Derail the school-to-prison pipeline in Georgia
Rob Rhodes is director of projects with the Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. This is his first piece for the AJC Get Schooled blog:
By Rob Rhodes
Along with the fiscal cliff, the United States faces an “education cliff” — the growing problem of unacceptably low graduation rates made worse, at least in part, by the reliance on school disciplinary practices that contribute to the “school to prison pipeline.”
Georgia’s significantly lagging high school graduation rate is the result of many factors. A key cause may be an overuse of exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions and expulsions, and the regular referral of incidents of schoolyard misbehavior to juvenile court.
The Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice has conducted a comprehensive study of student discipline policies, which found sharp differences among the school districts in the use of exclusionary discipline.
In 2011, eight school districts reported overall out-of-school suspension rates of less than 1 percent including one district with a student population in excess of 30,000. On the other hand, 10 districts reported rates in excess of 15 percent, about double the state average.
Of note, low out-of-school suspension school districts consistently outperformed the average graduation rate and graduated students at much higher rates than districts that used out-of-school suspensions more often.
For 2011, using the new graduation rate formula, Georgia’s four-year graduation rate was 67.5 percent. School districts with relatively rare use of out-of-school suspensions reported graduation rates on the average of 77.2 percent, as compared to a 64.4 percent average rate in districts that use them often.
While low graduation rates certainly are the result of a number of factors, a clear negative correlation exists between extensive use of exclusionary discipline and educational attainment in Georgia’s public schools.
Effective student discipline is vitally important to ensuring that all students are provided with a safe environment that is conducive to learning. However, each child in our public school system, even ones who are sometimes unruly, should also have a reasonable opportunity to obtain a quality high school education.
We recognize the very difficult balancing act that public school educators must perform every day to support these two vital interests. It would, therefore, be unfair to the thousands of Georgia K-12 educators who are committed to the success of their students to criticize the overuse of exclusionary discipline in the absence of effective alternatives.
The good news is that there are sound, evidence-based practices that can maintain collective safety and order while nurturing individual students. Such practices may include the implementation of school-wide climate enhancement efforts using the framework of positive behavioral intervention and support. Another approach may be increasing the efficacy of in-school suspensions. While there is no “one size fits all” answer, there is growing evidence that, with focused leadership and adequate resources, effective alternatives to exclusionary discipline can be implemented.
There are many reasons for low graduation rates, and we do not believe that addressing school discipline issues is a “silver bullet” solution. We do believe, however, that the changes discussed above can be implemented at a relatively low cost and will be a meaningful part of a comprehensive strategy to allow Georgia’s children to flow through a “school to opportunity” pipeline.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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172 comments Add your comment
anObserver
December 20th, 2012
6:30 pm
@bRoane
December 20th, 2012
5:19 pm
You are correct in that observation. That might have been deliberate. However, race is the definite subtext here, made apparent by statements like “school-to-prison pipeline”, ” overuse of exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions and expulsions”, “regular referral of incidents of schoolyard misbehavior to juvenile court”.
These key elements are statistically proven to disproportionately affect Black and Hispanc/Latino youths, whether they are in their neighborhood schools or otherwise. I for one long for the day when these things are no longer an issue and the conversation does not have to have it as a subtext. I however, never see that happening in my lifetime if ever. The biggest barrier in my opinion being the unwillingness of too many outside of the minority communities to stand up and be intellectually honest about the problem rather than just taking the oh-too-familiar-superior attitude of “we have our —- together, why can ‘t you get yours together?”, without looking at things in totality. There is no motivation too really…today, that is. Not as long as they can sit “on high”. The recent events of CT, Colorado and others though make the point clear – don’t smell yourself for too long, because you just might catch a whiff of the stench that is coming off of yourself.
paulo977
December 20th, 2012
6:35 pm
The Secretary of Education is out of touch Ed Johnson
Of course ” We’ve turned education into a colossal competion ” where ‘plants’ tend to wither rather than flourish
Jack ®
December 20th, 2012
7:11 pm
Nice blog from Rhodes. Well written and all that. But he’s dispensing fairy dust. Who’s going to furnish the intervention for these troubled children? Certainly not the parents.
catlady
December 20th, 2012
7:25 pm
Well, I am a member of the “squeegee man” solution. Take care of small problems, immediately, at the beginning of the year. Don’t “save” your ISS or OSS for end of the year. You will have nothing but escalating problems. Let students and parents know what IS expected, and what results when those expectations are not met. Consistency is key.
