1. A Data Analysis
by
Gretchen Hall & Robert Schelhorn
ADP 661 - Educational Leadership
2. •Repeat offenders
•Detention is not a
deterrent/solution
•Staff and students are
frustrated ("boy_principal_office_lg_nwm ," 2011)
3. If a student serves detention once, what is the
probability they will serve detention a second
time in the same year?
If a student serves in school suspension (ISS)
once, what is the probability they will serve ISS
a second time in the same year?
If a student serves out of school suspension
(OSS) once, what is the probability they will
serve detention a second time in the same year?
4. New Learning Management System
“Skyward” provides a lot of in-house data
School-Wide Positive Behavior Support: A Plan
for Pennsylvania
School Discipline & Graduation Fact Sheet for
Pennsylvania
5. Total # of Disciplinary Total # of Students who Probability of Serving
Detention Serving served detention at least Detention for a Second
Offenders twice for two separate Offense
instances.
570 324 57%
Too many students are
returning for a second trip
to detention.
6. Detention does not serve as a deterrent for at
least 57% of students.
Of the 57% of students who are repeat
detention servers, some serve multiple
detentions for various reasons, however some
serve detention repeatedly for the same
offense.
The most common offenses that draw repeat
offenders are: Tardy to School, Late to Class,
Cut Class, Unexcused Absences, and
Inappropriate behavior.
7. Total # of Disciplinary Total # of Students who Probability of Serving
In School Suspension served ISS at least twice ISS for a Second
Serving Offenders for two separate Offense
instances.
155 69 45%
Too many students are
returning for a second trip
to ISS. WHY?
8. In school suspension, ISS, does not serve as a
deterrent for at least 45% of students.
Of the 45% who are repeat ISS servers, some
serve multiple ISS’s for various reasons,
however some serve ISS repeatedly for the
same offense.
The most common offense that drew repeat
offenders was skipping detention.
9. Total # of Disciplinary Total # of Students who Probability of Serving
Out of School Serving served OSS at least OSS for a Second
Offenders twice for two separate Offense
instances.
58 21 36%
Four percent of the student
population receives OSS. It’s
not a lot, but it’s still too many.
10. Out of School Suspension, OSS, does not serve
as a deterrent for at least 36% of students.
However, unlike the results for detention and
ISS, students who serve OSS typically to do not
serve it again for the same reason.
11. Suspensions, especially for minor rule
infractions, unnecessarily create more absences,
more time out of the classroom, more chances
that students will fall further behind. Typically,
the students missing school to suspension are
the students who can least afford to miss
valuable learning experiences. They need more
time in school, not less.
12. Student behavior and academic achievement
are joined at the hip.
Schools with fewer discipline problems are
higher achieving schools
Unfortunately, many schools use only one set
of tools—detention, in-school suspension, out
of school suspension to expulsion
Repeat OffendersDetention is not working Rather than contribute to a better learning environment, the overuse of these exclusionary practices has been shown to predict dropout and contribute to an unhealthy school atmosphere affecting students and teachers alike.
In the past year 570 students served detention and of them 324 served detention on more than one instance. This means that 57% of our detention serving students are repeat offenders.
As you can see many of the repeat offenders are there because they do not come to school, skip class, or come late. This tells us that they do not like coming to school and that serving detention may be an alternative that they like better than attending class. We need to dig deeper to find out why they are avoiding class. Is it the teaching methodology, is it other students, is it due to lack of sleep, why would they rather stay after school than go to class.
In the past year 155 students served in-school-suspension and of them 69 served ISS on more than one instance. This means that 45% of our ISS serving students are repeat offenders.
While the percentage of repeat offenders in in-school-suspension is lower than detention it is still not the deterrent or solution we would like it to be. In fact in-school-suspension is just what some of our students want. I draw this conclusion from the fact that the biggest group of repeat offenders is sent to in-school-suspension because they skipped detention. It appears that students do not want to attend class and most definitely do not want to make up time after school so their solution is to simply serve in-school-suspension.
In the past year 58 students served out-of-school-suspension and of them 21 served OSS on more than one instance. This means that 36% of our OSS serving students are repeat offenders. When looking at the reasons for OSS there are not many that repeat among the group. A few students have chronic issues with fighting, but for the most part the repeat offenders are repeating suspension for a different reason.
While the percentage of repeat offenders in in-school-suspension is lower than detention it is still not the deterrent or solution we would like it to be. In fact in-school-suspension is just what some of our students want. I draw this conclusion from the fact that the biggest group of repeat offenders is sent to in-school-suspension because they skipped detention. It appears that students do not want to attend class and most definitely do not want to make up time after school so their solution is to simply serve in-school-suspension.
Suspensions are handed down from disrespect, insubordination, disruption, attendance issues, using cellphones in school, and refusing to obey school policies, according to an earlier analysis. These are hardly offenses that threaten school safety, but the missed days threatened the students’ chances to succeed in school.
We are one of those schools with the idea of zero tolerance policiesIf A then B, yet there is a variance between faculty in enforcing the rules and code of conduct
All too often, the debate about school reform has wrongly emphasized pushing troubled children out of school, detentions, ISS. This data will help us make the necessary changes to increase student performance and learning
