Dear Ms. Stepzinski,
I read today's Times-Union article (http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-01-29/story/discipline-duvals-public-schools-are-students-really-behaving-better) about discipline in Duval County's public schools and I believe that you have overlooked an important component or two that I would have gladly shared with you.
The difference between a merited and frivolous disciplinary referral is whether the teacher has made a good faith effort to contact the parent or guardian. The discipline committee and the shared governance committee at my school have specifically asked that parents be included when the teacher is taking disciplinary action regarding a student's behavior. This means that the teacher should use at least three interventions (Including at least one parent contact) to make a good faith effort at correcting the child's behavior before going up the chain of command - excluding, of course, egregious violations of the Code of Conduct that warrant immediate action (Class II, III violations, etc.). I agree that teachers cannot and should not simply send a student to the dean's office for less than valid reasons or for reasons that fail to include reasonable interventions.
What are these interventions? The first intervention is a verbal warning that the teacher uses to redirect the student to comply with the Code of Conduct. The second intervention may be for the teacher to send the student to time out in another classroom. The third intervention may be to either call the student's parent/guardian or to send a note home. These are just examples, but a teacher's documenting these previous interventions helps to identify a pattern of behavior that justifies writing the disciplinary referral. As a matter of fact, teachers at my school are advised to document the previous interventions on the disciplinary referral in order for it to be processed. These documented interventions are useful as they give the student a chance to improve his/her behavior and it communicates to the parent/guardian that the teacher is attempting to correct student behavior that involves constructive communication with the family. It can be overwhelming for all involved for a teacher to write a disciplinary referral on the spot because it gives the administration the impression that the teacher has no other classroom management tools and gives the parents the impression that the teacher is not even trying to help the student change his/her behavior.
That said, it is true that there is pressure on administrators and teachers to limit the number of disciplinary referrals. Everything from the school's overall grade to the principal's evaluation are riding on how a school handles those students who are not abiding by the Code of Conduct. In my opinion, this is a game of smoke and mirrors that ultimately harms those students who truly want to learn and see that precious class time is being wasted on having to deal with students who have little to no interest in their own education. Is it any wonder that so many parents are choosing to send their children to private or charter schools? They should not have to send their children to a school where they are not secure in knowing that their child's education will not be interfered with by those students who fervently reject education.
As for the 'disgruntled' former teachers, what does the superintendent expect? I do not know of any teachers who are currently employed who would want to go on the record and make comments about the relatively lax discipline in their schools. Our profession is very political and I do not think that anyone wants to open themselves to retaliation from either downtown or their own principals for speaking truth to power. Hence, it is easy to dismiss critics as being bitter ex-employees with an ax to grind. It is an excellent red herring that enables us to ignore their grievances because they are obviously out to embarrass the superintendent - right?
Well, I am not a former employee as I am still teaching school and I believe that our teachers do deserve more support from downtown and our administrators. Studies show that the average teacher spends ten percent of class time on having to deal with students who fail or refuse to comply with the Code of Conduct. This amounts to a total of 18 days wasted on handling such issues. If we are to improve our school grades, we need to work to improve the educational situation without having to paper over our disciplinary deficiencies for the sake of keeping up appearances.
Furthermore, when we handle serious behavior issues with kid gloves, we are doing no real service to these students. They end up with a sense of entitlement that allows them to feel that they can flout authority in the 'real world.' The criminal justice system is already clogged up with criminals who believe that they are above the law. Wait until this generation of children grows up and decides to break the law because they expect leniency that absolves them from facing any consequences.
I am fairly passionate about this issue because I have seen excellent teachers leave the profession because they are rightfully 'disgruntled' by how our school district and our administrators are mishandling this issue. They, while no longer with the system, deserve to be heard as they and many currently employed teachers deserve to have a say in making our school system better.
v/r,
//signed//
John Louis Meeks, Jr.
Educator
Excellent! Thanks to John Meeks for adding this important information to the conversation.
ReplyDeleteThat is what nearly drove me away from teaching during my 2nd year. The school had a new principal who was determined to decrease the number of discipline referrals by race. Trying to deal with students who were far more interested in fighting and being mean to one another was nearly impossible, especially when they'd get sent back class right away after a fight. Once the VP even came into my room and questioned me in front of my students about how I knew the kids were fighting. The yelling names, punching, and knocked over desk clued me into the fact that a fight was happening. What was most sickening was all the time taking away from the frightened students who wanted to learn. I often was hurt in my efforts to break up the fights.
ReplyDeleteEven now years later, I wonder why the principals allowed such behavior to occur. I needed support, as did both the fighting and frightened students.
A big incentive to reduce the number of referrals is that percentages per school are public record. Some administrators do not want the information entered into the computers.
Not a Florida teacher