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In-School Suspension:
Some Research Could Improve Your Program
QUESTION: A middle school teacher asked for help in coping
with "repeaters" in her school's in-school suspension program.
HERE'S ONE ANSWER:
When you get lots of "repeaters" - what a label!! - to ISS, it
is probably tempting to set up yet another program, one with more "consequences"
and more control. But here's another idea:
Would you be willing to exercise some teacher-based research to ask the
following questions:
WHAT ARE THE *SCHOOL* EXPERIENCES OF THESE STUDENTS? (Ask them to draw a
picture of the classroom and their teacher at work in that classroom from
which they've been suspended. What patterns do you see? Why do you think
these patterns occur? What might the school do differently as a result?)
HOW MANY HAVE BEEN HELD BACK IN GRADE? How many are one-year over-age for
grade? How many are two years or more over-age for their grade? (Research
is very clear that overage students are much more likely to be suspended.
Try this: Offer students a contract that offers them the opportunity to
complete two years in one so that they can catch up with their age-appropriate
peers.)
HOW MANY COME FROM YOUR SCHOOL'S LOW TRACKS? (Again, typically many suspended
students are sitting in "go-nowhere" classes. Try offering these
students seats in college-prep classes and offer them social and academic
supports so they can succeed there. Consider using the model of the AVID
program from California or the Equity 2000 model of the College Board.)
FROM WHOSE CLASSES ARE THESE STUDENTS BEING SUSPENDED? (In the schools I
know, 80% of the suspensions come from some 20% of the teachers. If this
is the case at your school, try working with these teachers to discuss more
engaging ways of teaching important *content* (not behavior).
WHAT IS THE RACIAL/ETHNIC BACKGROUND OF THESE STUDENTS? (Nationally, a disproportionate
number of African American students are being suspended. Many see this pattern
as evidence of a "push out" phenomenon, and indeed, many do dropout.
As long as your suspension patterns are disproportionately African American,
you leave yourself open to investigation from the Office for Civil Rights,
or a court case.)
When you've researched these questions, share your findings with your students,
faculty, and parents - and let us know what happens!
Anne Wheelock
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Author of "Crossing
the Tracks"
READ a more detailed discussion
of In-School Suspension issues by Anne Wheelock
SOME DISCIPLINE and IN-SCHOOL SUSPENSION
RESOURCES:
Go to the Northern Light
search engine and search for "in-school suspension"
"In-School
Suspension" (research paper with sources)
Search the ERIC database
for "in-school suspension"
"Designing
a Positive In-School Suspension Program"
(ERIC citation)
"Positive
Behavior Management"
"Safe Learning Communities,"
NCREL
"Safe
School Resources," ERIC
"The
Discipline Dilemma," Education Week
"The
Lord of Discipline," Teacher Magazine
"School
Violence Prevention," ERIC Digest
Conflict
Resolution Programs in Schools (ERIC Digest)
Schools
as Communities (ERIC Digest)
Motivation
and Middle School Students (ERIC Digest)
What's Behind the High Suspension Rates?
[Note: Anne Wheelock wrote this note to a MiddleWeb visitor from New
Zealand who asked for additional information about in-school suspension
programs.]
Dear Dawn:
Thank you for thinking that I might be an "expert" on in-school
suspension.
Let me explain how I've come to be concerned about the issue, though, and
give you a few ideas of where you might turn.
A number of years ago, I did a detailed analysis of suspension patterns
and
practices in Boston middle schools for the Massachusetts Advocacy Center.
We found many disturbing trends in our analysis of three years of data.
Among many troubling findings, we learned:
African American students were disproportionately suspended in Boston
Public Schools. Reading further we learned that this is a national
pattern, and more recently, I hear from colleagues in Scotland that race
discrimination in suspension decisions is evident in the UK as well.
Different schools with similar populations had vastly different suspension
patterns. Suspension rates were much higher in some middle schools than
in
others with virtually identical enrollments. Probing further, we learned
that some of the differences may result from schools' failing to report
suspensions, that is, some schools send students home "just to cool
off"
and don't even bother to mark that as a suspension. Other schools more
meticulously account for such suspensions.
We also learned that school environments and structural arrangements
contribute to high suspensions. In middle schools with a strong team
structure, where teachers had more responsibility for handling discipline
problems, there were fewer suspensions. Interviewing principals, we also
learned that in at least several schools where principals had paid
attention to referring patterns, that is, which teachers were referring
more students, only a handful (about 20%) of the teachers accounted for
the
large majority (about 80%) or the suspensions. Where the principals were
alert to this and worked with individual teachers, suspension rates were
lower.
