Submitted by Leslie (not verified) on February 4, 2008 - 17:12.
I have done a considerable amount of research on in-school vs out-of-school suspension policies around the United States. My school district (in Alaska) enacted an In-school suspension (ISS) program approx 3 weeks ago as an alternative to suspending students outside school.
The rationale is that out-of-school suspensions basically "reward" students for minor infractions such as skipping class or being tardy too many times. They sleep in, watch Jerry Springer, call their friends to hang out or cause mischief in the community while parents are at work. In-school suspension keeps them in school (isolated from peers), enables them to continue with class assignments w/o falling behind academically and "gets their attention!" This seems to be somewhat effective for good kids with a few minor disciplinary issues.
However, 37 years of research by the Northwest Regional Educational Labratory and other entities has shown that without a "counseling or behavior modification" component, there is no indication that shows an improvement in individual student behaviors over the long term. Students need to be TAUGHT social & behavioral skills to avoid repeating the problem behaviors that got them in trouble to begin with; otherwise ISS programs become a "dumping ground or holding tank" for students that staff don't want to deal with. In a perfect world, these skills would be taught at home by parents. The reality is a large majority of these students have never been taught the necessary appropriate behavioral & social skills. ISS is the perfect opportunity & place to teach these particular students that may not have the option to learn these skills anywhere else.
Personally, I would rather see a QUALITY, EFFECTIVE ISS program than continue to see students recieve out-of-school suspensions for minor infractions. You know, "The punishment should fit the crime" theory. Any situation that is a safety issue for students or staff should be dealt with by all legal means available...today's youth need to know that there ARE consequences for their actions and they ALWAYS have a choice on how to appropriately or inappropriately deal with a conflict or situation they are faced with.
I have worked in the alternative high schools of my district for the past 10 years. I am now in a "traditional" high school implementing this ISS program.
Every day I remind myself of a phrase spoken by Thomas Sergiovanni - "The children we teach will not care how much we know until they know how much we care."
This was ABSOLUTELY true in the alternative schools and our students let us know! It is much harder to make those connections with kids in the larger, traditional high schools, but I firmly believe these words are as important to student success as any program or curriculum we could implement!
Suspensions - Are they effective?
Submitted by Leslie (not verified) on February 4, 2008 - 17:12.
I have done a considerable amount of research on in-school vs out-of-school suspension policies around the United States. My school district (in Alaska) enacted an In-school suspension (ISS) program approx 3 weeks ago as an alternative to suspending students outside school.
The rationale is that out-of-school suspensions basically "reward" students for minor infractions such as skipping class or being tardy too many times. They sleep in, watch Jerry Springer, call their friends to hang out or cause mischief in the community while parents are at work. In-school suspension keeps them in school (isolated from peers), enables them to continue with class assignments w/o falling behind academically and "gets their attention!" This seems to be somewhat effective for good kids with a few minor disciplinary issues.
However, 37 years of research by the Northwest Regional Educational Labratory and other entities has shown that without a "counseling or behavior modification" component, there is no indication that shows an improvement in individual student behaviors over the long term. Students need to be TAUGHT social & behavioral skills to avoid repeating the problem behaviors that got them in trouble to begin with; otherwise ISS programs become a "dumping ground or holding tank" for students that staff don't want to deal with. In a perfect world, these skills would be taught at home by parents. The reality is a large majority of these students have never been taught the necessary appropriate behavioral & social skills. ISS is the perfect opportunity & place to teach these particular students that may not have the option to learn these skills anywhere else.
Personally, I would rather see a QUALITY, EFFECTIVE ISS program than continue to see students recieve out-of-school suspensions for minor infractions. You know, "The punishment should fit the crime" theory. Any situation that is a safety issue for students or staff should be dealt with by all legal means available...today's youth need to know that there ARE consequences for their actions and they ALWAYS have a choice on how to appropriately or inappropriately deal with a conflict or situation they are faced with.
I have worked in the alternative high schools of my district for the past 10 years. I am now in a "traditional" high school implementing this ISS program.
Every day I remind myself of a phrase spoken by Thomas Sergiovanni - "The children we teach will not care how much we know until they know how much we care."
This was ABSOLUTELY true in the alternative schools and our students let us know! It is much harder to make those connections with kids in the larger, traditional high schools, but I firmly believe these words are as important to student success as any program or curriculum we could implement!