Children are at least as smart as dogs. Dogs can be trained about unacceptable behaviors. Surely children can, too. Consistency is key. No, the home does not have to have the same rules, the same expectations. You will notice that the kids who do well DO have homes where there is consistency. When the child walks through the door, HERE are the rules here.
It would be helpful, too, if administrators understood that even small children need ISS occasionally for poor behavior. It doesn’t just magically start in middle school. In my 2-4 school, we have already had several suspensions. And we are doing much better because of it. We really need an ISS also. In the past, a trip there usually cured most of the misbehavior by that child.
Now, I work in a school with less than 2 black students. About 120 are Latino, and most of the rest (500), are poor white Appalachian kids, with maybe 10% white middle class. The vast majority (90%)? of misbehavior is by the white kids. So I can’t comment on the racial aspect.
I do strongly believe EVERY student is entitled to FAPE. That means the opportunity to be educated in the least restrictive environment. Too many of our classrooms are at the whim of the disruptive students! The needs of 1, or 3, or 10 should NOT overrule the needs of the other 20!
Interesting Observation
December 20th, 2012
7:45 pm
@Andy
December 20th, 2012
9:15 am
“9 out of 10 black children eating off of foods stamps before the age of 18″
and you got those statistics from where?
Andy, belonging to a particular group based on skin pigmentation is not a personal achievement. Howerver, it could be a detriment should society or bigots in general deem it so.
Point/Counterpoint
December 20th, 2012
10:15 pm
I have witnessed teachers ignoring black male students, so yes it is happening. The biggest problem is the mirror society holds up to these young men. If people were honest with themselves they would admit they are afraid of black men, in their minds black male = thug everytime. Constantly being treated in a negative manner eventually takes its toll. Anyone who has been emotionally abused can attest to that fact. Reading the remarks on this blog we have a long way to go to fight the stereotypical mindsets.
N. GA Teacher
December 21st, 2012
12:04 am
This Rhodes guy is either well-meaning and unbelievably naiive, or just out for political gain, knowing that what he writes is crap but sounds good to the uninformed. I wonder where HIS kids went to school?? As a long-time statistician, the reason that high suspensions correlate with low graduation rates is because they logically correlate. I would bet that these systems are characterized by poverty, crime, and lack of parental involvement. Also, as above writers mentioned, the suspension system is far too LENIENT, allowing chronic disruptors to wreak far too much havok before being temporarily removed from the classroom. Most teachers know that the truth is that Georgia probably graduates TOO MANY kids who really have not EARNED diplomas. Providing funding or rating high schools based on graduation rates is really counterproductive. The idea for in-school suspension reading tutoring is good, but it will never be properly funded, and by middle or high school it is too late. Kids diverge into “readers” and “nonreaders” around third or fourth grade, and the die is for the most part cast. The tech school idea is a good one, for a lot of our kids who are poor readers who do miserably in traditional academic classes often find a niche in hands-on, job-related training. They develop a sense of pride and belonging, absences and disruptions go down, and they become good citizens instead of discontent future felons.
Grob Hahn
December 21st, 2012
12:39 am
The REAL problem has been with us for decades and will continue. That problem is denial. For some reason it is thought that if you keep disciplinary problem students in class with students who are not problems, the problems will magically go away through divine osmosis. Or, the “bad” kids will “learn from the example” of the “good” kids and adopt their ways.
None of this fantasy methodology has worked after decades of it.
If you REALLY want to slow the students down from going into prison, you need to show the ones who are clearly headed down that road an entirely different, dedicated means of education. This means pull them out of the regular schools and consolidate them into a system they have to earn their way out of. Sure it emulates prison, but the kids headed that way have a niave lack of fear of prison. Some even expect prison to be a career-building experience.
