Introduction
Incidences of horrific violence such as the 2012 shootout in Chardon, Ohio, has put immense pressure on the local agencies as well as states to provide the students with learning environments that are conducive and safe. The fatal day ended with three students dead (Losinski, Katsiyannis, Ryan & Baughan, 2014). The education system has been accused of being marred by inequalities in terms of socioeconomic conditions, race, and ethnic affiliations. These factors have been listed as some of the reasons that have led to incidences such as the above mentioned (Teske, 2011). Gage, Sugai, Lunde and DeLoreto (2013) suggest that sometimes zero tolerance policies are the best way to curb such events and ensure safety in school. However, there are still doubts if policy always aligns with practice.
Summary of the Articles
Article 1 – by Teske (2011)
The first article to be used in this paper focuses on zero tolerance policies in schools. It begins by providing a summary of the problem, which is that schools have, in large numbers, resorted to adopting this policy as a way to try and ensure that the schools are safe for all students. This course of action has however resulted in suspensions, and in extreme cases, expulsion. The author lists one technique applied as the introduction of police on the school grounds, which has consequently led to their student’s increased referral to the juvenile system. He reveals that some stakeholders have considered the zero tolerance disciplinary policies as constructive. The procedure for conducting the study was examination through a case study, which focused a juvenile court and how it applied the multi-integrated systems tactic to examine the adverse trends, which come up after implementation of these policies. The findings revealed that the proposed approach was a better tactic as opposed to the one that is regularly used in schools because it facilitated assessment of more youths leading to a significant reduction in the number of out-of-school suspensions. In addition, it also encouraged school referrals and an increased rate of graduation by an average of 20%. Delinquent felony rates also reduced by almost 50%. The author makes a good interpretation of the results of the case study with facts and figures and even indicating how the case of focus has changed the response of the system regarding similar cases. He emphasizes that disruptive students are now treated less harshly through the implementation of alternative methods of handling the situation since the behavior is believed to have been triggered by an underlying factor. The systems approach that the author used for the study was a good one because of the interaction of the different components of the study that are rather interdependent. This technique demands that the outcome of the variable is identified through the goal, through specific approaches such as the Linear Programming Model (LPM). This model identified both constraints and desired outcomes simultaneously. The study, however, seems a little biased because most of the author’s arguments lie more towards the mitigation of the zero tolerance disciplinary actions. Despite the seemingly biased outcome of the research, the article provides enough points to consider that justifies the results that author has boldly stated. It is a good twist for the author to suggest alternative forms of disciplinary actions that could favor delinquents such as redefining the system to reduce incidences of recidivism and factors that encourage anti-social behavior.
Article 2 – by Gage et al (2013)
This article focuses more on how the zero tolerance disciplinary policies align with the teaching practice. The main concern here is absenteeism, which can be worrying considering there is more than 9% of this occurrence on a daily basis. Unexcused absenteeism, which is also highlighted in this article is further explained to be truancy, an offense that is noted under the juvenile justice system. The authors reveal that the key reason for the concern over truancy is that, whenever the students are away from school, there is a high chance that they are getting involved in risky behavior. This article has an advantage because it covers more than just zero tolerance disciplinary action triggered by violent actions of the students. Unlike violence, absenteeism can sometimes be ignored yet it is an underlying problem that may be the cause of this vice. This article also used a case study as its method of data collection. The study was based on a research center that is university-based. The focus was on attendance data which was meant to reveal whether the zero tolerance disciplinary policies that had been implanted were effective. The policy stated “For each unexcused absence, students will be subject to a 1-point grade reduction for the semester grade and receive a zero (0) for all missed activities for the period. Students are encouraged to make up all missed assignments to continue the learning process.”
The data set used was from 2009 to 2011 in two-year sets of 2009-2010, which constituted 3352 students, while the 2010-2011 had 3556 records in total. The analysis was conducted through data categorization while considering specific variables. The results revealed that unexcused absentees totaled to 35% in the first group and 42% in the second. The data revealed that the students getting fewer grades were the most affected, meaning that the zero tolerance policy was not as effective since it did not affect the decision of this plight to skip school.
