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What is In-School Suspension? - Definition & Programs - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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When students misbehave, are late too many days, or present with behavioral issues that get in the way of their education, rather than punishing...

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7 Strategies to Turn Around a Struggling School

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7 Strategies to Turn Around a Struggling School

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Guest post by Sarah Sanchez

In the summer of 2017, my Title I elementary school landed on Florida's list of the 300 lowest-performing schools after earning a D year-end grade from the state.

Needless to say, we were all devastated by the news, which felt like a punch to the stomach. I was the assistant principal at the time, having spent the past 11 years in various roles at the school, including classroom teacher and reading interventionist.

Soon after those results came in, I took the reins as principal. It was my job to set a bold, new direction for the school- and fast.

As I began to plan for the new school year, it was clear to me that our teachers needed to come together as a unified team in order to drive students' core academic growth.

Moreover, our students needed to engage far more with their learning, and we wanted our parents to be more involved, as well. The challenges were many, but by the summer of 2018, our school grade jumped to a B.
Here are seven strategies we used to make significant improvements over the course of that year:

1. Set schoolwide goals: First, we established and clearly communicated several ambitious schoolwide goals. At the start of the year, only 37 percent of our students had achieved reading proficiency, so we were determined to increase that to at least 50 percent by year's end. The tool we'd been using to support reading instruction, i-Ready, had been available in our school the past two years, but we recognized we hadn't been using it consistently across classrooms. Accordingly, we set out to increase our "time on task" with reading instruction and intervention, from approximately 50 percent up to 100 percent, while simultaneously improving our pass rates from 25 percent to 70 percent.

Assessing our progress

1. Build confidence: We needed to dispel the notion that our students were unable to achieve and build teacher confidence at the same time. To that end, we devoted considerable time to professional development and leadership training, both at school and outside of school. We offered PD on a variety of topics including literacy learning, standards-based planning, and goal-setting workshops. We also created ample opportunities for team-building by planning fun, themed activities on a regular basis. Soon, teachers began to gel as a team, collaborate effectively, and, most importantly, take ownership of our reading goals.

1. Use data to inform instruction: We also began to pay much closer attention to the information made available to us through the i-Ready Diagnostic. This adaptive tool drills down on students' individual performance and growth and provides specific guidance and insights to meet individual needs. By leveraging this data and pairing it with i-Ready Instruction, we were able to both differentiate instruction and maximize student learning in a blended learning environment. In addition, we amplified our teacher-led lessons using resources available through the accompanying Teacher Toolbox. We also provided students with individual, private folders where they could view their own data, evaluate progress, and set specific growth targets for themselves.

How can schools ensure that success becomes a part of the culture? Please share

1. Ramp up reading time: By using some of the additional state funding we received and combining it with creative scheduling, we were able to add a full hour of dedicated reading time to our school day called "Power Hour." This meant students and teachers were now spending a total of three hours each day on reading and literacy activities. We used a program called Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and trained all the adults in the school on how to deliver the lessons, which include leveled books on high-interest topics, modeled reading, sustained silent reading, and a focus on vocabulary development and fluency.

1. Celebrate progress: To draw more attention to our reading goals, we created colorful bulletin boards where students and teachers could see their class's collective progress as compared with that of other classes in the building. These visuals helped foster much higher levels of participation, inspire friendly competition, and ultimately instill a sense of pride as classes began to meet and exceed targets. Indeed, by December, our students' midyear scores showed considerable improvement, validation that our efforts were already making an impact.

1. Make math fun: Since students and teachers were already spending a great deal of time each day working on reading, we decided to make math the focus of our after-school programming. We formed an after-school math club that met twice a week, and it soon became an extremely popular component of our program. This program offers core math instruction plus a variety of fun and engaging math games and activities. Importantly, our math club includes both transportation and a snack at no additional cost to students. Almost all of our students participate, and we're seeing the results-we have seen a 75 percent increase in math proficiency in just two years.

1. Increase parent involvement: Due to the fact that our evening parent-teacher conferences were only drawing about 30 parents each time, we brainstormed new ways to encourage parents to come to school and began offering parent activities at different times of the day and in different formats. We had nearly 200 parents participate in our most recent "Data and Donuts" morning meeting-a before-school event where students showcased their current projects to their own parents. We have also greatly expanded our social-media outreach to provide parents with an additional window into their children's activities at school, as well as offer tips on reading at home and other suggestions to enhance learning outside of school.

By being willing to examine our practices, try out new approaches, and create conditions where teachers are leading the charge, our school is no longer defined by failure but rather fueled by hope, pride, and goal-driven aspirations. Last year, our overall reading scores rose from 37 percent proficiency in the previous year, up to 55 percent. We spent the latter part of this school year tweaking what is working to make it the most effective and efficient practice available.

