'ZERO TOLERANCE' COMES UP SHORT

Despite the overwhelming popularity of expulsion and out-of-school
suspension among educators, there is little scientific research to show that
zero tolerance or other "get tough" measures are effective in reducing
school violence or increasing safety.

On the contrary, there is a growing body of research showing a clear
association between disciplinary exclusion and further poor outcomes such as
delinquency, substance abuse and school dropout.

Disciplinary exclusion should be reserved for students who present a clear
and present danger to others.

Historically, suspension and expulsion were viewed as rather severe punitive
sanctions meant to send a clear deterrent message to both the student and
parent about the seriousness of the student's misconduct.

An out-of-school suspension or expulsion virtually guaranteed getting a
parent's attention and getting the parent to attend a school conference to
discuss the problem behavior. It also provided a cooling-down period for
students who posed a clear and present danger to other students or staff.

The popularity of suspension and expulsion, coupled with a lack of other
options, led to a dramatic increase in their use. Nationally, it is
estimated that nearly 2 million students are suspended each year.

Suspensions are often given for less serious or nonviolent misconduct, and
this has weakened their deterrent impact. These sanctions are no longer
viewed as the severe "last resort" and thus draw little attention from many
parents.

Educators must rethink their use of these sanctions and develop a broader
spectrum of options, beginning with primary prevention.

School-based primary prevention programs can increase appropriate behavior
and decrease the frequency and intensity of inappropriate behavior, and thus
should be the cornerstone of a comprehensive school safety and behavior
improvement strategy.

Many such programs have been evaluated and shown to produce significant
reductions in aggression, violence and weapon carrying. Some examples
include the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum,
the Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum and the "I Can Problem Solve"
program.

Even the most effective programs will not prevent all student violence or
misconduct. For students who do not respond to primary prevention efforts,
educators should have a sufficient variety of options to allow them to craft
a continuum of responses appropriate to the level of misbehavior.

Options such as in-school suspension, individual and group counseling, and
Saturday or lunch-time detention, coupled with remedial support and
social-emotional cognitive skill-building, address the present behavior
while also recognizing the underlying causes.

For discipline to be effective, the response should be consistent and
matched to the severity of the offense. A recent special report we did in
collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Child
Development points out that this is not currently practiced in many schools.

Most suspensions are for noncompliance or disrespect, and the fewest number
are for behaviors that threaten safety; and regardless of teaching
responsibility, a few teachers are responsible for most disciplinary referrals.

Training teachers in effective classroom management may increase the
consistency of discipline, potentially reducing unnecessary exclusions and
preventing the erosion of the deterrent effect of suspension and expulsion.

We also found no studies demonstrating the positive impact of expulsion or
out-of-school suspension in reducing school violence.

In fact, some research casts doubt on the effectiveness of exclusion in
achieving a safe-school environment and raises questions about the potential
negative side-effects of exclusion, which sends the message to students that
they are not wanted in school and that attendance is not important.

Exclusion teaches them that problems can be avoided rather than addressed.
Some researchers have linked out-of-school suspension with poor grades and
early dropout.

Obviously, suspension and expulsion do not strengthen commitment and
attachment to school. Excluding disruptive students from school may actually
reinforce negative behavior and put these students at greater risk for
further negative outcomes.

Given the research on the application and effectiveness of suspension and
expulsion, these sanctions should be reserved for the most serious of
infractions involving habitual or violent conduct.