What Consitututes Discipline Best Practices

The Accountability Project of the Children’s Rights Litigation Committee, of the ABA Section of Litigation has written a research piece called Disparate Impact, Under Title VI and the School to Prison Pipeline which is well worth reading for folks interested in school discipline.  The memo is a concept piece written by children’s rights advocates.  It does not state the current law:  on the contrary, it is an advocacy argument by lawyers in the vanguard of children’s’ rights, who are hoping to develop new concepts in education and civil rights law. 

I'm not a big fan of the phrase "school to prison pipeline," because it suggests that schools and only schools are responsible for high rates of imprisonment.  The cause of the problem, and the solutions are multi-faceted, and the phrase suggests that the so called pipeline has one and only one cause.   If there is a pipeline, there are many feeder pipes:  structural racism in society, lack of jobs, drugs, the juvenile justice system, families and neighborhoods, and of course schools.   But we are talking education here, and so its our job to do what we can to support the children in our charge:  we have to do what is in our power. 

What Practices are Endorsed by the Childrens’ Rights Litigation Committee.  I would encourage you to download and read carefully the entire article. The article points out that statistical disparity alone is not going to state a discrimination case:

 “Notwithstanding the emphasis on statistical evidence in the employment context, there is a belief in the education context that more than sheer statistical evidence is needed in the initial filing by the plaintiff with the DOJ and DOE.” 

 What is required is not statistical parity.   I certainly don't qualify as a spokesperson for the committee, and so you would be well advised to read their position.   But these advocates don't argue that students should get away with misconduct.  That's not a solution to the so-called school to prison pipeline.  In fact, its a pretty good way of perpetuating the pipeline.  These advocates support so-called non-exclusionary disciplinary practices.  Techniques that visit consequences that are designed to teach and foster better behavior, while keeping kids in school 

Among the practices advocated are:·      

• Elimination of zero tolerance policies
• An in-school suspension policy that would result in less adverse effect on minorities while still allowing disciplined students to be separated from the student body 
• Positive Behavior Support
• Restorative justice 
• Social and Emotional Learning[
• Additional staff training in classroom management, conflict resolution, and ways to de-escalate classroom disruption and misconduct 
• Engage families
• Educate students on conflict resolution skills

To put a fine point on this, if a group of students has statistically higher behavioral incidents, then a school has a responsibility to respond with statistically higher discipline.   The word discipline derives from the Latin for instruction.   Our goal is not to avoid discipline: our goal is to use discipline to instruct and support so that all of our students across the board learn to be successful citizens in school.   We can't do that by sending them out of school, except perhaps as a device, where effective, to get the parents into school to connect and support.   Advocates who contend that discipline should be meted out in equal amounts across racial and ethic groups are mistaken.   Discipline should be meted out proportional to behavior, and in a way that keeps kids in school and builds connections, rather than destroy them.

And this is my beef with MDHR.  They are demanding proportionate discipline rather than appropriate discipline.     And, they arrive at effective discipline by advocating legislative support and funding for the kind of discipline that works.