Teachers met regularly to share their successes and their challenges, and students provided valuable feedback in the form of self-assessment. By keeping a close eye on the data and using it to continuously improve our instruction, we worked on maintaining our positive momentum and closing out another successful school year.

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7 Strategies to Turn Around a Struggling School (Opinion)

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Guest post by Sarah Sanchez In the summer of 2017, my Title I elementary school landed on Florida's list of the 300 lowest-performing schools after earning a D year-end grade from the state. Needless to say, we were all devastated by the news, which felt like a punch to the stomach.

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Suspension data vary by local education agency (LEA) and school type. For example, rates at the middle school level are generally higher than at the elementary school level. Therefore, different sets of cut scores are used to determine performance for this measure. LEAs and schools receive the appropriate cut scores and five-by-five colored table based on their school type (elementary, middle, and high) or LEA type (elementary, high, and unified). Another distinguishing feature of this measure is that the goal is reversed. For most of the other measures, the desired outcome is a high number or percent in the current year and an increase from the prior year. For this measure, however, the desired outcome is a low suspension rate, which means a low percent in the current year and a decline from the prior year rate.

Calculations

Performance on this measure is determined by (1) the percent of students in a school or district or student group who were suspended for an aggregate total of one full day anytime during the school year, and (2) whether results (i.e., the suspension rate) increased or declined from the prior year.

Suspension Rate Formula

Number of Students Suspended for an Aggregate Total of One Full Day in Current Year divided by Cumulative Enrollment

Difference from Prior Year Suspension Rate Formula

Current Year Suspension Rate minus Prior Year Suspension Rate

Determining a Performance Level

Based on the current year and prior year data, a performance level (or color) will be given for this measure. The performance level is determined by using a five-by-five colored grid.

Example: Little League Elementary School has the following suspension rate data:

In the current year, its suspension rate was 4.0 percent

From the prior year to the current one, the suspension rate declined by 1.6 percentage points

Using the five-by-five grid for Elementary School Suspension Rate, we see that suspension rate of 4.0 percent is considered "High" (see left column). At the same time, a decline of 1.6 percentage points from the prior year is significant (see top row). On the grid, "High" and "Declined Significantly" intersect at the Yellow performance level.

Questions: Academic Accountability Team | aau@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0863

Last Reviewed: Wednesday, December 30, 2020

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Suspension data vary by local education agency (LEA) and school type. For example, rates at the middle school level are generally higher than at the elementary school level. Therefore, different sets of cut scores are used to determine performance for this measure.

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Evidence-Based Alternatives to Suspension and Expulsion

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Evidence-Based Alternatives to Suspension and Expulsion

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PBIS rewards can help reduce school suspensions

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PBIS rewards can help reduce school suspensions

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Discipline in schools can be a tricky proposition.

It would be great if every student was a model student and infractions were minor. But every student is an individual. Each one comes to school every day with their own goals, dreams, issues, and obstacles. Sometimes poor behavior can be effectively redirected and corrected. Other times, students are grappling with issues that grow larger and more complex with time. This is where one school suspension can become two or more, leading to drop-out or expulsion.

Policies leading to school suspensions can vary widely from state to state, district to district, and school to school. What might be a mid-level infraction in one school could easily fall within a "no tolerance" policy in another. Nearly 4 million students are suspended from school every year, many of them bright but troubled.

Do School Suspensions Work?

Suspended students are often those with shaky grades, to begin with. When a student is suspended from school, they fall further behind in schoolwork, leading to even poorer grades. Students who are too far behind in classwork are more likely to drop out. Those individuals who drop out of the educational process are often more likely to be arrested and/or incarcerated. In fact, more than half of the inmates in federal, state, and local correctional facilities did not complete high school.

School suspensions punish a student for poor behavior. But many such students do not see suspension as punishment. Instead, they view it as a vacation from a place where their best efforts are never recognized. When educators focus on penalties for poor behavior, some students simply give up.

A Powerful Way to Reduce School Suspensions

Considerable research focuses on what is often termed the " school-to-prison pipeline." Suspensions play a critical role in this process. However, there is a powerful way to reduce school suspensions, and every educator can use it.

Researchers at Stanford University recently examined the issue of school suspensions and learned that a simple expression of empathy by teachers can go a long way toward improving behavior. Showing empathy can be as simple as setting your own viewpoint aside and attempting to see things from the student's perspective. This validation can be powerful to the student and can help to dilute the issue at hand. A listening ear is often what students crave most, and having an adult to help them work through issues can empower students in numerous ways.

When teachers spend two minutes per day for ten days with an at-risk student, it builds a relationship based on trust and respect. Students respond to educators they feel are really listening to them.