We also learned suspensions were related to specific school practices that
communicated the message, "School is not really for you." Many
suspended
students were overage for grade because their school had had them repeat
a
grade -- sometimes once in the early grades and again in the middle grades
(so that some were two years over age for their grade. Many suspended
students were enrolled in low-track classes. In a
later report I did, I
learned that when schools grouped students heterogeneously and developed
inclusive rituals that welcomed all, suspension rates were lower.
Finally, we learned that there were wildly diverse reasons for suspension,
and that they ranged from tardiness and truancy (according to a report of
urban superintendents, in fact, truancy was the most common reason for
suspension across the country), to talking back to a teacher, to fighting
with another student.
I am relating all this to you because after looking at the data,
interviewing students and school staff, visiting schools, and reading the
academic literature, our report concluded that in-school suspension did
not
necessarily obviate these problems and patterns. In fact, the report
(listed in ERIC under the Massachusetts Advocacy Center, _The Way Out:
Student Exclusion Practices in Boston Middle Schools, 1986) noted (page
62):
"[In-school suspension programs] are a step in the right
direction in that
their purpose is to keep students in school. However, in-school suspension
programs, unmonitored and viewed only in terms of the narrow goal of
keeping students in thh school building, can create an illusion of progress
where little exists.
"All too often, in-school suspension programs, like out-of-school
suspensions, fail to address the root causes of a disorderly school
climate. In-school suspension programs which are designed to reduce the
number of out-of-school suspensions may hide the fact that large numbers
of
students are still being excluded from their classrooms. In some schools,
an in-school suspension room can become a dumping ground for studnets who
are referred there by teachers unskilled in classroom management. Several
students we interviewed reported just that situation. Said one: "First
you get sent to the detention room for a few hours or maybe a day. But if
you get sent there too many times, pretty soon you don't get out. Maybe
they give you a little work to do, but they don't really care." Another
student reported being required to complete pages of "punishment papers"
of
multiplication tables in in-school suspension, a practice which promises
to
communicate only negative messages about learning. These "suspensions"
are
typically not counted in reporting the official suspension rate so cannot
be considered in assessing a school's effectiveness.
"In-school suspension programs can also hide other problems. Just as
black
students are disproportionately represented in out-of-school suspensions,
the same disproportions may be reflected in in-school suspensions.
However, because such suspensions are not counted or analyzed, possible
race discrimination may continue unaddressed or unnoticed.
"Finally, as with out-of-school suspensions, in-school suspension may
represent a short-term solution to student misbehavior. In-school
suspension, however, does not correct specific school conditions which
contribute to misbehavior. When such problems go unaddressed, the number
of
students losing out on their education is not likely to decline. Indeed,
some in-school suspension programs may create additional problems for
students....."
The report went on to describe one particular in-school suspension program
in a school that was highly abusive toward students who were labeled and
isolated, and where punishment involved being required to eat lunch at a
separate table, with no one allowed chocolate milk or dessert.
You can see why I am not always enthusiastic about in-school suspension.
If the overall school climate is not positive and engaging for students,
and especially where racism goes unchallenged, the in-school suspension
program is going to reflect the problems of the larger school culture and
climate. By the way, the report I've quoted from is out of print, although
you should be able to find it through ERIC listed under the Massachusetts
Advocacy Center.
Despite my misgivings, there are guidelines that could help a school
establish a reasonable in-school suspension program. Early in the 80s, two
advocates -- Joan First and Hayes Mizell -- wrote a book called
"Everybody's Business" and described guidelines for such programs.
(This
too is out of print, but you may be able to get some information from
the ERIC website. You can ask for a
photocopy by contacting the National
Coalition of Advocates for Students.)
The authors suggested that any in-school suspension program have:
=A clear statement of purpose;
=Written procedures developed with teachers, students and parents clearly
stating how student are referred and assigned to in-school suspension;
=Designation of an administrator responsible for determining if assignment
is approapriate and who has the authority and resources to pursue other
actions if referral is not;
=Provision of an academic component so that students keep up with their
class;
=Requirements that teachers continue to provide daily resources and materials
to referred students;
=Provision of a counseling component to help referred students;
=Provisions for notifying and engaging parents;
=Procedures for monitoring and follow-up of individual student progress;
=Providions for collecting information that summarizes the numbers of students
assigned to in-school suspension for each quarter by race and referring
teacher -- and regular reporting of this information to the school community.
Finally, we also recommended a couple of alternatives for improving school
climate. These included involving students in developing school rules and
peer mediation programs. There is quite a lot of literature on the latter.
I hope some of this is helpful to you and your New Zealand colleagues.
Sincerely,
Anne Wheelock