Repeated Suspension From School

(a) This study examines out-of-school suspensions in the 9th grade and their effect on high school and post-secondary outcomes. This analyses also examines demographic disparities in school suspensions, their relationship to poverty and their contribution to high school graduation and post-secondary attainment gaps.

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

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

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.

Studies have also found a correlation between exclusionary discipline and (1) increased school avoidance, (2) decreased academic engagement, (3) an increased rate of dropouts, (4) increased behavioral problems, and (5) increased involvement with the juvenile justice system. School administrators have the right to want to develop a safe climate for their students and teachers and remove threats from their schools. However, serious threats from students are rare. Nearly 60 percent of the suspensions and expulsions administered in HPS in 2009-2010 were administered for school policy violations—a category that includes things like insubordination, profanity, sleeping in class, and truancy—not serious safety concerns like violence against others or weapons.

Do administrators of schools every see the child's? Does suspension increase dropout rates? Is there ever a since of justice for the child? Since schools first came to be they have always suspended students without questioning or reasoning in a comfortable environment.Although school suspension is way for the child to be isolated and think about what they have done, schools should get rid of school suspension because this makes the student feel as though there voice is being heard in the matter, since the student is in a more safe and cozy environment the student will reveal what happened, this will prevent higher dropout and school suspension rates.

As a major source of referrals to the juvenile justice system, eliminating the use of zero tolerance policies by public school administrators is a critical step in ameliorating detrimental effects on minority adolescents and in efforts to close the school-to-prison pipeline. Currently, research suggests zero tolerance policies are ineffective at increasing school safety and that suspending or expelling students puts them at higher risk for dropping out of school and committing delinquent acts [citation-Black]. Nonetheless, minor disciplinary problems should not involve law enforcement.

Has your child ever been suspended? Ever been friends with a kid who has been supended? If so you most likely know, it has no good affect. Schools have been suspending students seemingly forever, and it makes sense. It’s simple, cheap, and easy, whereas lunch or after-school detention can be problematic and difficult, and alternative options require money the school simply does not want to spend. Although students will not be able to see their friends everyday, and may feel left out from school activities, suspension is an ineffective punishment because students see it as a vacation, it increases dropout rate, and it makes students more hostile, or problematic.

One of the causes for this problem is the zero tolerance policy in public schools. Since this rule was first started in the 1990’s it has lead to higher amounts of students being suspended from school. According to the US department of education the number of students suspended from school since 1974 went from 1.7 million to

Thousands of students each year worry about whether or not they will get into college and a suspension will most likely harm those chances. Suspension gets put on a student’s permanent disciplinary record and will follow him to every school he goes. Honors students can also become victims of strict zero-tolerance policies, even for minor infractions. A mark of bad conduct can easily mar a perfect GPA or test score. Everything a student has worked for can go to waste in the blink of an eye with a suspension slip. At the Sojourner Truth Academy in New Orleans, school officials suspended a group of teenage girls for singing too loudly in the cafeteria (Carr). The November 2011 incident left seniors wondering why they could not have received a lesser punishment like detention. Students are learning their lessons of misbehaving at too high a price. They gain an infamous record and lose valuable class time. Some schools do not allow suspended students to make up the work they missed, and students will go on without the grade and without learning the material. However, not all students view suspension as a bad thing, believing it to be a glorified extra school holiday. Children can slack off and grades begin to drop with more suspensions. If zero-tolerance policies are supposed to help and protect a student, then they are not working. These strict guidelines are not helping students be

However, not all theories this subject offers can be applied with a sociological standpoint due to the psychological effects a student undergoes experiencing a harsh policy. Literature provided in support constantly reminds the community about the disparities, the gender factors, minorities, socioeconomic levels, and the ever-growing barriers. Recently, research is further exclaiming the crisis America’s public education system is undergoing. It is becoming apparent how the rise of suspensions and expulsions in middle schools, further affects the future decisions a student makes (Losen, Skiba 2010); further in, the role reversal from being a student to becoming criminal/prisoner. Hence, the research is pure. It further examines and exclaims the damage, zero-tolerance policies have in the education system and students; further on, the penetration into the criminal justice system. Overall, there is a deficit on the in-depth explanations why and what are the internal/external factors that continuously push a student to fail, and further on becoming a number in the criminal justice

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).

Is your school pondering over suspensions? Many students are constantly getting suspended, however, is that beneficial? Is there another method? Years ago Boston Public schools would have over 50 days of suspension in just 2 months. Modifications were made the following year. They had only 2 suspensions in the same amount of time the next year. Despite schools suspending students for misbehavior as well as threats, schools should not suspend kids. Staying home not going to school is favoring the student. Most of the time teachers may not know the entire story. Missing school could result in loads of work for the students.

I would address Chesterfield County Public School board about the discipline process related to out of school suspension in high school and in middle school . It has been brought to my attention that when a student get into an altercation in high school they are suspended from school for ten days no exception to the rule. In middle school, suspension days can range from three to ten days. Therefore students are at home with no supervision. This gives the students an abundance of time to be on social media to share and discussing what happen during the fight. Instead of learning.

Other negatives include the exclusion of students who have been expelled from the educational opportunities of their peers and thus leading to increased dropouts. She goes on to tell us that there is little evidence to show that suspensions actually improve student behavior (Walker, 2009).