How PBIS Rewards Can Help

School discipline has traditionally focused on the correction and/or punishment of negative behaviors. However, PBIS flips that traditional model and instead focuses on acknowledging and rewarding positive behaviors. Students respond to this recognition, and positive behavior becomes the norm rather than the exception. The net effect of this is a significant reduction of negative behavior, and an improved overall school climate.

Still, many schools are reluctant to begin PBIS, opting instead to continue using a punitive system for negative behavior. Often the reason is very simple: a PBIS program takes time and manpower to administrate, and these components are at a premium in most schools.

PBIS Rewards can help flip that power struggle by making it simple to administrate a PBIS program in any school. Our technology-based system makes it easy to reward, track, and redeem points. It works at all grade levels and eliminates the need for paper tokens as well as teacher-generated spreadsheets for tracking. Schoolwide use of a PBIS program is also easier when you use PBIS Rewards. The reporting feature allows you to generate a variety of reports that clarify which teachers are using the program with fidelity and which ones may need coaching.

PBIS Rewards brings all the elements of a PBIS program together in one location, accessible to teachers, administrators, parents, and students through the suite of PBIS apps.

While it's true that using a PBIS program requires a shift from a conventional punishment-centric mindset, the benefits are truly transformative. The focus on positive behavior builds student-teacher relationships, reduces referrals, and lowers the number of suspensions. PBIS Rewards can help your school climate change for the better!

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The Most Powerful Way to Reduce School Suspensions

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Discipline in schools can be a tricky proposition. It would be great if every student was a model student and infractions were minor. But every student is an individual. Each one comes to school every day with their own goals, dreams, issues, and obstacles. Sometimes poor behavior can be effectively redirected and corrected.

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"students who face both housing and food insecurity are three times more likely to face discipline in school."

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"students who face both housing and food insecurity are three times more likely to face discipline in school."

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A recent study by the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions Center illustrates the impact of school discipline policies on students experiencing homelessness.

The shows a strong connection between a student's housing status, race, and the rate at which they are disciplined in school. For example, students who face both housing and food insecurity are three times more likely to face discipline in school.

Non-white students who face these insecurities are also twice as likely to face discipline as their white counterparts. This trend exists at each level of the K-12 system, according to the data.

Meanwhile, typical school disciplinary tactics such as detention, suspension, and expulsion are more consequential for homeless students, the study says. Punishments that are not trauma-informed can have "far-reaching negative impacts" such as a loss of services that can "jeopardize parental employment and job searches, as well impact food access, mental health, and academic supports."

"Extensive research has linked both suspensions and expulsions to negative educational and life outcomes for children, including lower rates of proficiency on state math and English Language Arts examinations and increase in the risk of dropping out of school," the study says. "Even 12 years later, suspended youth are less likely to earn a bachelor's degree and are more likely to have been arrested or on probation than their peers who were not suspended."

Accepted Practice

School discipline and exclusion policies have been an accepted practice among educators for decades. But educators and researchers are just beginning to understand how these policies impact homeless students and students of color.

One key factor that has repeatedly emerged in reforming school disciplinary policies is "recognizing and understanding experiences of trauma in children," the study says.

"The fight-or-flight response, which can be easily triggered in children who have experienced trauma, is often misunderstood as a disciplinary issue," it continues. "Approaching reactions driven by trauma in children with harsh disciplinary consequences does not improve the behavior in question and often re-traumatizes the child."

A student experiencing homelessness WXYZ Detroit what it's like growing up with housing and food insecurity, moving around, and always being the "new kid" at school:

"We were moving around, and I would find myself in a new school where I would feel I had to prove myself by fighting and getting in trouble," the student said.

According to School House Connection (SHC), an early education nonprofit, punitive discipline measures like detention, suspension, or expulsion are often ineffective because they do not address the root cause of a student's disciplinary issues. Often, the root cause is trauma-based rather than habitual .

Unfortunately for students suffering from trauma, school disciplinary programs are often designed to rectify bad habits and behaviors, which can "further isolate children who often are in dire need of positive relationships and support," SHC said.

Race and Punishment

Another common theme in school punishment policies that the study noted is that non-white students face higher disciplinary rates than their white counterparts, regardless of their socioeconomic standing.

For example, local researchers in Kent, Washington, that while Black students account for 12.5% of the student body, they make up 28% of suspensions and expulsions. Similar figures were reported in both and .

At the same time, many Black parents are saying their children are suspended for "petty" reasons such as hugging other students or having "uncontrollable" attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a by The Conversation:
"Although school suspensions are meant to decrease violence and help create a safe environment, research shows suspensions are associated with declines in academic achievement, an increase in Black students leaving school districts with a record of being punitive, dropping out of school, and being arrested."
These factors can also increase the likelihood of a student facing homelessness before they graduate from high school. According to the Poverty Solutions Center, nearly 10% of Michigan students had faced homelessness by the time they entered high school. The risk is nearly twice as high for Black students at 15.7%, while 13% of Hispanic and Latinx students face homelessness.

