Is This Working?

From the Dignity in Schools Campaign NY

Did you hear the American Life piece Is This Working? It’s an incredibly powerful look at how schools respond to misbehavior—when little kids act out, and the the small stuff such as talking, getting into tussles with their friends, defiance, etc.

It opens with all the different so-called techniques teachers use when students are “defiant,” including throwing clogs. It points out that some schools of education don’t even train teachers about how to respond when students indicate through their behavior that something isn’t working. It dives into the story of J.J., a little boy repeatedly getting suspended from elementary school. They raise the issue that when kids are repeatedly suspended, they learn they are bad, teachers become the enemy, and anger builds up as a natural protective factor.

It then turns to the fact that J.J. is black in a mostly white school – and lo and behold, he is getting suspended but his white peers are not. It provides some of the the stats about disproportionate suspensions and expulsions...and touches for just a second on the school-to-prison pipeline.

The second section explores the issue with a teacher Rousseau Mieze, who grew up in a no-excuses, hyper-behavior-compliant charter school. (By the way, check out DSC’s accountability guidelines for charter schools.) It takes a turn as it looks at power vs. purpose, exploring that teachers often use power over kids because they are scared for themselves and scared for their students.

The third section then turns to how Lyons Community School uses restorative justice. Students describe that teachers listen to them, state they feel cared about, and talk about the power of “circles.” It’s a technique used at EPIC North, as well. I can imagine that “circles” will become a practice in all schools over the next decade, because the students find such meaning in it. The juxtaposition of restorative justice to criminal justice as students meet a “crazy” plain-clothed cop during their field trip is heartbreaking.

A lot of schools don’t understand that isolation, compliance, and hard-edged responses aren’t working. Even when tough discipline policies and extra police do reduce disciplinary problems, academic scores don’t budge. And why would they, as there is little in requiring compliance that is consistent with what we know about creating cultures of learning, student motivation and engagement?

So, local organizing groups are tackling the issue of how schools are dealing with misbehavior by changing education policy. The NY chapter of Dignity Schools Campaign is working to eliminate NYC’s B-21 infraction that allows the schools to suspend students for defying authority. According to the Dignity in Schools Campaign, Public Counsel, CADRE, YJC, ACLU of Northern California, ACLU of Southern California, Children’s Defense Fund California, Restorative Schools Vision Project, Gay Straight Alliance Network, and their allies have successfully scored a huge victory: “California became the first state to eliminate suspensions of students in grades K-3 for minor misbehavior, such as talking back, failing to have school materials and dress code violations, and to eliminate expulsions for all students for these behaviors.”

The campaign isn’t over. The advocates have set out an agenda:

1. Ending the use of “willful defiance” suspensions for all students, not just young children;
2. Increased state funding for positive school discipline approaches including Positive Behavior Intervention and Restorative Practices;
3. Promoting best practices in schools, including reforms in teacher and administrator training;
4. Developing stronger Local Control Accountability Plans that include funding and training for alternative discipline practices; and
5. Reducing use of all suspensions for any reason by at least 80% by 2020.

As we work to make sure that “Black Lives Matter” and demand that police become accountable for how they respond to African-American men, it’s going to be important that we make sure that schools share the same values.