The limitation of this research is that the margin of error is high considering that there was a noticeable error in data entry for 2010-2011 dataset thereby affecting its validity. Furthermore, the cross tabulations are sometimes confusing because of the involved calculations making verification difficult. The final limitation is that there was no baseline data that could have been used to verify the results.
The evidence on the second article seems more concrete than the first despite the limitations. The findings are however consistent in that they both declare that the zero tolerance disciplinary policies are not effective enough because there usually are underlying factors to delinquency. As such these policies are not a guarantee that they will make the schools safe.
Conclusions on Findings
In Teske’s article, he explained that zero tolerance should be addressed by the school administration to avoid several absenteeism and students dropping out. Staffs in school need to design ways for helping needy learners in schools further increasing their knowledge and getting determined to complete high school. Academic learning institutions must create programs and make procedures that will help them deal with disruptive mischief behaviors if they want to maintain good academic performance for the student (7). A different author Gage et al. (2013) argued that zero tolerance practice in not the best approach to punishing students but encourages unexcused absence to students. A solution to this is to encourage organizations to assist those students for them to complete school.
Conditions of Recommendations
Zero tolerance approach may not solve indisciplinary cases in schools as the result was more students were dropping out of school especially those with behavioral disorders. Three recommendations were arrived at to resolve this issue. First, Christenson in Gage et al. article says that more concern should be put on preventive approach in developing new strategies for punishment and avoiding more absenteeism in schools. With this, students will understand the significance of all class attendance through a universal reinforcement meeting. In turn, this will enhance their integrity and greater positive motivation leading to desired results expected from them at the end of academic year. Second reason is giving priority to an establishment of a formal framework to adapt the characteristics of evidence-based solutions to solve the misconducts of students. Developing a reliable and valid information system on students by office disciplinary referrals for measuring student outcomes in terms of discipline. An achievement is reached through the support from an organ known as Centre for Education Statistics or the Common Education Data Standards (CEDS). The organization focuses on questions that will ensure proper intervention and practical planning selection based on the data collected in different schools and the norms of those institutions to come up with one neutral solution by staffs in collaboration with the organs.
Lastly, according to Monrad in the same article, discussed that another virtue which needs to be taken into consideration is the adoption of evidence-based practices that have given positive information delivery that targeted mentoring, advocating and supporting interventions in the academic environment. A management group is known as What Work Clearinghouse (WWC) gave out guidelines on practices to be considered for drop-out prevention. Directions provided were productive in giving direction to the students. Another recommendation given to the WWC is easily accessible for students to their class coursework in relation to their dream workforce skills.
Research shows that those students with bad behavior and low academic performance should be counseled directly and emphasizing to them of further post-secondary education. A goal realization in this study is arrived at by the value bringing in different business companies and local achievers who in turn will encourage them to attend and complete school due to the relevant skills they learned. In addition, the advice will also help them understand the greater employment opportunities in the outside world after school rather than dropping out which reduces their dream of being great achievers of the next generation.
How the topic relates to class discussion
In terms of relation, the topic was relevant to my findings as the study of the educational psychology involved both the theory and continuous practice among the students and their staffs for behavioral change and good academic performance. The topic further focuses on the effectiveness of applying psychological principles and concepts in the learning and institutional processes later developing skills and knowledge that will enhance learning environments to be more conducive for the students.
Academic forums organized by school administration to invite professional leaders to speak to students were of importance as they helped shaped the code of conduct of the students and interact with them through professional training.With the discussions, they will get to learn how a misbehavior affects learning and variation in the students’ performance. Arguments on this study are correct as it contains factual reports and experiments done with separate authors discussing different views on how zero tolerance affects the psychological learning of students in the academic field and solutions for the data collected.
References
Gage, N. A., Sugai, G., Lunde, K. & DeLoreto, L. (2013). Truancy and Zero Tolerance in High School: Does Policy Align with Practice? Education and Treatment of Children, 36(2), 117-138
Losinski, M., Katsiyannis, A., Ryan, J. & Baughan, C. (2014). Weapons in Schools and Zero- Tolerance Policies. NASSP Bulletin, 98(2), 126-141
Teske, S. C. (2011). A Study of Zero Tolerance Policies in Schools: A Multi-Integrated Systems Approach to Improve Outcomes for Adolescents. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 24, 88-97