Also, the very idea of taking a child’s education away as a means to implement discipline doesn’t work and should be deemed illegal. If they’re bad enough for suspension, they are bad enough for extra work. If they are bad enough to be expelled, they are bad enough to enter a discipline-based school for a while. Until we adopt reality, the problem will grow.
Grobbbbbbbbbbbbb
Gamom
December 21st, 2012
12:41 am
Please give me a break with people saying bring back corporal punishment. Get your head out of your behind. Corporal punishment is still widely used all over Georgia. The latest data is available from the ga DOE, Maureen has featured it frequently AND if you took the time to read the Appleseed reports, it’s mentioned in there too. And I don’t know how people can say god is not in schools. My kids are allowed to pray and they even pray with the coach before games. Please spare your bs. The use of corporal punishment is contributing to our low performance, aside from the fact it is just another form of bullying perpetrated by the adults. You would think with all the focus on school violence there would be an immediate moratorium on the practice
TJones
December 21st, 2012
1:17 am
Every DAY a child (especially once they’re in 6th grade) misses school, they’re more likely to drop out or not graduate on time. Doesn’t matter whether they missed the bus, cut school, are suspended out of school, or are in meaningless in-school suspension, whatever their race or socioeconomic status or disability or parenting. Kids need to go to school and learn.
If they cause significant incidents at school, they should face in-school suspension of the type Mary Elizabeth and others propose. Serious repeat offenders should have outlets such as alternative schools, including online options.
Many of the kids causing these problems have attendance issues. They fall behind (or are already behind), and it turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Overuse of out of school suspension is self defeating. The problem is the lack of alternatives, and making sure that kids go to school every day.
“…sixth graders who failed math or
English/reading, or attended school less than 80% of
the time, or received an unsatisfactory behavior grade
in a core course had only a 10% to 20% chance of
graduating on time. Less than 1 of every 4 students
with at least one off-track indicator graduated within
one extra year of on-time graduation.”
http://www.amle.org/portals/0/pdf/research/research_from_the_field/policy_brief_balfanz.pdf
Private Citizen
December 21st, 2012
6:26 am
Fight for your right to fail!
bootney farnsworth
December 21st, 2012
9:13 am
@ Maureen
really? I mean, really?
I’m sorry, but your bias and personal agenda is showing. and poorly. and frankly, it smells of selective outrage.
I have railed against the BOR, Tricoli, Sonny Perdue, red meat Fran, Mike Adams, and a score of other people who happen to be white. most especially the idiots down in the gold dome.
and you know I worked for a very long time at a mostly black school serving mostly black students until a bunch of idiots lead by two stupid white guys destroyed it.
I deal with the topics as they come up. I’m not gonna inject race into a topic, nor ignore it when its there. I’m gonna leave that one to you.
bootney farnsworth
December 21st, 2012
9:22 am
about spanking:
as a chronic behavior problem in most of my primary school days, I can say with certainty spanking did not slow me down one single step.
if anything, it made me more determined to disrupt class more effectively at every opportunity.
for the occasional screwups, it may work. but for the hard core behavior issues (like myself) it only fueled my fires.