Identification Problems

And while school districts across the country work to develop their disciplinary practices, many are running into problems identifying homeless students.

For example, up to 88% of homeless students in the Detroit school system are not identified by their schools, according to by the University of Michigan. That means these students did not receive federal benefits such as:

Automatic enrollment in school, even if the student doesn't have the proper documents

The right to remain at their home school if the student moves out of the district

Transportation to and from school

Priority in early education programs

Free additional tutoring

The most recent collected by the Department of Education found nearly 1.4 million students across the country identify as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act. However, this is most certainly an undercount, making it much more challenging to address the issue at the scale of need.

How You Can Help

Students experiencing homelessness face various issues, from housing and food instability to dealing with abuse and trauma in many cases. Because of this, school discipline policies must account for a student's housing situation and begin to reflect the lived experiences of trauma in children. Otherwise, research shows these policies will do more harm to students who simply need a little extra help.

That's why we need you to contact your local school leaders and tell them you support reforms to school punishment guidelines. Tell them you support policies that:

Take a student's housing situation into account when prescribing punishment

End the use of long-term expulsions and suspensions unless a case falls under state mandate

Lower barriers to educational attainment

Incorporate training on trauma in education certification and continuing education classes

Join the campaign to end homelessness by supporting the only newsroom focused solely on the topic of homelessness. Our original reporting - posted five to seven days a week - can also be found on Apple News and Google News. Through storytelling, education, news, and advocacy, we are changing the narrative on homelessness.

Invisible People is a nonprofit organization. We rely on the support of friends like you - people who understand that well-written, carefully researched stories can change minds about this issue. And that's what leads to true transformation and policy change. Our writers have their fingers on the pulse of homeless communities. Many are formerly or currently homeless themselves. They are the real experts, passionate about ending homelessness. Your support helps us tell the true story of this crisis and solutions that will end it. Your donations help make history by telling the real story of homelessness to inspire tangible actions to end it.
Your donation, big or small, will help bring real change.

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How School Discipline Impacts Student Homelessness

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A recent study by the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions Center illustrates the impact of school discipline policies on students experiencing homelessness. The shows a strong connection between a student's housing status, race, and the rate at which they are disciplined in school.

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Despite state and federal laws, many schools undercounting students who lack stable housing.

Photo by Iris Schneider for EdSource

Photo by Iris Schneider for EdSource

California schools undercounted their homeless students by at least 37 percent in 2017-18, according to a recent state audit. The state failed to provide those students with transportation, counseling, connections to social services and other benefits they're entitled to under state and federal law.

The audit, conducted by the office of State Auditor Elaine Howle, found that schools and districts reported only 270,000 homeless children, although it's likely that at least 370,000 - roughly 10 percent of all the low-income children in California schools - lack stable housing, the audit.

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, homelessness is defined as children living in cars, motels, shelters, campgrounds or doubled up with another family, including other family members, due to financial hardship. School districts use the same definition.

"It's not shocking," said Tasminda Dhaliwal, a research associate in the USC Rossier School of Education's Center on Education Policy, Equity and Governance and an expert on K-12 student homelessness. "But I'm pleased to see the issue getting some attention. Obviously, we can't solve homelessness, but I think this audit is a step in the right direction."

Schools are required to survey families every year on their living situations and report the number of homeless students to the California Department of Education. Under the Local Control Funding Formula, schools get extra funding for homeless students to provide them a variety of services.

But too many schools are undercounting their homeless students - or not counting them at all, according to the audit. Most of the state's districts and schools identified fewer than 5 percent of their low-income students as homeless, even though the number should be closer to 10 percent, according to the audit.

Auditors visited five districts and one charter school, and found that none of the six had adequately trained staff to identify homeless students and provide them services. Two did not provide the required housing questionnaires to families and five did not post information about services available to homeless families, as required by law.

The districts were Greenfield Union School District in Bakersfield, Vallejo Unified, Gridley Unified in Butte County, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified in Los Angeles County and San Bernardino City Unified. The charter school was Birmingham Community Charter High School in Van Nuys. The report didn't specify why those districts were chosen.

Auditors faulted the California Department of Education for not monitoring schools more closely. The department agreed with most of the findings and promised to improve its outreach to schools, but declined to conduct an analysis of staff training related to homeless children, as the audit recommended, citing budget constraints. The schools and districts also agreed with the findings and said they'd make the recommended improvements.

California has the highest number of homeless children in the country, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, due to a shortage of affordable housing, relatively high rates of poverty and addiction, and natural disasters.

Homeless students tend to struggle in school, studies have shown. They're more likely to drop out, be suspended and be chronically absent, according to the National Center for Homeless Education. And not finishing high school is the top risk factor for continued homelessness.

