Comments on: AAPS Hopes to Cross “Discipline Gap”

By: Will

Will — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:23:53 +0000

Look, I know you mean well, but I’m not sure I have the same faith that you do in these ‘shaping behavior in the moment’ principles.

That’s not to say it shouldn’t be attempted, but it might be naive to expect it to reverse a student’s years of bad habits and neglect. I think that by middle school most of these students require extensive one-on-one interactions to push them into dealing with some of their issues. No one’s offering to invest the resources to do this; meanwhile the disruptive behavior adversely affects other ‘innocent bystanders’ and poisons the learning environment.

This also sends the more affluent families to private schools, further eroding the contingent of able learners that might help influence their peers.

By: Maria Huffman

Maria Huffman — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:23:07 +0000

The “effective” option is that schools get better at shaping behavior in the moment. To do that requires knowledge and application of behavior principles.
Those principles are what underpins positive behavior support plans.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:03:21 +0000

That doesn’t answer the question of what the school is supposed to do. The school has to provide an education whether the parents cooperate or not, and the schools have no power to change the parents’ behavior. So what *effective* options do the schools have?

By: abc

abc — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:32:52 +0000

Thanks Dave

The percentages don’t add up and the categories are a little hard to understand too. If you are going to count things and track them by grades I would think you would want to define your terms and track them consistently in order to follow the trends to see if things are improving or not. (I would also list them in the same order for ease of comparison but that’s just me; I trust you didn’t jumble them).

I think I know the distinction between Fighting and Physical Assault; fighting takes two or more. I am less sure what distinction there is between Disruptive Conduct and Insubordination/Open Defiance. And I am real curious as to why Unwelcome Physical Contact only occurs in Middle School.

By: ScratchingmyHead

ScratchingmyHead — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:18:51 +0000

Rod. If you read the first part of my statement I clearly point out that it is not the school responsibility to Parent the child and have them prepared behaviorally or emotionally to participate in a structured learning environment. Obviously there need to be a real emphasis on parental involvement whether that includes accountability or parent education as to what constitutes disruptive behavior at school that will result in disciplinary action. Apparently, many of these kids do not fear that disciplinary action will be taken against them at home so they feel free to be disruptive at school. I don’t want a teacher’s time spent on one or two kids who cannot control themselves. It takes time from kids who want to learn.

By: Dave Askins

Dave Askins — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:17:40 +0000

Re: “percentages in post 12 add to 68%, 74% and 66% respectively. There are a few things missing.”

I touched base with Jennifer Coffman who wrote up the meeting report, who said the same question was asked at the meeting when the information was presented to the board. The explanation of the missing fraction was simply that the remaining incidents were one-off occurrences not lending themselves to a common categorization. It would no doubt be less confusing if they were all lumped into an “other” category so that the percentages summed to 100.

By: Maria Huffman

Maria Huffman — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:15:24 +0000

Let me clarify, change can be slow, but it can happen quickly,also, it’s all about how the adults handle the children, and what the administration has been doing hasn’t been effective.

By: Maria Huffman

Maria Huffman — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:06:48 +0000

No, it can happen much faster than “over time” You are absolutely incorrect.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:29:34 +0000

@Maria

No, I do not have a preconceived notion about behavioral change. I just don’t expect it to happen instantaneously.

Change, if it occurs, takes time. And whatever time it takes will unjustly diminish the quality of the classroom experience for those wishing to learn.

By: abc

abc — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:53:20 +0000

Excuse me Dave.

I realize you are carrying someone else’s info but…

The percentages in post 12 add to 68%, 74% and 66% respectively. There are a few things missing.