fighting on school premises, and minor ‘misconduct’ such as tardiness, ‘defiance’/insubordination and disorderly conduct” (Heitzeg, 91). Zero-tolerance means just that, in most cases, you make the wrong kind of mistake and you are out. Only, these policies are not specific about what is and is not tolerable (Heitzeg, 91). Sadly, 43% of expulsions, not suspension but expulsions, are due to insubordination (Heitzeg, 91). The decision of what makes a certain behavior intolerable is at the discretion of your principals, deans, teachers and staff, and it is very subjective. How can we expect our children to know what behaviors to avoid when it is not clearly

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

schools. School administrators became increasingly concerned about drug use and gang activity among students, and dramatic events such as the shooting at Columbine High School further solidified fears about school safety. In response to these problems, many schools began implementing policies of exclusionary discipline, (Skiba & Rausch, 2006).  Such policies are generally based on the assumption that removing students from schools when they behave disruptively will create peaceful learning environments and deter others from engaging in similar patterns of conduct.  However, frequent use of disciplinary removal from school is associated with a range of negative student outcomes, including ad increased contact with the juvenile justice system (Skiba, et al. 2008). (IN FAVOR OF EXCLUSIONARY). Such practices have long been embedded within the culture of public school discipline in the United States as a means to maintain safety and order in schools.

It should be understood by parents, educators, and school administration that punitive based discipline generally does not improve behavior, learning, or safety. In zero tolerance school districts, one of the most common approaches results in the suspension or expulsion of the students as the automatic tool against emotional behavioral disorders and other discipline and behavioral issues. Some of these approaches may be the best outcome, especially with regard to drug or weapons possession by the student. However, they have been increasingly used as a response to actions or behaviors which do not threaten either the safety or

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.

Going through the traditional growing pains of adolescence is of the most trying times that we all must face. Specifically, the early first years of high school can be the most difficult. At one point or another, almost all students experience some form of disciplinary actions from teachers or school administrators. This is true across almost all lines of social class or racial ethnicity. However, there is one group of students that previous research has neglected to look into as far as how the disciplinary system affects them or how they exist within it.

(a) With the growing amount of literature uncovering the racial disparities in school disciplinary practices, this study wanted to delve further and explore factors that contribute to the racial disparities of school suspensions specifically concerning Black students, and examined elementary age children and elementary teachers to perhaps determine a genesis of this discrepancy. The student’s overall level of behavior problems, characteristics of the classroom (i.e., overall level of disruption), and the teacher’s ethnicity were considered as potential factors that may contribute to the overrepresentation of Black students.

There is no doubt that schools need some disciplinary action to maintain school safety and promote learning. Proper discipline ensures the safety of students and teachers, creates conductive learning, and removes troublemakers in order to improve the school climate for others. By 1993 The Kalamazoo Public Schools have adopted a zero-tolerance policy out of fear towards punishment. According to Russell Skiba, an American educational psychologist known for researching school discipline and school violence, “this zero-tolerance policy has lead to an substantial increase of expulsions, suspensions, and dropout rates” (Skiba). The National Center of Education Statistics Report that “94% of schools in the US have a zero tolerance for weapons and firearms and 87% have a zero tolerance for alcohol.” (education stats) Kalamazoo Public Schools claims that they implemented the zero tolerance policy to send a message that certain behaviors will not be tolerated no matter how minor. The zero- tolerance policy seems to cause more problems than it solves. According to school suspension rates from Kalamazoo Public Schools, school suspension is not reserved for the severe behaviors. Although school fights and violence are the leading causes for suspension, lesser non-violent crimes (tardiness, cutting class) have the same punishment. The zero-tolerance policy needs to be changed to be more lenient towards less severe crimes. Certain behaviors in schools should have different punishments

The following discussion of practice and policy related issues found within the article puritan to a “qualitative” study “conducted in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area from September 2009 to May 2012” (Gibson & Haight, 2013, p.264). The main objective of the study was to evaluate the “culturally nuanced” definitions and perceptions on out-of-school suspensions; In hopes of discovering new ways in which “schools and families can work together to decrease racial disparities in out-of-school suspensions” (Gibson & Haight, 2013, p. 263). Thirty participants were interviewed within their own homes through “in-depth, individual, and audiotaped interviews.” (Gibson & Haight, 2013, p. 263). In reviewing the study interviews, a few practice-related issues were discussed, concerning educators lack of understanding of cultural diversity among their students, as well as school personnel 's failure to fully listen to each individual 's concerns when addressing discipline issues.

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

Suspensions hurt children by lowering academic achievement as well as widening the racial achievement gap between African American students and their peers. This is a growing topic across the country. Schools suspend students at a large cost to society as a whole. Every time a student is suspended for non- violent infractions they are being denied a learning opportunity (Townsend, 2000). It is the duty of educators to ensure that this does not happen. Suspensions can lower self- esteem, cause students to lose interest in school and drop out, and prevent students from participating in school sports, or clubs and many other negative scenarios. The goal of this report is to open educators’ eyes about the negative effects of suspensions on school children. It is said that, “Out-of-school suspensions is one of the most widely used disciplinary practices in American schools, with more than 3.3 million students suspended each year (Lee, Cornell, Gregory, & Fan, 2011, p. 166).

The second aspect is an examination of the suspension practices on different demographic sub groups (Townsend, 2000; Skiba, Arredondo, Gray, & Rausch, 2016; Yusuf, Irvine, & Bell, 2016). This had led to the belief and practice that the students and their families alone were affected by the impact of out of school suspensions. Conversely the attitudes and perspectives of the personal impact of involvement in the discipline process and specifically on the suspension aspect of school discipline on administrators (Hannigan, & Hannigan, 2016).

The principal of this prestigious school contributes the statistic ratings to lack of stern expectations from the teachers and the school system. Dassler, the principal, wants to not only see these kids off the streets, but he also wants to see these kids succeed in college. Too often, students drop out in low-income based public schools and too often do they get low paying jobs with no job security. While parents support Dassler's new system of punishment statistics, yet again, do not. Studies show that students who were suspended from school did not come back to school and do better, but instead fell further behind which inevitably led to them getting suspended more and sometimes even expelled completely. Surprising, right? Dassler soon realized that suspending students needed to become the absolute last form of punishment. What these students need is guidance and the proper role model. Teachers from Carver have attested that getting students to follow the rules is a simple matter as long as they trust you and you give them some lead