School policies must shift from suspend-first mindset
Before they know the ABCs or how to tie their own shoes, thousands of 4-year-olds in Texas are suspended from school each year, forced out of the classroom and denied the opportunity to learn.
A report issued this month by the nonprofit Texas Appleseed brought the issue into focus: More than 88,000 out-of-school suspensions were issued to prekindergarten and elementary school students in Texas in the 2013-14 school year alone.
Recently, the Houston Independent School District’s board of education voted on a proposed rule change that would have ended suspensions for children in second grade and younger, except as required by law, and limited removals for third- through fifth-graders. Teachers would still have the ability under state law to remove a student from the classroom for repeated or seriously disruptive behaviors. HISD’s proposal also provided funds and training for educators in proven, alternative discipline methods that improve classroom safety and educational opportunities for all students.
A vote in favor of the proposal would have solidified HISD’s position as a leader in positive, forward-thinking education and school safety policies.
Unfortunately, the school board rejected the full proposal and instead supported a weak- ened version that effectively maintains the status quo for how our schools approach suspending our youngest children.
Unwarranted suspensions and other removals from school hurt students. When children, particularly young children, are arbitrarily suspended from school, they miss important learning and socializing time with their teachers and peers, they learn that the way to handle conflict is to push it away and ignore it, and they begin to believe they are bad children who do not deserve help. They realize that whenever they want a day off of school, they simply act out until they get sent home. The consequence can therefore reinforce the bad behavior the school is actually trying to prevent.
Suspensions also don’t
improve classroom outcomes for the rest of the students. An American Psychological Association task force points out that research shows a “negative relationship between the use of school suspension … and school-wide academic achievement, even when controlling for demographics such as socioeconomic status.”
Out-of-school suspensions often have the greatest impact on Texas’ working families. When a young child is sent home, someone must be there to watch him or her. Parents are forced to take time off of work and put their jobs in jeopardy. Stories of family members losing their jobs because a young student is suspended are regrettably not that rare.
If studies indicated that suspending our youngest students resulted in improved outcomes, it would make sense to continue with the status quo. But research shows the opposite, as classroom removals for young children can lead to even more significant problems down the road. Studies show that early removals increase the likelihood of suspensions in higher grades, which then increase the odds of being held back a grade, dropping out of school altogether and entering the juvenile justice system.
What’s more, Texas Appleseed’s research shows classroom removals are issued disproportionately to certain groups of students. Black children, boys, and students who receive special education services are punished at disproportionately higher rates compared to their peers, but those rates are most alarming for black students. Black children make up 26 percent of students in HISD but represent 67 percent of Pre-K out-of-school suspensions. Seventy percent of the pre-K through second graders suspended in HISD are black boys.
Fortunately, there are proven, evidence-based alternatives to a system over-reliant on out-of-school suspensions. HISD’s proposal includes a robust, tiered system of behavioral interventions that can be used as alter- natives to classroom removals. A staff of 25 trainers and 60 school psychologists would be trained in research-based methodologies, which they would then pass along to teachers, staff and administrators at all HISD elementary schools. Behavioral interventionists would be available to provide further assis- tance and referrals to external agencies to any campuses that request them.
Sometimes opportunities to make sweeping change can seem rare. But this instance provides our community a unique chance to adapt our schools’ discipline policies in a way that will help the youngest students stay in the classroom. I remain hopeful that at the upcoming December meeting the HISD school board will support a ban on out-of-school suspensions for the district’s youngest children.