1. Discipline Structures to Increase Student Learning
How to Reduce Suspensions and raise Student Achievement
Dr. Doug Whittaker
Senior Consultant ICLE

2. Session Agenda 5 Minutes Introduction Why Reduce Suspensions?
Be Proactive – Ways to Prevent Suspensions
15 Minutes
Options in Lieu of Suspension
10 Minutes
Benefits of Reducing the Number of Suspensions
Questions
Resources and Evaluation

3. Why Reduce Suspensions?
Data
Impact to system
Impact to students
Unanticipated outcome

4. Data
3.5 million students annually – 6% one or more suspensions (USA Today)
Black males 4x more likely to be suspended than white (USA Today)
Black girls 5x more likely to be suspended than white (USA Today)
Students with disabilities 2x more likely than non-disabled (Education Week)
Offenses no worse, but consequences are more punitive for minorities than whites and of longer duration (RMC Health)

5. Impact to System
Attendance
Non-offending students (EdSource)
Time

6. Impact on Student Instructional time is lost Grades drop
Attendance goes down
Dropout rate increases

7. Unanticipated Outcome
In far too many cases, when a student is suspended from school, he/she perceives the suspension as a reward.
There are too many students who consciously act out when they think it is time for “a few days off.”

8. Be Proactive – Prevent Suspensions
Rigorous and Relevant instruction
Relationships, relationships, relationships
Mentors
Peer mediation
Connections to school
Looping
Leadership development

9. Rigorous and Relevant Instruction
Rigor eliminates boredom
Rigor hits the zone of proximal development
Relevance brings connection
Relevance is motivational

10. Relationships; Relationships; Relationships
”I don’t care what you know until I know that you care”
We can’t get to relevance without relationships; we can’t get to rigor without relevance
Students want their teachers to think of them as a person

11. Mentors Mentors build strong trust relationships with the students
Mentors model thinking and behavior
Mentors listen
Mentors encourage and advise

12. Peer Mediation Issues come here before they escalate
Make it easily accessible
Train sufficient numbers of students so issues are resolved the same day when possible
Mediators should be representative of student population
Make this a formal
process
Keep track of your
mediation data

13. Connections to School
Get students involved in clubs, activities, sports, music, art, and drama
Create a culture of “we”

14. Looping Elementary teachers loop two or three years
Middle school teams loop six and seven if possible
High school teachers loop within subject when possible

15. Leadership Development
Leader In Me
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens

16. Options In Lieu of Suspension
Internal School Suspension (New Model – Lee Middle)
Restorative Justice
Shared parent responsibility

17. Internal School Suspension: Lee Middle School (Handout)
Certified teacher
Rigorous work
Reflection
Responsibility
Effective
Reduced OOS suspensions from over 900 per year (in a school of 800 students) to 127, 124, 121, and 117.

18. Restorative Justice

19. Restorative Justice

20. Restorative Justice

21. Restorative Justice

22. Restorative Justice

23. Shared Parent Responsibility
In lieu of suspension, parent comes to school and spends the day (or part of one) with his or her child
This is one of several effective strategies I used as a middle school principal

24. Benefits of Reducing Suspensions
Higher student achievement across all sub-groups
Improved attendance
Fewer tardies
Reduced discipline referrals
Less community crime
Improved, more positive school culture
Safer schools

25. Resources Los Angeles Unified School District
Oakland (CA) City Public Schools
RMC Health
EdSource
Education Week
USA Today

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4/15/15

27. Session Handouts
#ModelSchools