Posts tagged School Discipline
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“What’s a white bitch like you doing in a school like this?”
That was the first interview question I remember being asked for the first job I would accept as a high school teacher. Ten years after that interview, my willingness to put up with the indignities of being a teacher in some of DC’s toughest schools has worn me down and pushed me away from the profession. I would never exchange the ten years I have spent in the classroom for anything else, but I must admit that, for me, the burden of teaching has finally caught up with me. Keep reading…
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Morning bell: Report on school discipline prompts legislation and yields some surprises
Ease up on preschoolers: Reacting to a recent report on school discipline from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, DC Councilmember David Grosso introduced a bill that would prohibit DCPS and charter schools from expelling or suspending pre-kindergarteners. (Post) Keep reading…
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Morning bell: Should centrally located Dunbar become a selective DCPS high school?
Dunbar High School group has been working on a plan to revive school’s glory: A group of parents and alumni at the struggling Truxton Circle school have been working on a proposal to give the school more autonomy. That could include greater control over which students can attend. (Post) One parent might applaud the change: A DCPS parent says schools that draw students from… Keep reading…
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First-year teachers, part 2: How do you learn to keep a classroom from spiraling out of control?
Yesterday, in the first part of this series, we examined three different pathways to teaching. Today, we look at one of the biggest challenges for any new teacher: classroom management. One veteran of Teach for America (TFA), now in his third year of teaching at a DC charter school with a high-poverty population, says that what’s needed for effective classroom management… Keep reading…
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Three linchpins of education reform
What’s the one thing we need to do to make the District’s public schools great? There is no one thing. We need to do many things, all important and many interconnected. But there are three things on which we should focus, starting now. Keep reading…
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New reports compare DCPS and charters
DC’s education agencies have joined forces to produce a set of reports that make it easier to compare DCPS and charter schools. The new data include figures on special education students, suspensions, expulsions, and mobility during the last school year. The DC School Equity Reports, funded by the NewSchools Venture Fund, could help answer questions that until now have… Keep reading…
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Morning bell: Education and the mayoral race
Catania ponders mayoral run: Councilmember David Catania, chair of the DC Council’s education committee, is launching an exploratory committee, saying he wants to see if he can do more for education as mayor. As an independent, he can wait until June, well after the April primary, to make a final decision. (City Paper) Mayoral hopeful Bowser jumps on middle school… Keep reading…
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Troubled school improves without relying on suspensions
Four years ago, Stanton Elementary School in Anacostia was the lowest-performing elementary school in the District and in danger of being closed. But partly thanks to an innovative alternative to suspensions, Stanton is now on the rise. According to those who knew its “before” phase, Stanton now is almost unrecognizable. Before, says Ashley Johnson, who has… Keep reading…
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Suspending students isn’t the best way to discipline
Some schools say they need to suspend students to be successful. But research shows that suspending students makes them more likely to fail academically and run afoul of the law. Are there other disciplinary measures that work better? Natalie Wexler’s October 23rd post examined an important question: does a school like DC Prep’s Edgewood Middle Campus, which… Keep reading…
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One DC charter school makes no apologies for suspensions
Although expulsions in charter schools decreased last year, short-term suspensions were slightly up. At one high-achieving middle school, DC Prep’s Edgewood campus, almost half the students received one-day suspensions. But the school says the disciplinary strategy is part of its formula for success. Keep reading…