"That's why this is so important that schools do a better job identifying and serving homeless students," said Barbara Duffield, executive director of Schoolhouse Connection, a nonprofit that studies homelessness and education.

"For a lot of kids, it's the difference between graduating and not graduating, between continuing to be homeless and getting out of homelessness," she said. "And for a state like California, which is exploding at the seams, schools need to be much more proactive."

Schools should train everyone who comes in contact with children - including coaches, attendance clerks, bus drivers, cafeteria staff as well as teachers - to be alert to possible signs of homelessness, such as frequent hunger, tiredness, stress or tardiness, she said.

Efforts to find homeless children shouldn't stop at the campus boundary, she said. Schools should post information about homeless rights and services at places homeless families are likely to be: the laundromat, libraries, convenience stores, shelters and motels, in addition to the front desk at the school.

But the most important factor is trust, Dhaliwal said. Some families are reluctant to report their housing status because of the social stigma, fear of deportation or fear of their children being put into foster care or otherwise reported to Child Protective Services.

"Given the national political context," that's not an unreasonable fear, Dhaliwal said, noting that the Trump administration has threatened to deport immigrants who seek social services, even if they're in the U.S. legally.

"That's why trust is so important," she said. "Families need to know that school is a safe place, somewhere they can turn in times of crisis or need. Schools need to create a welcoming environment. That seems like a small task but it can't be overstated how much positive impact that can have."
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Schools fail to identify thousands of homeless children, state audit finds

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Photo by Iris Schneider for EdSource Photo by Iris Schneider for EdSource California schools undercounted their homeless students by at least 37 percent in 2017-18, according to a recent state audit. The state failed to provide those students with transportation, counseling, connections to social services and other benefits they're entitled to under state and federal law.

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Homeless students are suspended at a higher rate.

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Homeless students are suspended at a higher rate.

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Is there more behind the young boy sleeping in class?  Is he really being defiant, or has he found a safe place to rest?

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Is there more behind the young boy sleeping in class?  Is he really being defiant, or has he found a safe place to rest?

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Are school suspensions really serving a purpose?

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Are school suspensions really serving a purpose?

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“Schools that want to reduce their expulsions are looking at these trauma-informed methods. … They seem to be more effective in changing students’ behavior.”

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“Schools that want to reduce their expulsions are looking at these trauma-informed methods. … They seem to be more effective in changing students’ behavior.”

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Having racked up multiple up absences and missed assignments, a high school sophomore showed up in his English class last year, hopeful for another chance. "Where have you been?" his teacher asked. "You can't pass this class if you don't show up." Without warning, the young man exploded.

"Shut the f- up," the 16-year-old shouted. "You think you're better than me? Who the f- do you think you are?" He stormed out of the room.

As the screaming and the swearing escalated in the hall, the Metropolitan Business Academy principal, Judith Puglisi, was called. She approached the student. "What do you need?" she asked in an almost-whisper. He kept yelling and pacing, and Puglisi walked with him, she recalled.

After she quietly repeated her question close to a dozen times, he turned to her and said, "I need to come to your office." There, Puglisi and the assistant principal listened to him shout until he began to cry, telling them that his stepfather had beaten him since he was 7. "I am sick of people calling me a loser," he said.

The student was not suspended, which would be normal protocol at some schools for cursing at a teacher. Instead, he saw a drama therapist trained in trauma at Metropolitan the next day. The day after that, he met with the teacher, apologized and said he knew he had overreacted. He returned to the class immediately after that meeting.

"If you run a school that's based on punishment and compliance, eventually you're going to push kids out." - Judith Puglisi, principal of Metropolitan Business Academy

"Some would say that punishment will extinguish bad behavior, but I would say the opposite," said Puglisi, who recounted the incident under the condition that the student's name be withheld for his protection.
Metropolitan is among a small but growing number of schools nationally that are turning the traditional approach to discipline on its head. Instead of trying to get students to leave their personal troubles at the door, these schools help kids cope with what often is a history of trauma. The idea is to catch problems before they become disciplinary issues resulting in suspensions or expulsions.

Metropolitan and a dozen other schools in Connecticut work with Animated Learning by Integrating and Validating Experience (ALIVE), a trauma response program that provides drama therapists to work with teachers to identify trauma, prevent problems from escalating and respond effectively when students do act out. The therapists - who hold master's degrees with training in psychology and theater - offer one-on-one therapy and use drama and role playing in a mandatory class for freshmen.

