Sunday, April 15, 2018

New Federal Government Report Finds that Disproportionate School Discipline Actions Persist with Black, Male, and Special Education Students (Part I)


Manipulating Policy, Buying Programs, and Following Federally-Funded Technical Assistance Centers Do Not Work:  Why be Surprised. . . about Why We Aren’t Succeeding?
 
[CLICK HERE to Read the Entire Blog Message]

   On April 4th, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published, K-12 Education: Discipline Disparities for Black Students, Boys, and Students with Disabilities.  This study of schools nationwide during the 2013-14 school year found continued disproportionality in how different groups of students are disciplined regardless of the type of disciplinary action, level of school poverty, or type of public school attended.

   This Blog asserts that we have been unsuccessful in addressing the issue of disproportionality in our schools because we are not analyzing the underlying student, teacher, and administrator factors.  Six primary flaws are explored:

   Flaw #1.  Legislatures are trying to change practices through policies.

   Flaw #2.  State Departments of Education are promoting one-size-fits-all programs that have not been validated.

   Flaw #3.  Districts and schools are implementing disproportionality frameworks that target constructs rather than changing behavior. 

   Flaw #4.  Districts and schools are not recognizing the impact of poor Classroom Management.

   Flaw #5.  Schools and staff are trying to motivate students who have social, emotional, and behavioral skill deficits.

   Flaw #6.  Districts and Schools do not have sound multi-tiered systems of support.

   The Blog critiques the PBIS and SEL frameworks; Character Education; Hattie’s meta-analytic research; and students’ disciplinary versus psychoeducational problems.

   To successfully address the issue of Disproportionality in our schools, we need comprehensive, multi-tiered systems of supports. Policy-level changes have not solved this problem.  We need to apply evidence-based practices.

   Please read the entire Blog.  What do you think?

[CLICK HERE to Read the Entire Blog Message]

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