“Regrettably, students of color are receiving different and harsher disciplinary punishments than whites for the same or similar infractions, and they are disproportionately impacted by zero-tolerance policies—a fact that only serves to exacerbate already deeply entrenched disparities in many communities,” Thomas E. Perez, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, recently said at a Sept. 27th conference on school discipline and civil rights, according to a transcript of his speech.
In his speech, Perez cites a recent study by the Southern Poverty Law Center:
The numbers tell the story. While blacks make up 17 percent of the student population, they are 37 percent of the students penalized by out-of-school suspensions and 43 percent of the students expelled. Black boys account for 9 percent of the nation’s student population, but comprise 24 percent of students suspended out of school and 30 percent of students expelled. A study written by participants in this room and released just two weeks ago by the Southern Poverty Law Center found that black male middle school students are suspended at three times the rate of their white counterparts. For middle school girls, while they are suspended less frequently than males, black girls were more than four times as likely to be suspended as white girls.Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, also spoke at the conference. Duncan said he was “deeply troubled by rising discipline rates and disparities in discipline” in the nation’s schools. He told conference attendees that the Obama administration has already launched five compliance reviews on school discipline.
The Administration intends to “release guidance” on school discipline this winter, Zehr reports, to make sure that districts are in compliance with civil rights laws. The guidance will focus on how to address “disparate impact”--when a particular group is disproportionately affected by a policy though no intention of discrimination may exist.
Zehr reports that some fear a crackdown on discipline disparities by race may make administrators "worry about the numbers" more than discrimination, if they fear they could be hauled into court or face cuts in federal aid.
Does "disparate impact" play out in Norwalk? If so, is it addressed? Stay tuned for the local angle.
Update: Connecticut is not immune to the national trend. Data from the State Dept. of Education shows that for the 2004-2005 school year (the latest date that I could find race based statistics) shows that Black and Hispanic students were disproportionately disciplined. For example African American made of 42.5% of general ed students who were suspended or expelled while they only made up 14% of the student body. In contrast White students make up 66.7% of the district but only 30.5% of students suspended.
Are minority students getting in trouble more or just being singled out more often?
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Fortunately Norwalk has a very detailed code of discipline. Principals must be consistent in how they discipline for the same offense.
ReplyDeleteMy suspicion is that, underneath these suspension statistics, not always but often, there is a reading issue. Tracking and documenting the standardized reading scores of those kids who have been suspended would be very informative. We already know from CMT/CAPT test data that many of our black and Hispanic kids are reading far below grade level. We also already know there is a direct correlation between reading scores and prison populations--several American states even use 3rd grade reading scores to estimate future prison construction. Let's find out what the correlation is.
ReplyDeleteThe above is a simplistic but well intentioned answer. Maybe there is indeed a reading issue. Trace that problem, and a myriad of others, back to lack of prenatal care, poor nutrition, single parent families, substance abuse, level of parental education, domestic chaos, and generations of unemployment.... I could go on and on.
ReplyDeleteWe are working hard to get these children reading in the lower grades but cannot do it alone.
It's a very unfortunate thing that the state and local agencies have to pick up the slack for these parents that find that it's better to have more children and get more public aid than actually trying to find a job. While the govt must stop rewarding the parents that operate this way, we (I realize this we is "who?" and should not be the teacher's responsibility) need to hold the parents who neglect the importance of education at home responsible and involve the DCF in the same way we report neglect and abuse. If the parents do not support their children in this way, and they are heading their children inthe direction of crime and incarceration, then they are guilty of abuse, and should be reported to the state.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Although well intentioned, improving reading skills is a very simplistic answer to a major problem. I also agree that lack of good parenting is a form of abuse. A good number of our minority students now look to the streets and seek family support in the form of gangs. Can we, as a society, 'fix' the home situation? Are we able to force adults (parents) to be responsible? Are we able to instill motivation to learn into another human being who makes more money on the street selling drugs than s/he can make legally? Are we able to get rid of gangs? Peer pressure? Solving arguments without violence? Answer those (and more) questions and we have the beginnings of a solution. (No, I am certainly not stating that all minority families are irresponsible. I am responding to the statistics above)
ReplyDeleteYes, I do think home life and socio-economics plays a very strong role in how a kid does in school but, there other factors that also need to be considered and, to be fair to the child, should be part of this conversation. For instance, in July 2009, the State of Connecticut began requiring that all teacher candidates applying for PK-3 and K-6 endorsement take and pass the Connecticut Foundations of Reading Exam, a test of reading instruction knowledge and skills. This is the same test that high-achieving Massachusetts has been requiring of its teachers for 7 years. In the first group of Connecticut test-takers, 1 in 3 failed the exam. Why? Because most Connecticut schools of education were neither requiring nor giving teachers the tools they needed to do their jobs, most only required 1 or 2 basic language arts classes for graduation. Even with this new State requirement, PK-3 and K-6 teachers who are already certified do not have to take the Foundations of Reading exam, although many of them were former students at these same Connecticut colleges. And, ironically, no special education teachers, both those who are certified and those who are working toward certification, have to take the exam—even though they take fewer language arts courses to graduate than a regular ed teacher and---a majority of their students are in special education for reading disabilities! Norwalk currently has only 4 teachers who have passed the exam. Also, Norwalk doesn’t require that its literacy specialist have a Masters in Reading, it doesn’t require any reading certifications at all. An excellent book by a Milwaukee teacher of 35 years encapsulates this problem at the national level—‘Leaving Johnny Behind-Overcoming Barriers to Literacy & Reclaiming At-Risk Readers’ by Anthony Pedriana. Also, if you get a chance, check out www.childrenofthecode.org.