A growing body of research shows that nearly half of all children in the United States have experienced a traumatic event tied to poverty or family dysfunction, and repeated exposure to high stress can literally rewire the brain. This calls into question the so-called "zero-tolerance" school discipline systems that many states have adopted in the past decade in response to pressure to improve graduation rates and test scores. "If you run a school that's based on punishment and compliance, eventually you're going to push kids out," Puglisi said. "Your test scores might even go up, if you push the right kids out."
Related: Expelled in preschool
A spike in expulsions and suspensions has disproportionately affected black and Latino students, especially in poor communities. Wisconsin, for example, suspended 34 percent of its black students during the 2011-2012 school year, according to a national study; Florida suspended 37 percent of those with learning disabilities. The U.S. Department of Education issued new guidelines last year in an effort to bring down the high rates of students losing time in school, which has been linked to higher drop-out rates. A study released in January showed that high suspension rates hurt academic achievement for everyone, even classmates who have not been suspended. Researchers believe a punitive environment causes anxiety and poor relationships.

"Pretty much every state in the country is re-examining the zero-tolerance and harsh disciplinary policies," said Nina Salomon, senior policy analyst at the Council of State Governments Justice Center. "Schools that want to reduce their expulsions are looking at these trauma-informed methods. ... They seem to be more effective in changing students' behavior."

But some researchers and advocates caution that the pendulum could swing too far. "We so often swing from one extreme to another in education policy, and I worry that's what's happening here," said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education think tank. "Zero tolerance was mindless, but it's also mindless to take away discipline tools from teachers. Tools like suspensions and expulsions are part of that."

Metropolitan is a public magnet school that draws about two-thirds of its 390 students from New Haven and the rest from surrounding towns. The student body is about 40 percent black, 35 percent Latino and 23 percent white, and 57 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunches. The school began its new approach to discipline when Puglisi arrived as principal in 2010.

She came in with a background as a longtime special education teacher who had run a program to prepare ninth- and 10th-graders to enter a large, comprehensive high school in New Haven. "There were a lot of at-risk children. We didn't have any support staff, and there were a lot of discipline issues," recalled Puglisi, a 57-year-old Queens, New York, native and grandmother of two whose kinetic energy provides a presence larger than her trim 5-foot-2 stature. "Every time I interviewed a child, nine times out of 10 they would end up in tears, divulging very personal information that made me think they needed a lot of help."

In 2005, the Post Traumatic Stress Center began offering an after-school program for the most troubled students. Puglisi saw behavior problems and suspensions among those students drop.

The after-school program grew into an effort to train all staff in a trauma-sensitive approach and develop a mandatory academic course for freshmen to address personal hardships. Puglisi brought those programs with her to Metropolitan.

The year she arrived, Metropolitan had just moved into a gorgeous new building and enrollment jumped to 295 from 167. In a school survey, close to half the students said teachers didn't have control of their classrooms, and nearly three-quarters of teachers said they didn't get the help they needed to handle student discipline problems. Tenth-grade test scores had dropped, putting the school near the bottom of the pack in New Haven: Only 10 percent of students met reading goals; only 7 percent met math goals.

Metropolitan's team now includes a school social worker, six social work interns and three part-time drama therapists from the ALIVE program. The social worker's salary is included in the school budget, and the therapists' work is funded this year with $30,000 from the New Haven Trauma Coalition, a public-private partnership launched in response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

With that small investment, the impact has been profound. Over the past three years, the number of suspensions at Metropolitan has dropped by two-thirds. It now has a suspension rate of 3 percent. Incidents of physical fights in school have also plummeted, from 40 in 2010 to less than five last year. The graduation rate rose to 90 percent in 2014 from 82 percent in 2012, and college enrollment rose to 70 percent in 2012 from 48 percent in 2010.

Garth Harries, superintendent of New Haven's 21,500-student school district, said the city is exploring how to fund more programs like Metropolitan's.
Related: At Newark school striving for turnaround, a 12-year-old's fragile success
Metropolitan's required course for ninth-graders addresses some of the students' most potent problems, from homelessness to gun violence to drug addiction. By bringing experiences into the open and allowing all the teens to hear what others have been through, the aim is to reduce bullying and enable adults to offer support.

"It's a nonjudgment zone," said Tia Stevens, an outgoing 14-year-old who mixes prodding and compassion to encourage her peers to speak up in class.

In one freshman class on a snowy March afternoon, teacher Nataliya Braginsky asked students to list community problems. Responses included snitching, abuse, money, violence and drugs.

A boy raised his hand and asked if the teacher knew of a drug called K2. Braginsky said she didn't and tried to move on with the conversation, but the ninth-grader interrupted several times, joking about how he used and sold it. Braginsky finally brought the discussion to a halt.

"Are you using K2?" she asked, smiling. "Are you using drugs?"

"You gonna call the cops on me?" the student shot back.

"No, I don't think I'd call the cops on you," said Braginsky, a slender 29-year-old with cropped hair and a nose ring.

"You don't care?" asked the student, his voice rising.

Braginsky's tone turned serious. "No, I care a lot about whether you use drugs. I just don't think I'd call the cops on you."