Julie Worley
December 21st, 2012
10:24 am
U.S. Schools must Honor Sandy Hook victims by Abolishing Corporal Punishment, Stop Hitting Schoolchildren! Sad how NONE of the Media coverage includes the Fact that at the Groundbreaking Senate Hearing to End School-to-Prison Pipeline held 12/12/12 ACLU recommended enacting Federal Bill H.R. 3027 “The Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act”, http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-human-rights-racial-justice/groundbreaking-se nate-hearing-shines-light already Illegal in Schools in 31 U.S. States and Prohibited by Federal Law for use against convicted Felons in ALL U.S. Prisons, Cost $0! 19 U.S. States including Georgia (over 21,000 incidents of school corporal punishment last year, shows lazy and thoughtless “discipline”) legally allow schoolchildren Kindergarten through Twelfth grade to be beaten with thick wooden paddles to inflict Pain as Punishment for minor infractions with No Safety standards to protect children from excessive force injuries or to prevent sadistic pedophiles from filming and sharing their perverse pleasure! See brutally violent injuries to schoolchildren from U.S. Public School “Paddling/Corporal Punishment” at YouTube Video trailer for Documentary Movie “The Board of Education” by Jared Abrams . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vt4v7KsFi8 Search “A Violent Education” 2008 Study by Human Rights Watch and ACLU for disturbing facts! http://donthitstudents.com/ Corporal Punishment is not good for children it leaves many injured, degraded and disengaged from school, it must raise blood pressure of school employees, it puts taxpayer funds at risk of lawsuits like the Half a Million Dollar lawsuit recently filed against Cumberland County, TN schools because a coac paddled a student who was on “No Paddle” list due to previous head injury and could have died from further injury to his spine. Why doesn’t ayone want to acknowledge the ugly Truth that adults entrusted with our children’s safety in school must terrify our children with even the threat of vioence? How on earth do schools in 31 U.S. states that have outlawed Corporal Punishment of children operate everyday?
TSimpson
December 21st, 2012
10:50 am
Juvenile Lifer speaks on the link between schools, their zero tolerance policies and juvenile justice http://torvossimpson.livefromlockdown.com/2011/08/11/the-link-between-schools-and-juvenile-justice/
The Parent Coach
December 21st, 2012
5:50 pm
While there is evidence that more inclusionary and comprehensive discipline plans work. As parents and community we must advocate for more rehabilitative solutions than punitive results. My only question surrounding this study is to make sure we have compared apples to apples with our data. While I am not inherently opposed to looking at best practices for tried and proven solutions, we must understand demographics and circumstances. There is no one approach to all, but the need to be innovative in our ability to discern special needs, mental health, social issues or if a child is acting out due to ineffective teachers or they just may be hungry or sleepy from their home neglect.
Let’s be careful not to lump all together, but to find individual solutions with collective results!
GrD
December 22nd, 2012
2:02 pm
bootney farnsworth and beverly fraud…. has to be that same person….that guy from mace…..a little over the board sometimes.
there is a prison pipeline. they, the UNIONs, and georgia state legislators have managed to remove practical skills from middle and high schools, carpentry, electrical, plumbing etc., just so they can maintain control of these labor skills. right now there are the good ole boys who control the construction industry, with the latinos as their laborers. many young men who need these skills have no practical skills to show after leaving middle school, and even in high school. instead they disillusion and overwhelmed at the realization (and self-actualization) of where they are in society, their place in society etc. this is where we lose them and the court system “pipelines” them to the prison system, giving them a record, felony, and therein begins the ruination of their lives. at mid-high school it’s difficult to turn around a young man, especially an african-american black youth. most folks do not understand, nor do they want to, nor do they take the time to consider why so many black men are in prison. frankly, most are racist and do not care.
to those folks talking about single parent homes, etc. understand the history of the united states….when dealing with a group/culture, we are not talking of potted plants or a young tree. one cannot simply wave a wand and reverse the adverse effects of slavery and continuous negative media bombardment on a race/culture. in most of these conversations here, folks seem to always want to blame race/culture. the television and media sets the tone for everything, and continues to.
so get the practical skills back into middle and high schools. maybe even introduce some at the elementary level. but, no, the unions and the state legislators want to have control of the industries, while maintaining the latinos as their laborers, and funnel the black men to prison.
Ole Guy
December 23rd, 2012
8:09 am
Like Ronald Reagan used to say, “There you go again”! Suspension practices, in-school or out-of-school, is simply another way of saying to the kid, “You have gained my attention”.
With the emotion levels, From Newtown, still high, people, left and right are quick to turn our schools into armed camps, yet, some time ago, when I brought up the issue of bringing back the time-honored practice of paddling, many of you expressed indignation…”Not my kid…if he misbehaves, you can shoot him, but, heavens, don’t dare paddle him. Why that’s inhumane…that’s barbaric”!