ReplyDelete“Regrettably, students of color are receiving different and harsher disciplinary punishments than whites for the same or similar infractions..."
ReplyDeleteActually, that is not always the case. In fact, teachers and administrators are often more lenient on students of color in order to avoid being accused of racial prejudice and so that kids stay IN school and in a positive learning environment.
Many of the responders aptly highlight the difficult socio-economic and home-life challenges that students from minority families face. Were teachers and administrators to apply disciplinary punishments equally, I imagine the suspension and expulsion rates would be even higher.
Sue, just because a teacher passes a test does not mean that s/he knows how to effectively teach reading either. You are right about the literacy specialists, however. Some of them have no right to be called 'specialist.' Look into some of the limited backgrounds and you will understand. Please use your clout to change the job description enough so that the Board can hire credible specialists in the classroom to help the teachers!
ReplyDeleteIf the Special Education teachers need more training in teaching reading, What is the special education administration doing to address this issue? I read on this blog that in some schools, special education student's do not receive any help the first month of school.
ReplyDeleteGreat dicussion going on here. Some interesting perspectives. First Sue, you have my vote for chairman and your next reelection.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all you do. Now, it appears that there is some pushback. Why is that? What Sue is atating is well documented. Reading levels are tied to many challenges, as individuals and as a society as a whole. I did'nt read anywhere that teachers are the silver bullet, the one all to be all. But teachers have a criical role for the indiviuals as well as society. Yes there are challenges, we have fatcats getting fatter and fatter pushing violence, iresponsible sex, intoxicants every where a child looks and getting in positions of power to dumb us down even further. Illiteracy, IS a national security issue on so many levels. America has become the worlds poster child for self indulgence gone wild. The solutions begin and end with education. That is without arguement. How we obtain feedback, how we interpet, how we react if we react at all is what the focus should be on. Kids and families need help, so do teachers.
Sue it would be great to see the number of teachers that have completed the test, at least once, for comparison. Yes without doubt we have a passionate army of good folks that really want to make a difference. However, how long will it take a mechanic to fix your car with one pair of pliers and one screwwdriver for tools? Long, long, long time. By the time he fixed your car it would be an outdated fossil fuel antique. Unfortunately kids grow up way to fast and we simply cannot wait. Losing too many, far too many. It is well known that some locals get kickbacks on expulsions. Out of school suspensions are now illegal in the Connecticut.
If your suspending students, YOU are failing.
Regarding, special ed, unbelievable that nobody in central can do simple math. 14,000 per student mainstream, upwards and over 100,000 per outplacement. Can we get numbers current and past on outplacments please, anyone? This whole special education deal is atrocious and in many instances are just outright shameless scams. After numerous complaints, lawsuits and arrests have we made any progress? How many teachers are Special Education certified in the district and what qualifications do they have and should they have to be successfull?
If a district teacher cannot pass a basic skills examine how can that teacher teach to the test?
And if you get on here and raise the shield and start assigning blame here or there ask yourself, how can I be PRODUCTIVE and help.
Defending yourself when no one is attacking its like running from a cop when you see one on the street. Prima facia guilt, cop is gonna come after you. So lets start acting like the grown ups and get our acts together, for the children's sake and well being. Lots of big players stepping in the game. Do we have game?
We can not do better? Why not?
Getting back to the racial disparities, some administrators have admitted publicly that there is a district wide goal to decrease the amount of minority suspensions. The result? Minority students don't get suspended as often, yet white students are now more easily suspended for what could be considered minor infractions. What this does is to "reduce" the gap, albeit in an artificial way. In the end everybody loses, whites, minorities and our entire community.
ReplyDeleteThere are causes and effects. Illiteracy is an effect, in most cases.
ReplyDeleteabove, convenient answer if you want to pass blame
ReplyDeleteabove, let's do a study. Teach convicts to read and set them free. Be sure to tell us how many of them become lawyers, doctors or teachers.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but respond to the first comment posted: "Fortunately Norwalk has a very detailed code of discipline. Principals must be consistent in how they discipline for the same offense."
ReplyDeleteSounds good, and yet this is so far from reality. Ask any teacher and they'll tell you that administrators have the ultimate say in discipline. If you think principals stick to a code of conduct, perhaps you are not aware of how discipline is administered in practice: "at the Principal's discretion". Not only is it carried out in a manner which is totally inconsistent between schools, there is tremendous disparity within a school.
Principals typically discipline students who have had an "issue" with a teacher, but often the same support is not granted to teachers who are not closely connected to the administrator themselves. Perhaps Dr. Marks should make it her business to investigate how discipline is mishandled, daily, in her schools. To get a handle on the disparities, she could ask to be copied on every incident report, including referrals and incidents requiring teacher, guidance, social worker and administrator intervention.
Better yet, have a impartial committee look at the data. Why is such data of great interest to our President and yet not closely scrutinized within our own school system?
There is a reason, and we all know it. The results would manifest a major bias present in our system which no one wants to admit.
This kind of inquiry would make it crystal clear that discipline in our district is as arbitrary as it gets. Just poll the teachers, indiscriminately, and anonymously. You would be amazed at the results.
7:08, sounds like the administrator is getting multiple referrals from a particular teacher and believes that teacher needs to learn to discipline in his/her classroom. I've never seen an administrator who follows the code of conduct for one teacher but not another....unless there is a reason and the teacher cries 'wolf' too many times.
ReplyDeleteThe various posts on racial disparities in discipline that exist in our schools are most interesting. Sue Haynie's recommendation to look at correlations is great advice.
ReplyDeleteConducting an objective and open-minded analysis of actual practices in our schools will help us ensure that our discipline policy is executed in a fair, consistent and effective manner.
Sue's advice is not new. Correlations are clear if you are an educator with any understanding of students. Frustration with learning can be a factor for understanding why students are 'acting out' in the classroom. It's why the student is not learning that is the root of the problem. For many, there is a language gap, even if English is the first language. Low income students usually do not come in with anywhere near sufficient grade-level vocabulary. Not only does reading level suffer, but comprehension is deeply affected. Look at entry level vocabulary, Sue. That will be more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteI was recently turned on to this blog by a friend who has taught in Norwalk for over 25 years. She tells me much needed conversation takes place on this blog. As a retired teacher who now lives in Norwalk, I can tell you this type of dialogue I am seeing was needed where I taught! I wish we had a blog. As for this "Educational Disparity / Education" discussion, everyone who has written in brings up very valid points, you're all right. Yes, nutrition, family education, drug use, home chaos, and all of the other points are so true and students will not prosper with these forces going against them. My district had a huge disparity in standardized test results, and these scores ran parallel to income levels. What to do? School systems must work closely with families in need which is easier said than done. Monies are needed to obtain positive results. As for discipline and expectations being consistent, yes that is a must in any school system. A blogger suggested Norwalk has potential problems with racial issues and discipline. My district found a way to curb this same situation due to the fact a large lawsuit stemmed from two families who claimed such disparities, and they made a large stink. It is easy, have policies and somehow see to it they are followed. My district had almost 20,000 students, with 24 schools all told, and declaring consistency took two years to do. A committe of parents, teachers, one board of education member, and two principals from each level participated. We all thought the committee had too many people, a district of Norwalk's size could prevail with 4 - 5 people on the committee. We weren't sure if all schools reported the "action reports" as they were required to, however the accountability issue helped. Principals knew someone was keeping tabs on how they operated. Norwalk must have some sort of a guideline for suspensions, punishment, and discipline - but who manages it is the key. The issues of special education are valid. Every teacher should be able to teach reading no doubt. As for the comments of people "passing blame", be careful as this can tear a district apart, trust me, I witnessed it for many years. You have so many concerned people here raising so many quality discussions, keep up the good work!
ReplyDelete