The class quickly moved into a role play between a drug dealer and a teenager who had gotten kicked out of his house - played by the student who had raised the K2 question. Classmates tried to intervene and help the homeless student stay away from the dealer. When he rejected every offer, the class reconvened to discuss what to do when you can't help a friend and what some other options might have been. A drama therapist who was co-teaching the class followed up with the boy after class. The staff determined he wasn't using drugs but was still coping with the violent death of his older brother a few years ago.
Related: The painful backlash against 'no excuses' school discipline
This nontraditional approach to discipline has garnered attention from educators nationwide. The Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative at Massachusetts Advocates for Children has received emails from 250 schools around the country requesting help in the past year. Susan P. Cole, the initiative's senior project director, said schools won't get the results they want if they just reduce suspensions and expulsions. They must learn how to create a place where students feel safe enough to learn.

The Metropolitan student who exploded at his English teacher is on track to graduate next year. He still sometimes struggles to stay motivated and complete his work. But he continues to see the school-based therapist as needed, and he hasn't had any more outbursts or fights. He and his English teacher became close after the incident. Today, when things get tough in his life, the teenager turns to the adult who welcomed him back into class.
This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read more about high school reform. PBS NewsHour education coverage is part of American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen, a public media initiative made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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A radical approach to discipline that starts with listening to students

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Having racked up multiple up absences and missed assignments, a high school sophomore showed up in his English class last year, hopeful for another chance. "Where have you been?" his teacher asked. "You can't pass this class if you don't show up." Without warning, the young man exploded.

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Recognizing Trauma: Why school discipline reform needs to consider student homelessness

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Recognizing Trauma: Why school discipline reform needs to consider student homelessness

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Download PDF of the full policy brief
By Jennifer Erb-Downward and Michael Blakeslee

Introduction

Michigan thrives when its children thrive. While policymakers, educators, and families all know this to be true, widespread use of suspension by the state's public schools is leaving lasting scars on students. Compared to other states, Michigan schools have some of the highest suspension rates in the country. Two school districts rank among the top 10 nationally for suspensions among elementary schoolchildren and the state's out-of-school suspension rate in school year 2015-16 was two percentage points higher than the national average (7% vs. 5%, respectively). Extensive research has linked both suspensions and expulsions to negative educational and life outcomes for children, including lower rates of proficiency on state math and English Language Arts examinations and increase in the risk of dropping out of school. Even 12 years later, suspended youth are less likely to earn a bachelor's degree and are more likely to have been arrested or on probation than their peers who were not suspended. By comparison, research shows that positive school culture and the implementation of restorative justice and trauma-informed approaches reduce both in-school discipline referrals and out-of-school suspensions. In a study of 18 school districts across multiple geographies, districts that implemented restorative practice experienced an 8% decrease in middle school out-of-school suspensions, as well as a 43% drop in the number of Black youth referred to the juvenile justice system for school offenses. Similarly, research has highlighted the importance of school culture in efforts to reduce disciplinary actions.

One key finding that repeatedly emerges in the research on how to improve school disciplinary practices is the importance of recognizing and understanding experiences of trauma in children. The fight-or-flight response, which can be easily triggered in children who have experienced trauma, is often misunderstood as a disciplinary issue. Approaching reactions driven by trauma in children with harsh disciplinary consequences does not improve the behavior in question and often re-traumatizes the child. One cause of trauma that is increasingly common among children is homelessness. In Michigan, roughly 1 in 10 students (9.5%) have experienced homelessness by the time they graduate or leave high school. This risk is even greater for Black and Hispanic students, with 15.7% and 13.6%, respectively, experiencing homelessness at some point during their K-12 years. Efforts to improve behavioral interventions in school are benefited by identifying the students who are most at risk of experiencing disciplinary actions. As the state looks to identify ways to reduce unnecessary disciplinary action and incorporate practices of restorative justice, it is important to understand factors that may contribute to inappropriate use of suspension and expulsion. One potential factor that has not yet been explored in Michigan is the relationship between experiencing homelessness and the likelihood of facing disciplinary action.

This brief uses data from the Michigan Department of Education to explore suspension and expulsion rates among students who have experienced homelessness compared to their housed peers. The analysis finds both currently and formerly homeless students face much higher rates of disciplinary action. Policy recommendations for disciplinary practices that meet the developmental needs of children and teachers and promote thriving educational environments draw on models implemented in other states.

Key Findings

Greater economic and housing instability is associated with higher rates of disciplinary action. Housed students who were economically disadvantaged were suspended at rates close to three times those of their housed peers who were not economically disadvantaged (11% vs. 4%, respectively). Homeless students faced even higher rates of disciplinary action at 16%.

The association between homelessness and higher rates of disciplinary action persisted even after stable housing was found. Michigan students who were currently housed but had experienced homelessness at any point in the last eight years were disciplined at rates even higher than their currently homeless peers (18% vs. 16%, respectively).

