Consequences matter: Don't reward bad behavior

For 60 years, schools have faced federal action if policies have a "disparate impact" on protected groups, even if there's no deliberate bias, report Mark Walsh and Stephen Sawchuk in Education Week. Now disparate impact is dead, says the U.S. Education Department. A discipline policy that leads to more suspensions of black and Hispanic students, for example, will not be challenged unless there's evidence of intentional discrimination.

So what should schools do?

Consequences matter, write Jennifer Weber and Carolyn D. Gorman, Manhattan Institute fellows, in City Journal. Schools often reward bad behavior by giving students what they want. The kid who's bored or frustrated gets out of class. The kid who craves adult attention gets a one-on-one talk with a counselor or a meeting with a counselor.

"The restorative-justice practices that have replaced suspension, such as mediation circles or discussion with a teacher," aren't deterrents, they write.

A child escaping a math worksheet doesn’t care whether he gets a suspension slip or is placed in a restorative circle; either way, the worksheet is gone. Likewise, a child who seeks adult attention doesn’t care whether it’s punitive or therapeutic; either way, he got it.

Who doesn't get time with a counselor? The quiet kid.

It doesn't matter if "an intervention is called punitive or restorative," Weber and Gorman write. What counts is whether it "breaks the connection between the acting out and its payoff — in other words, make sure that the student no longer gets the desired reward."

"Student disengagement, measured through attendance, academic performance, and school behavior, predicts not only dropping out but also later delinquency, official offending, and problem substance use," they conclude. That's the real "school-to-prison pipeline."

Suspending dangerous students may be necessary, they write. "The surest way to keep a student out of prison has never been a particular punishment, or the absence of one. It is a school that teaches rules, expectations, and how to belong."

I think children from chaotic families are happy to find reliable, responsible, in-charge adults at school. Consistency creates safety.