CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TIPS, DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
New Teacher Classroom Management Tips
Seclusion and Restraint Statutes, Regulations, Policies and Guidance States and Territories Summary
End Extreme school discipline policies
Blackboard Jungle 1955 Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern,
Vic Morrow and Sidney Poitier debut. "Rock around the clock" de
Bill Haley and the Comets.
It is typical for classrooms to be set up in rows, or lately, in
groups of 3-4 tables (which allow for easier cooperative
learning). However, there are fundamental problems for each:
by
DR. SCOTT MANDEL PACOIMA MIDDLE SCHOOL
LOS ANGELES, CA
mandel@pacificnet.net
- Unfair disciplinary measures, including the story of the child with the "black" shoes. Kelly Welch, an associate professor in sociology and criminal justice at Villanova University, said that zero-tolerance policies are often harsher in schools with large minority student populations. Suspension and expulsion, are so detrimental for student learning as well as future involvement in criminal justice.
- 10 Surprising Dress Code Violations That Got Kids Suspended . Minor breaches in dress code policy landed these students in the principal's office.
- In rows, studies have shown that the further back you go, the more discipline problems there are. The visual, aural and physical stimulation from the teacher is increasingly diminished as you move further back. This allows boredom to set in, and as a result, potential disruption.
- In groups, the opposite is true. Students are over stimulated--by the peers that are now not only next to him/her, but across the table! There is now MORE to distract the student, leaving it harder for the teacher to keep the student focused on any frontal instruction.
- An alternative is to arrange the chairs/tables into a three-sided "box"shape (|_|), (with an occasional second row if room demands). In this fashion, EVERY STUDENT IS IN THE FIRST ROW! The teacher can freely move around the room while talking, and therefore giving "personal"contact with each student. The result: greater attention and fewer discipline problems. Desks/tables can be moved into cooperative learning groups as needed usually within two-three minutes!
Fagging
was a traditional educational practice in British boarding private
schools (nearly all "public schools" in the English sense) and
also many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were
required to some extent to act as personal servants to the most
senior boys. While domestic servants were common in family
households, the custom reflected household task distribution and
taught pupils about service from both ends of the relationship.
Under school rules, fagging might entail harsh discipline and
corporal punishment when those were standard practices
. The practice of personal fagging faded away during the 1970s and
1980s, but to some degree has been maintained in former colonies
or has been replaced by systems which require junior boys to do
tasks for the benefit of the general school community. In England,
the word "fag" became slang for a wearisome chore. It was also a
punishment for younger children.
Corporal punishment is still allowed in 23 states. There are no state laws against spanking although 27 states have policies against the practice and this year Pennsylvania is becoming the 28th. Spanking in schools is currently allowed in 23 states. [ 1 ]
March 10, 2010 Groups aim again to reduce spanking in N.C. schools RALEIGH, N.C . Children's advocates in North Carolina who lost a political tussle over corporal punishment in the public schools last year are trying again this year by focusing on a spanking ban for children with disabilities. Action for Children North Carolina released on Wednesday a report showing corporal punishment was used more than 1,400 times in 26 school districts that still use it during the last school year. The group asked state legislators to pass a broad ban for children with physical, mental or similar challenges. They said there are better ways to deal with disruptive behavior. Districts have the option to use corporal punishment. In 2009, the state Senate rejected a bill that would have allowed adults to opt out their children in the districts that still use it.Allowed and Legal mostly in the south and midwest. In the South and Midwest, corporal punishment -- sanctioned, structured spanking of students by school administrators -- is largely embraced. As one moves closer to either the East or West Coast, state laws explicitly outlaw the practice.
Corporal Punishmentin US Schools
NY
Since the practice was banned two decades ago, all New York school
districts have been required to submit to the state twice-a-year
corporal punishment reports. A review by the Associated Press,
based on information obtained under the Freedom of Information
Law, found that only 243 out of the 832 school districts actually
filed those reports at the end of last year. Some big-city school
districts, especially in the urban north, abolished CP long before
the states in which they are situated. Thus, New York City first
banned it in public schools in 1870, while in New York State as a
whole it was not discontinued until 1985.
