Keeping on-track to High School Graduation Through School Engagement Dr. Ken Seeley A Focus on Zero Tolerance Alternatives Santa Clara County May 2011

What is NCSE? The National Center for School Engagement The theory of Change is based on the interaction of Attendance, Attachment, and Achievement Promoting truancy and dropout prevention and recovery to achieve high school graduation Provide training, evaluation and technical assistance Engagement implies student, parent and community engagement in schools

Youth Success Engage Youth and Parents Coordinate & Integrate programs Increased Teacher Involvement

WillMethodsResources The Elements of Change Change Need Not Be an Additive Process

Discipline Principles and School Engagement Never withhold learning as punishment- learning continues There is NO silver bullet or omnibus solution to discipline for all high risk students Every student who is excluded from school should have a plan to return and continue learning while out of school

Five Myths About Zero Tolerance School violence is at a crisis level and is increasing necessitating no-nonsense strategies. Zero tolerance increases the consistency of school discipline and therefore the clarity of the disciplinary message to students. Removal of students who violate school rules will create a climate more conducive for learning for those students who remain. Swift and certain punishment of zero tolerance have a deterrent effect and improve overall behavior and discipline Parents overwhelmingly support zero tolerance and students feel safer.

Are Zero Tolerance Policies Effective in the Schools? ( American Psychological Association, 2008) [See Handout P ] Group Activity: Answer the Question Above from your experience and the following: What is the goal of zero tolerance and is it successful in achieving that goal? When and where should zero tolerance be used? How predominant are punitive and exclusionary practices in the schools and for what types of student behaviors are they generally used?

Reforming Zero Tolerance Group Activity from Handout [Pgs ] Review the three A-2 policies and determine which are actionable in your schools and if not why not. Review the Alternatives to Zero Tolerance; B1 Practices; and determine which are actionable.

Restorative Justice Strategies for Schools “ Restorative justice is a method of bringing together the parties who identify as stakeholders in a communal, non- hierarchical dialogue about the consequences of a harm, providing them an opportunity to discuss what to be done to repair the situation.”(Braithewaite, 2002) The main objectives are for the community to: Hold the offenders accountable, Repair harm to victims, Provide support to the offenders to encourage their reintegration into the community

Planning & Measuring (report by age, grade, gender, race ethnicity) # suspensions per 100 # out of school suspensions/ 100 # in- school # Expulsions/ 100 # law Enf orcement referrals/100 # school detentions/ 1 00 # excused absences/ semester #unexcuse d absences/ semester # truancies/ semester Dropout rate Graduation rate # Ds and Fs per semester # teacher office referrals/ semester

Major RJ Strategies The facilitated conference with offender, victim, supporters to identify the harm and the repair Informal classroom meetings or circles about the effects on the class from bad behaviors Use of RTI and PBIS pyramid model to combine RJ alternatives with traditional discipline rules and consequences

Discipline Alternatives Group Activity- different student scenario at each table- For each situation present 2 punitive/ exclusionary responses and 2 restorative or engaging responses How possible would it be to do the restorative responses and still meet the discipline “rules”

The NCSE Policy and Practice Assessment AbsencesClass Levels Enrollme nt, Transfers, Credits Student Activities Academic Support and Support Services DisciplineGrading Practices Teachers BullyingDisengage d Students School Climate Transition Support

Driver Diagram for SEIP School Engage- ment with High attend- ance and Academic Success School has welcoming or inviting culture and environment Positive Relationships amongst students, parents, teachers, and administrators Variation in learning, education, health, and social needs of children Family and home environments vary in their ability to provide supportive structures and processes Indicators that predict level of engagement and attendance are acted on Productive school protocols, systems, and processes Conceptual Design Create learning and high expectation culture in the classroom and other school settings Promote and reward pro-social peer to peer relationships, that enhances school safety Create a Caring School Community by implementing the characteristics of a welcoming school climate (NCSE) Targeted processes to identify and track at risk students and their families and focus efforts on “At Risk” students having positive transitions Timely personalized, positive intervention with absent students Increase Use of Community Resources/Services (like mental and physical health) by improving linkage and coordination Promote and foster parenting skills to develop home environments that support children as students (NCSE) Achieve high levels of parental and community involvement which includes (NCPIE) Parents in School Decisions and Develops Parent Leaders and Representatives (NCSE) Establish regular and meaningful two-way communication between home and school (NCSE) Drivers

SEIP Handout: The Change Package Creating testable ideas for each change concept Assign RTI tiers ratings to show level of implementation Use the PDSA cycle to test the ideas and measure success and modify as needed Plan for “spread” moving the prototype to wider use in the school

Johns Hopkins Grad Nation Model Dropout Early Warning System A= Attendance- More than half of HS dropouts missed 20 or more days in the 9 th grade B= Behavior- Defined by suspensions with 53% of those ninth graders with 4 or more suspensions dropped out. C= Course Failure- One or more semester failures in a course as early s 6 th grade predicts high school dropout Just 1 F in Ninth grade predicts an 88% dropout rate

At Each Transition Point Consider Both Academic and Social Needs Middle Grades-Intermediate Academic Skills (reading comprehension and fluency, transition from arithmetic to mathematics) and a need for adventure and camaraderie High School-Transition to Adult Behaviors and Mind Set and a path to college and career readiness, as well as the right extra help for students with below grade level skills and caring adults

No Cost and Low Cost Alternatives to Punitive Discipline School Based Teen/Youth Court School-Community Review Boards Service Learning -Community Service Consequences Teach a class on anger mgmt during lunch detention Use Americorp and City Year volunteers to mentor

National Standards for School Climate Research based standards and indicators Useful as an assessment of existing measures of school climate and for parent messaging Useful as a base for policy creation and implementation of student conduct rules, RJ strategies, bullying, PBIS implementation, professional development needs

NCSE as Resource National Conference October Policy and Practice Assessment Evaluate truancy programs with TRAIN Truancy and dropout online course Website: