At Roosevelt High, freshman Shaddai Johnson said teens routinely are kicked out of class for minor offenses such as refusing to take out ear buds or using their cellphones — an approach district leaders want to stop. ... To combat that, teachers are being encouraged to build relationships with students and find teachable moments where behaviors can be addressed without students leaving the room, officials said.
Who decides whether an offense is minor? I disagree with any answer other than "the teacher in their classroom." A major problem with the society I live in - that everyone lives in - is that everyone thinks they are able to make the rules. That's wrong.
And I've been in the classroom on a daily basis when I was a student teacher in 1991. Yes, that was 25 years ago and I'm sure a lot has changed. Yet, I am pretty sure that in every grade in every high school there are kids who will slap a teacher, who will tell another student to "fuck off" and who will just not connect with the teacher. As I reflect upon this article and my experience, I want to say I am glad I never pursued teaching. I do not regret going down a different career path (technical writer) and I have never regretted it in the last 25 years.
Not once.
Read the rest below or online here
Des Moines school discipline reform stirs backlash
Mackenzie Ryan , mryan@dmreg.com 9:38 a.m. CST November 27, 2016
Alarmed that too many minority students are getting kicked out of class, Des Moines school leaders are changing the district's use of discipline to sharply reduce suspensions and eliminate expulsions.
Civil rights leaders and some educators applaud the move, noting that black and Hispanic students have been removed from class at far greater rates than white students and saying they're being hurt academically because of it.
But a rising chorus of parents and teachers complain that Des Moines' new policy escalates disruptive behavior in classrooms, at times creating unmanageable situations that hurt the learning of other students.
Students scream, threaten, shove and hit teachers or other students, with little consequence, students, parents and union leaders told the Register. Frustration has increased in some schools to the point that teachers have left for new jobs.
"There's some really incredible examples," said Andrew Rasmussen, president of the Des Moines teachers' union. “That's the struggle. Where's the middle ground?"
District leaders said allowing classroom disruption was never the intention, nor the approach they laid out. They contend a new disciplinary approach was needed, even as they acknowledge rising frustration over classroom discord.
"The line we are drawing in the sand is, unless it's for safety and security, removing students from class does not diminish problem behavior," said Jake Troja, the district's director of school climate transformation. “Sometimes it works out well, and sometimes it gets messy. That’s currently where we are at.”
Across the country, student suspensions and expulsions and the role they play in the so-called "school-to-prison" pipeline have gained increased attention. No less than President Barack Obama has called for changes in school discipline.
Des Moines, with more than 30,000 students and 5,000 teachers, responded to the issue, and suspension rates have dropped dramatically.
In-school suspensions are now less than half of what they once were: In 2014-15, Des Moines issued 1,689 in-school suspensions, compared with 4,102 five years earlier, according to the most recent Iowa Department of Education data.
Out-of-school suspensions also fell, with 3,019 in 2014-15, compared with 5,420 five years before.
In addition, no students were expelled in 2014-15, thanks to the district's new alternative program at Scavo High. Six students were expelled five years before.
But teachers have complained about feeling pressured or unsupported in their classrooms. And administrators acknowledge that a few schools have under-reported infractions committed by black students that warrant administrator intervention, such as profanity and repeated classroom disturbances.
“Quite frankly, it manifested itself as, ‘I’ll just stop writing referrals,'" Matt Smith, the district's chief schools officer, told the school board in September during a report about minority male students. "It doesn’t change the behavior. It doesn’t change the mindset. It just masks the data.”
Kaitlin Burgess says she asks her 9-year-old son each afternoon about his day at Monroe Elementary, and hears a litany of classroom disruptions by a student who screams, throws pencils, kicks and hits.
It's bad enough that the rest of the class has had to leave mid-way through lessons or tests, she said.
"His teacher's hands are completely tied," Burgess said. "She can't do anything because it looks like she'll be discriminating" against a minority student.
"He's been hit twice," she said of her son. "I can't really say how safe it is."
Disparities along racial lines
For years, the standard practice for teachers was to kick misbehaving students out of the classroom, sending them to the office or home. Students who had been suspended once often were suspended several times.
District leaders said that approach did little to correct poor behavior or address underlying issues, and it put those students even further behind academically.
The imbalance was especially prevalent among black students, who were disciplined more often than their white or Hispanic peers.
During the 2015-16 school year, black students received 36,842 disciplinary referrals in Des Moines public schools, ranging from Level I referrals, which are minor infractions, to the most serious Level III or Level IV, when suspension or expulsion is possible. Black students accounted for 41 percent of all disciplinary referrals, yet make up only 18.3 percent of district enrollment.
By comparison, white students received 27,380 disciplinary referrals last year, 31 percent of the district total. White students make up 41.9 percent of enrollment.
Hispanic students received 15,103 disciplinary referrals during the 2015-16 school year, 17 percent of the district total. Hispanic students make up 24.8 percent total enrollment.
“No one can be proud of where we are at,” said Des Moines School Board member Rob Barron. “But I’m hopeful about where we are going.”
Alisha Sinclair's kindergarten class at Edmunds AcademyBuy Photo
Alisha Sinclair's kindergarten class at Edmunds Academy in Des Moines practices yoga at the beginning of the school day, Oct. 13, 2016. Here, Sumaya Gaas practices a pose. (Photo: Rodney White/The Register)
Keeping students in class
Discipline can vary widely across the district, students say.
At Roosevelt High, freshman Shaddai Johnson said teens routinely are kicked out of class for minor offenses such as refusing to take out ear buds or using their cellphones — an approach district leaders want to stop.
“I’ve seen kids go into the classroom and purposely get on the teacher's nerve" so they can get thrown out, she said. Sometimes, the students are told to regroup and come back, but they never return, she said.
“They’re almost like: 'OK, I don’t really care, I don’t want to do the work,'" Johnson said. “They’re sent to a place where they can hang out and chill.”
To combat that, teachers are being encouraged to build relationships with students and find teachable moments where behaviors can be addressed without students leaving the room, officials said.
“We can’t eradicate the achievement gap without eradicating the disproportionate time spent out of class,” Superintendent Tom Ahart said.
But there's often resistance. Teacher Megan Austin recalled one teen who asked her, on the second day of class at Brody Middle School, how quickly she would call in a specialist to deal with student behavior.
Every day, it seemed, the student and teacher fought over the girl's cellphone use. But Austin consciously chose not to kick the student out of class so she wouldn't get behind academically.
"It wasn't always easy," she said. "But she was in my class every day."
In some instances, it's the teacher or principal who is changing.
Principal Thomas Hoffman recalls his first day at Brody Middle School, when a student leaned over a stairwell and spit, hitting Hoffman squarely.
Since spitting is considered assault, he could have taken a harsh approach. Instead, Hoffman decided to hang mirrors on the walls so students who misbehave couldn't disappear undetected.
"I'm not a judge, I'm not a jury," Hoffman said. "We teach reading, we teach math and writing, and more and more we are charged with teaching kids how to act."
Adding yoga for calming
Schools are looking closely at what they can do to prevent children or teens from acting out.
In a fourth-grade classroom at Edmunds Elementary, for example, students were refusing to do work and walking out of class.
Staff kept track of the disciplinary referrals and noticed children slowing down and peering inside as they walked past the school’s cafeteria. They determined that the students, many from low-income homes, might not have eaten the night before.
Though they received breakfast at school, lunch wasn't served until 12:30 p.m.
Once the class switched the students' afternoon snack to morning, bad behavior subsided.
"Behavior is a form of communication," said Laura Stanbraugh, a behavior strategist at the school. "What can we do to help?"
Edmunds has seen dramatic results, lowering Level II referrals from 1,195 in 2012-13 to just 303 last year. Suspensions have been virtually eliminated, Principal Jaynette Rittman said.
The school credits an intentional approach, from changing where students line up for recess to twice-daily yoga to help students learn to control their emotions.
Each morning, teachers lead classes through a few stretches — arms overhead, then touching their toes — along with breathing techniques. Each yoga lesson includes a discussion on well-being, such as feeling content or having a positive attitude.
Fourth-grader Libby Latimore likes to imagine herself alone in a quiet space, away from the noise of school or home.
The deep breaths help, especially after being angry. "It helps you forget about it for school," she said. "I calm myself down before I explode."
Teachers get more training
In an attempt to encourage more accurate reporting of behavioral incidents, the district reframed one of its stated goals this school year, said Troja, the director of school climate transformation.
Instead of aiming for a reduction in Level II referrals, which call for an administrator to intervene, the district is focusing on achieving a certain percentage of students who behave appropriately.
"What’s important is that we write it down,” he said, which can help schools spot trends and work toward solutions.
Ahart said increases in classroom misbehavior aren't unique to Des Moines. Other superintendents he's spoken to have noticed it, too.
"We're certainly not immune to increases in challenges, as our poverty rate goes up," he said.
He believes that increased training for teachers will help them understand and deal with cultural differences that might be misinterpreted as disrespectful or aggressive behavior, particularly with black male students.
Des Moines has a five-year, $7 million contract with Learning Sciences International that includes coaching, training, on-site consultation and a student tracking system.
"People are much more cognizant now than a couple years ago about how they're responding," Ahart said of implicit biases that can affect minority children. "Certainly, I would anticipate that there's some second-guessing going on" by teachers.
Others, however, say training alone won't be enough. Gaines, the Iowa lawmaker, said teachers who are unwilling to adjust their "discipline first" approach should not be in the classroom.
"It's a new day and a new age," she said. "Teachers who can't deal with it need to quit."
At-risk students are prone to acting out, and some teachers can be too quick to let them "off the hook," said Trent Grundmeyer, an education professor at Drake University. Those students "pretend they don't want the attention," he said.
He recently visited Mitchellville inmates who attended Iowa schools and expressed regret that teachers let them slide.
“The clear advice from the prisoners was: ‘You’ve got to keep trying, because you can show you care,'" he said. “Without any waver, they said: ‘They need to persevere.’”
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