Disproportion and Discipline: Examining the Data: NSBA

Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights "answering questions about fundamental fairness"
self-reported information from districts across the country: database here:
from districts that educate 85% of our students: large sample

• African-American students are more than 3x more likely to be suspended than their white peers
• Students of color represent 45% of student body, but 56% of students expelled under "zero tolerance" policies
• One in five African-American boys and more than one in ten African-American girls have received an out-of-school suspension
• African-American students make up 18% of the students in the sample, but 35% of the students suspended once, and 39% of students expelled

"Something's going on with this student, and we need to step up and stop it BEFORE it gets to the board"
Where were the interventions?
"Every day they're losing"
Teachers get paid at least $2000 less than those within the same district, and have less time in the profession
Teachers then opt into a different school
Two or three teachers in one year; they're rotating in and out
"we can't afford to leave any child to leave any child behind...I hate to use that...our children are a valuable, valuable commodity"
Closing the school altogether is not the answer; the answer is to fix the problem
"to change the culture in the district"
"Forgive me, as I may talk WAY past the slides!"

•  12% of African-American boys are proficient in reading in fourth grade; 38% of white boys
• 12% of African-American boys are proficient in math in eighth grade; 44% of white boys

"Are you really just saying, 'We're giving up on you. We're not giving you the same opportunities to succeed.' And don't think the kids don't know that."

• boys of color are 2 1/2 times LESS likely to be enrolled in gifted and talented programs EVEN IF their prior achievement reflects the ability to succeed

"We ought to be talking about this data."
 "You are the governing board. You make a difference...if we don't put it out there, we'll never fix it."

• African-American boys make up 20% of students classified as "mental retarded" though they make up 9% all students in the US

"We're paying more for them to be locked up then it would have cost us to educate them...and they're going to be out!"
..."when data like this is released, it just fuels their fire..."
"We spent more time and energy and dollars trying to discipline them then we do trying to work with them and understand them"
"Don't we teach them how to have discussions?"
"...how to communicate, how to deal with other people...engage them, and help them understand how you have a conversation. We shut the door and then we wonder why they get mad."
"we take EVERY child who walks through the door...but along with that comes the responsibility to deal with that"
"the more you can keep those children in the classroom with their peers, you're better off...it's not like they come back better"
The data supports the need to make changes in the district
"We need to start having conversations...not going to play the zero tolerance game"
"I need to have item by item who did what...then we made the decision"
"We need to be the gatekeepers for our students, instead of the system just move them along and push them aside"
Question/comment:
"We have more people in our buildings that are concerned with safety and security than with (counseling)"
"What did your district do to find some corrective actions for the student (acting up)?"
"If it's ongoing, there is a reason...during the course of the day, we work with (him) one-on-one or two-on-one...we find that we learn so much...start treating the child, working with the child. It makes so much difference."
Example being given of work outside of Philadelphia: "Our children came in READY...yet those same statistics apply. Something is wrong, something is incredibly wrong."
working with parents, getting in schools, raising expectations
"when your kids are succeeding, so are you"
What are you doing to put children in alternative ed with dignity?
creating an in-district alternative school: keep them engaged, keep them in school...
"Once you put them on the street, nothing good can happen"
hands up all over the room here for people who want to contribute
Example given of a child who is suspended or put in an alternative program, you have to make it possible for the child to get there


sorry, had to duck out for a phone call there; gap in the notes
Mentoring by men in the community of the boys at the alternative school