It is entirely understandable that people allow emotions to direct their views, and their actions, however, if we simply concentrate on the reasons for being in school, maybe we can, at the same time, address some of these problems. (Here we go again) 1) INSIST on standards, both academic and behavioral. 2) Reluctance/failure to meet these standards should…no, make that MUST be met with unpleasant consequence.
Lets stop dancing around the issue of low grad rates, prompting these cute essays, and start driving the educational ship. For far too long, you have allowed the ship to go adrift with no one at the helm of responsibility. Now that you are so primed to do stupid stuff like arming teachers, howbout just 1) allowing them a little authority, instead, to DO THEIR JOBS AS THEY SEE FIT, and 2) bring back the paddle. This would certainly make a helluva lot more sense, would it not?
KIM
December 25th, 2012
11:48 am
I can’t believe this tired topic is in the blog. The self proclaimed, angry core of this project is worn out. The primary speakers of the DSPP had kids who got into trouble and the parents didn’t like the way it was handled. Some money made. They may have won the money, but they will never win the fight, as thousands of other parents are sick and tired of kids and parents like them and theirs distracting the other students who want a serious education.
GAOLDECUCATOR
December 26th, 2012
11:08 pm
As a career educator, I worked hard to convnience my own chidren to seek another profession besides education. Today’s public education system is broken in so many ways. Out dated methods that leave 21st century students bored and not engaged in learning; disruptive students that repeatedly disrupt the learning of the masses, etc. Society no longer emphasizes competition and the belief that the strong succeed and the weak struggle (in terms of education and learning). Now everyone must recieve A’s or schools and teachers face the beat down of the parents, school boards, etc. What is an A in today’s classrooms? Teachers battle disruptive students 50% of their time but yet get scorned for low performing test scores. Students cussing teachers, threatening students and staff, etc, and the parents more times than not accuse the teacher, school and administrators of being racist, or lying on their “baby”. Every incident put the teachers and the school on ‘trial’ in the eyes of the parents and often by the school system leadership.
The answer is society is broken! Schools are not the problem or the solution for all of societies ills.
Retired teacher
December 27th, 2012
12:27 pm
Has anyone noticed that the author did not address SPED students? I had some truely wonderful, driven SPED students in my teaching career. I’ve also had some holy terrors.
Last year, before I saw the writing on the wall and retired early, I had a truely horrible SPED student. One disrupted every single class every single day. Teachers were not allowed to punish him according to his IEP. He would leave the class, go curse loudly in the hall, and punch in the lockers. It didn’t matter that he disturbed the learning of other classes when doing this. It didn’t matter that he sometimes did this 2 or 3 times during the same class. It didn’t matter that he caused destruction to school property. It also didn’t matter that he was a self admitted gang member. At least once a week, the SRO had to talk him down off of a rage. He wrote in a paragraph that his goal was to be serving a life term in prison by the time he was 18. (He didn’t have to write essays…just paragraphs.)
At the very least, this kid should have been in a self-contained class instead of being mainstreamed. Will he eventually end up in prison? Without a doubt.
There are lots of kids like him in the system. But nothing is being done with them.
Lynn
December 30th, 2012
12:26 am
I agree we have allowed a generation of kids raise kids and want to be buddies not parents, allowed the loudest parents who have the “not my child it must be the schools fault” attitude make the rules, lets not stand for principles because we will get sued and never make anyone accountible. I sent my children to school to get an education, I contacted the teacher on a regular basis to make sure that was going on, I took my vacation days to follow my children in the school to see what was going on in their day, I marked the days report cards came home on the calendar and if I did not get them from my children, we went to the teacher together to find out why, if my children made a mess at school they were expected to clean it up not leave it for a custodian. It was my responsibility to raise my children to be responsible adults and when I needed help the teacher, principal and counselor was there to help. If we can get it back to this maybe our children in the system will have a better chance. I have not read all the post but the ones I did never mention the zero tolerance policy, a policy in my opinion sweeps everything under the rug so no one has to deal with it. And as long as we allow raises for our goernment representatives and cuts to our education budget we will continue to get this education system.