A strong intersection exists between race, economic security, and housing stability when it comes to disciplinary action rates for Michigan's students. While across all races and ethnicities the same pattern persists, with formerly homeless students facing the highest rates of suspension and expulsion, Black students are disproportionately impacted. The U.S. has a long history of criminalizing Black people, and the pattern extends to the inequitable application of school discipline policies. Among students who were formerly homeless, Black students faced disciplinary action at close to four times the rate of their Asian formerly homeless peers (27% vs. 7%).

Even very young elementary students who experienced homelessness faced high rates of suspension. In SY 2017-18, 9% of ever-homeless children in second grade and under were suspended or expelled. This disciplinary action rate is on par with high school students who had never experienced homelessness (8%).

Policy Recommendations

A child's experience of homelessness should be added as an eighth factor that all schools must consider prior to the removal of any student from school. Presently, schools are required to consider seven factors prior to any school removal, but the experience of homelessness is not yet one of those factors. Data show that both currently and formerly homeless students in Michigan face a significantly higher risk than their always-housed peers of being suspended or expelled. These disciplinary actions also have a greater potential to have far-reaching negative impacts on the lives of students who have experienced homelessness. Removals with no ongoing services or alternative placement can jeopardize parental employment and job searches, as well impact food access, mental health, and academic supports. Adding homelessness as an eighth factor of consideration would also serve to provide a structure through which McKinney-Vento liaisons could be involved prior to any removal from school. Liaisons may already know the family and, if not, they can assess barriers and needs, as well as connect students to internal school resources and cross-agency supports. The liaison may be able to assist in exploring alternatives to removal that address the trauma underlying a student's behavior.

End the use of long-term suspensions and expulsions, as well as cumulative suspensions or removals exceeding 10 days, in elementary school (PK-fifth grade), except in extreme cases that fall under the state mandate. Research on child development and trauma suggest that in the vast majority of cases, harsh disciplinary practices for young children lead to more harm than good, often perpetuating the negative behavior and setting the stage for future disciplinary issues. Ending the use of suspensions and expulsions for young children would encourage schools to identify developmentally appropriate alternatives that help students to more effectively process and manage strong emotions.

Raise awareness in schools about supports available from Michigan's Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Technical Assistance Center (MiMTSS TA Center). In order to address behavioral issues without the use of suspensions or expulsions, teachers and schools may need additional training and resources. MiMTSS TA Center can provide schools with technical assistance including training on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), which integrates with social-emotional and mental health supports to reduce student suspension and expulsion and improve academic and behavioral outcomes for students.

Ensure schools and districts do not have attendance, homework, and credit-earning polices that create barriers to full school engagement for students experiencing homelessness. Challenges caused by homelessness may prevent students from being able to submit assignments when they are due or to meet policies that exist around attendance. Policies that result in suspensions may add to the disproportionate numbers identified in this report. Schools and districts should review and modify policies that create additional barriers to full school engagement for students experiencing homelessness. District policies around credit earning options could leverage the flexibility inherent in the Michigan Merit Curriculum legislation, including the use of personal curriculum, to help teachers, schools, and districts meet homeless students' needs. Improvements in these areas would not only help homeless students succeed but would also prevent classroom tensions and stress that may lead to behavioral issues.

Leverage American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funding to train specific individuals for emergencies or high-conflict interactions to provide de-escalation in schools. Given the complexity of homeless-induced trauma, it is critical to have trained individuals onsite to help remedy dire situations. Chicago has introduced Social-Emotional Learning Specialists, who assist school staff in behavior management and social-emotional development, regularly check suspension
data in schools, and follow up if data are concerning. This would support and expand upon the state's existing work on social emotional learning.

Expand programs and funding that increase mindfulness and mental health supports and infrastructure in schools, and ensure students who have experienced homelessness are able to participate in program activities. Ensuring that
students who have experienced homelessness have access to mindfulness and other mental health supports is of particular importance because homelessness is linked to higher rates of depression and anxiety, both of which have been associated with an increased risk of disciplinary action.

Incorporate training on school discipline, trauma, and homelessness into the credentialing process for homeless liaisons and continuing education credentials for school administrators. Presently, a lack of awareness about homelessness and its mental
health impacts is a barrier to ensuring students who have experienced homeless are connected to appropriate supports. Providing training to both frontline liaisons and school administrators would promote the development of a positive school culture and climate that embraces mental health and socialmotional learning as a key part of education.
Download PDF of the full policy brief

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" Recognizing Trauma: Why school discipline reform needs to consider student homelessness

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Download PDF of the full policy brief By Jennifer Erb-Downward and Michael Blakeslee Introduction Michigan thrives when its children thrive. While policymakers, educators, and families all know this to be true, widespread use of suspension by the state's public schools is leaving lasting scars on students.