Alternatives to Suspension The Need for Policies and

Alternatives to Suspension: The Need for Policies and Practices That Promote Student Engagement Roxana Marachi, Ph. D Associate Professor of Education San José State University Yvette Irving Director III, Alternative Education Santa Clara County Office of Education Presentation on behalf of Kids in Common Children’s Agenda Vision Council Committee for Addressing Disproportionality and School Engagement & Suspension Alternatives Project (SESAP) Office of the Public Defender, Probation Department, District Attorney’s Office, & SJSU November 18 th, 2013

Education and Access • According to UCLA’s The Civil Rights Project, more than 400, 000 students were suspended in the state of California representing more than 750, 000 total suspensions for SY 2009 -2010. • Exclusionary school discipline policies and practices have a disproportionate impact on students of color, poor students, and students with disabilities (Gonsoulin, Zablocki, & Leone, 2012; Osher et al. , 2012) • More than 40 percent of suspensions in California are for "willful defiance. ”

Why is this an issue? When children are not in school, they are at higher risk of entering the juvenile justice system. “Studies show that one suspension triples the likelihood of a juvenile justice contact within that year. ” California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye – Students who were suspended or expelled were at a higher risk of repeating a grade, coming in contact with the juvenile justice system and dropping out of school. – Children with juvenile court involvement are as much as four times more likely to drop out of school.

Exclusionary practices feed the “School - To – Prison” Pipeline Infographic from: http: //ednotesonline. blogspot. com/2012/11/support-teachers-unite-growing-fairness. html

What do our local data reveal? …

Santa Clara County Enrollment by Ethnicity (2012) Hispanic 38% White 23% Asian 27% African American 3% Other 9% Not Reported >1%

Suspensions in Relation to Enrollment (2012 -2013) 67 70 60 50 38 40 27 23 30 % of students enrolled % of total suspensions 14 20 6 10 3 6 0 Hispanic White Asian African American

Suspensions in Relation to Enrollment (2012 -2013) 72 80 70 60 50 41 % of students enrolled 40 30 21 20 9 10 0 Soc. Ec. Dis Sp Ed % of students suspended

Implications for Santa Clara County (Instruction) 17, 591 suspensions in 2012 The equivalent of 195 years (based on a 180 day 35, 182 days outside the primary classroom school year) of lost instruction

Implications for Santa Clara County (Revenue) 26, 386. 5 hours spent processing suspensions $1, 583, 190 In administrative costs 17591 suspensions in Santa Clara County in 2012 $60. 00 per hour (average hourly cost of an Assistant Principal) 1. 5 administrative hours spent on each suspension

Implications for Santa Clara County (Revenue) 17, 591 suspensions @ 2 days each $2, 990, 470 in total annual costs and losses due to suspensions in Santa Clara County $1, 407, 280. 00 in lost ADA $40. 00 per ADA lost

Implications for Youth (Immeasurable) http: //youtu. be/T 4 ZZ 6 N-Cm. Ck? t=1 m 2 s

Evidence-Informed Solutions • Enhancing School Climate, strengthening connections with families/communities • School-wide PBIS and Social-Emotional Learning Support • Redirection of funding – less law enforcement, more social workers and mental health support • Restorative Justice approaches

Policies & Practices that contribute to “push-out”: High-Stakes Testing & Police in Schools

“Psychology of Success vs. Psychology of Failure” (Shindler, 2012) PRACTICES THAT PROMOTE PSYCHOLOGY OF SUCCESS: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Cause & Effect and clarity Process focus (esp. with assessment) Student collective identity and sense of belonging Meaningful work Student responsible, choice, & voice Emotional safety

“Psychology of Success vs. Psychology of Failure” (Shindler, 2012) PRACTICES THAT PROMOTE PSYCHOLOGY OF FAILURE: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Comparison and excessive competition Public shaming Assessment as form of “gotcha” Punishments as consequences Meaningless work Emphasis on end products Colored cards, public displays of rankings Bribes, extrinsic rewards http: //sco. lt/72 Rg 6 T

Dignity in Schools • Invest in Education, Not Incarceration - Push Back Against School Pushout http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Ql. Fny. CDrn. No#t=11 • Recent Report: Black, Brown and Over-Policed in L. A. Schools http: //www. thestrategycenter. org/report/black-brown-andover-policed-la-schools

Growing Fairness http: //youtu. be/T 4 ZZ 6 N-Cm. Ck? t=1 m 2 s

Mistakes. Kids. Make. org Video: http: //youtu. be/Y 45 Rismal. Uw

Santa Clara County Organizations/Committees Addressing Disproportionality • SCC Office of the Public Defender – Juvenile Justice Systems Collaborative Prevention & Programs Workgroup SCC Probation Department District Attorney’s Office – 95122 Initiative SJSU – Research Foundation & Lurie College of Education Kids in Common Children’s Agenda Vision Council San Jose Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force Interagency Collaborative (PRNS & SJPD) • Santa Clara County Office of Education • Santa Clara County School Linked Services • • • Mental Health Department and School District Collaborations

Resources and Reports • • ACLU – Beyond Zero Tolerance (2013): http: //www. aclupa. org/our-work/current-campaigns/beyond-zero-tolerance/ Data on Suspensions from California Department of Education website - http: //www. cde. ca. gov/ • High Stakes Testing and School Pushout (Advancement Project)http: //b. 3 cdn. net/advancement/50071 a 439 cfacbbc 8 e_suxm 6 caqe. pdf • • Hoag, (2012). 40% of Suspensions are for “Defiance. ” http: //www. dailynews. com/20120407/40 -of-school-suspensions-are-for- defiance • Osher, Bear, Sprague, & Doyle, (2012). How Can We Improve School Discipline? Educational Researcher http: //www. sccgov. org/sites/pdo/ppw/SESAP/Documents/how_can_we_improve_school_discipline. pdf Shindler, Jones, Williams, Taylor, & Cadenas (2012). Inciting Something Better than “Best Practice: ” Taking a Closer Look at the Relationships among Classroom Management Practice, School Climate and Student Achievement. Presented at American Educational Research Association and available at: http: //www. calstatela. edu/faculty/jshindl/cm/ASSC%20 -%20 Inciting%20 something%20 better%20%20 Class%20 Mgmt%20 and%20 Stdnt%20 Achvt%20 Connect%20 v 9. pdf • Suspended Education in CA – The Civil Rights Project of UCLA April 10, 2012 http: //sco. lt/90 bo. H 3 • Understanding School Discipline In California: Perceptions and Practice – Ed. Source September 10, 2012 http: //www. edsource. org/assets/files/publications/Edsource_Student_Discipline_Survey_Sept_2012. pdf • United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights Data Collection: Revealing New Truths About Our Nation’s Schools – March 2012 http: //www 2. ed. gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdc-2012 -data-summary. pdf

Documentaries and additional resources • Education Under Arrest: PBS Documentary http: //www. pbs. org/wnet/tavissmiley/tsr/education-underarrest/ • Growing Fairness Documentary and Resources: http: //www. teachersunite. net/growingfairness • Fix School Discipline Now (Upcoming webinars/Resources on Addressing Disproportionality) http: //www. fixschooldiscipline. org/ Dignity in Schools: www. dignityinschools. org

For more information: • All the above may be found on this one link – a resource page that includes videos and articles on issues that impact school safety and student engagement: Safe Schools & Communities: http: //bit. ly/safe_schools_resources Questions? Please email me at: roxana. marachi@sjsu. edu