transforming school discipline - closing the school to prison pipeline

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TRANSFORMING SCHOOL DISCIPLINE – CLOSING THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE May 9 th 2013

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All across the nation, students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities are disciplined more frequently than their white and wealthier peers. Many use the term "School to Prison Pipeline" in describing the policies and practices that systematically push students out of the classroom and into the juvenile justice system. By learning about the school-end of this pipeline, we deepen our understanding of how we've come to see such staggering inequities in our public school system. League of Education Voters is a statewide advocacy organization working to improve public education in Washington state. We are currently advocating for 2 bills in the 2013 legislative session that can help WA transform school discipline.

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Page 1: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

TRANSFORMING SCHOOL DISCIPLINE – CLOSING THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE

May 9th 2013

Page 2: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

Working to improve public education in Washington State from cradle to career with ample, equitable, and stable funding

Page 3: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

WHY WE KICK KIDS OUT

• nail file• chicken finger• candy cane• butter knife• blow-up doll• sexy teacher• pop-tart• “disruption”

Page 4: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

WHY SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICIES?• The problem is pervasive

– In 2009-2010, across the nation 1 in 9 students were suspended from school at least once.

– In Washington, 1 in 4 students will not graduate high school within 4 years of starting.

• Suspension is detrimental to academic success– Just one suspension freshman year showed a rate of

drop out 2 times higher than those who were not.– Of all males in state and federal prison, 68% do not

have a high school diploma.

(Data from the Council of State Governments Justice Center and American Psychological Association)

Page 5: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

WHY SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICIES?• Suspensions don’t work

– No evidence to suggest suspensions/expulsions prevent misbehavior.

– Studies show the opposite effect – schools with high discipline rates have higher drop-out rates.

• Its about equity– Washington is 1 of 9 states with a persistent

achievement/opportunity gap.– Exclusionary discipline policies

disproportionately impact students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities.

• The data varies with geography—students with disabilities have the highest rates of disproportionality

Page 6: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

Widespread cultural and political shift since the 1970’s

Mass incarceration, the “war on drugs”Federal Guns-Free Schools Act in 1994

By 1997: 87% of schools adopted zero-tolerance for alcohol and 79% had mandatory suspensions for use of tobacco

Under-resourced schools feel they don’t have the tools to address behavior problems (i.e. cyber bullying)

Goal is to create safe schools and objective discipline policies – but “safety” is not a universal feeling

HOW WE GOT HERE

Page 7: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

written and unwritten practices that facilitate student drop-out

Explicit – Policies• Increase in police

presence on campus• Policies that mandate

schools engage with the criminal/juvenile justice system

• Inappropriate punishments for age-level of rule breaker

• Indefinite punishments• No clear path back to

reenrollment

Implicit – School culture• Increased “security:” video

cameras, metal detectors, police dogs, restraints

• Zero-tolerance mentality• Punishments are void of

resolution or meaning to offender and offended

• Core belief that some kids are and will always be a “problem”

• “I don’t care where you go but you can’t stay here…”

DEFINING THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE

Page 8: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

WORDS MATTER, PERSPECTIVE MATTERS

Subjective:

defiancedisrespectdisruptionharassmenttardinessdress code

Objective:

fightingweaponsdrug usedrug distributionstealingvandalism

Despite the aim of objectivity, we see inequities in who gets disciplined, especially in the examples on the left.

1bi·as noun \ˈbī-əs\ b : an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment

Page 9: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

In one school year, just 5 percent of suspensions were given due to safety-related rule offenses.

The other 95 percent of suspensions were for subjective infractions like disruption and tardiness.

SUSPENSION HAS BECOME COMMONPLACE

Page 10: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

A QUIZ ON DISCIPLINE

• How many individual students were suspended last year in Washington state?

• What percentage of students expelled last year were Latino?

• How many total days did students spend outside of class due to suspensions/expulsions?

Page 11: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

Reclaiming Students

The Educational And Economic Costs Of Exclusionary Discipline

A joint report by TeamChild and Washington Appleseed

Page 12: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

FINDING ONE

• Exclusionary discipline negatively impacted academic success and a student’s relationship with the educational system– Higher discipline rates were associated

with higher drop out rates. – Significant loss of instructional time.

Page 13: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

FINDING TWO

• The vast majority of disciplined students did not receive educational services for the duration of their exclusion. – Only 7% of students were reported to

have received educational services while excluded from school.

Page 14: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

FINDING THREE

• Exclusionary discipline practices disproportionately impacted students of color and youth living in poverty. – More students of color and low income

students were excluded from school.– Students of color and low income

students were also less likely to receive educational services during periods of disciplinary exclusion.

Page 15: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

FINDING FOUR

• Reliance on exclusionary discipline practices varied significantly from district to district, even among districts with similar demographic characteristics.

Page 16: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

FINDING FIVE

• Discipline data yielded only a partial picture of the number of students impacted by exclusionary discipline practices each year in Washington public schools. – Only 185 of the 295 school districts

were able to submit data for this report, despite that fact that it is required by law to share this information with the public

Page 17: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

WASHINGTON STATE POLICY• Definitions for minimum length of

punishment– short term suspension is 0-10 days– long term suspension is 10 or more days– expulsion lasts indefinitely

• 9 Behavior Codes: Bullying, Tobacco, Alcohol, Illicit Drug, Fighting without Major Injury, Violence without Major Injury, Violence with Major Injury, Possession of Weapon and Other

• Federal guidelines require expulsions for use of weapons and other safety-related rule infractions

Page 18: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

LOCAL DISTRICTS• All 295 districts have:

– authority to establish additional rule infractions/behavior codes

– flexibility on minimum and maximum number of days students spend out of school

– Different mechanisms to record/report/analyze data– Ability to choose prevention/intervention programs

that work best for their student population

• Variation can be a double-edged sword– classrooms, school buildings, and districts all have

different perceptions

• Many local districts are ahead of the state in addressing discipline issues

Page 19: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

students, teachers, principals, parents,

mentors(millions)

classrooms, school buildings, community

organizations(thousands)

school districts, state legislature,

funding(hundreds)

HOW WE MAKE CHANGE

INDIVIDUALS

COMMUNITIES

INSTITUTIONS

Page 20: Transforming School Discipline - Closing the School to Prison Pipeline

QUESTIONS?