Bright Road Trailer 1953
Example of Corporal punishment - RE: WHIP
- taking a ruler and slapping the palms of the students' hands;
shown in the excellent movie staring
Dorothy Dandridge
and Harry Belafonte, called
Bright Road 1953
(
comments
)
"
It is no coincidence this movie was written by a seasoned School
Teacher
. What this award-winning story essentially does - in the unusual
context of a Hollywood movie - is to present an "outside-the-box"
approach to dealing with the disciplinary and behavioral problems
of a young male school student. By tapping into and encouraging
the talents and interests of young rambunctious C.T., school
teacher Ms. Richards (played by Dorothy Dandridge), is able to
show how superficially negative classroom behavior can be
evaluated and rechanneled to achieve positive results. Where the
typical reaction to the student by school administrators would
have been to issue non-rehabilitory disciplinary action or
suspension, the outside-the-box approach results in a "win-win"
solution for all involved. Not a bad lesson for our overcrowded
and dysfunctional school and judical systems to learn some 50
years later as they both still routinely devour the C.T.'s of the
world without a care to the horrendous cost-benefit results of
their actions.
Harry Belafonte (in his first film role) also stars as the
supportive school Principal. In a poignant scene beautifully
worked into the story, he premieres one of his original
compositions, "Suzanne."
ADDRESSING DEGRADING TREATMENT & ABUSIVE DISCIPLINE IN
SCHOOLS
2007
A report by the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
(NESRI) shows that middle and high school students in New York
City and Los Angeles are frequently ignored and mistreated in
their classrooms, and subjected to harsh discipline policies that
punish, exclude and criminalize students. The report uses a human
rights framework to document the use of suspensions, law
enforcement and other punitive disciplinary strategies that ignore
students educational and emotional needs. Schools with the most
repressive policies are overwhelmingly under-resourced,
overcrowded and primarily attended by low-income students of
color. The report calls on the Department of Education in New York
City and the Los Angeles Unified School District to take a
holistic approach to school climate and safety by reducing
overcrowding, increasing resources for teachers, and guaranteeing
the participation of students and parents. Schools should view
discipline and the teaching of behavioral skills as an essential
part of education and prioritize counseling and mediation. The
criminalization of discipline and use of police in schools must
stop. Students interviewed reported that they are mistreated,
ignored and discouraged from learning in the classroom. Half
stated that their teachers sometimes or most of the time say
things that humiliate or insult them, such as calling them stupid
or ugly, or telling them they "belong in the ghetto." Schools
impose excessive suspensions for minor infractions, including
being late to school, getting into arguments with students, or
even giving a teacher "a look," that add up to significant losses
in learning. Two-thirds of students reported they never, rarely or
only sometimes feel safe with the presence of police, while
one-third felt threatened, many referring to the sight of loaded
guns. Students reported that police have used excessive force,
including "slamming" students to the ground and spraying mace.
Teachers reported that police have removed students from their
classroom, sometimes humiliating them in front of the class.
Teachers complained about losing the ability to provide input into
disciplinary actions or exercise discretion to help individual
students with problems.
SHOCKS FROM THE SYSTEM
Although the New York State Department of Education bans corporal
punishment, each year it uses taxpayer money to send dozens of
children with emotional or learning disabilities to schools that
use physically and mentally abusive forms of behavior
modification. These include electric shocks, seclusion and sleep
and food deprivation. Because these punishments are euphemized as
"aversive therapy," they have until recently stayed under the
departments radar. But this summer, the New York State Board of
Regents decided to regulate the use of such measures. Thankfully,
the proposed new rules, which the Regents are scheduled to enact
this week, ban aversive treatment after 2009. Unfortunately,
however, for this school year and the two that follow, young New
Yorkers who receive a "child specific exemption" will still be
subject to some of these therapies, and those who get this
treatment now could continue to receive it after 2009. This is a
mistake, writes author Maia Szalavitz. Aversive therapy for
children should be banned immediately here in New York and
nationwide. Though corporal punishment can sometimes produce
compliance among unruly children, history shows that regulators
cannot prevent it from being applied dangerously and
inappropriately.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/opinion/nyregionopinions/07CIszalavitz.html
Educator Sexual Misconduct:
A Synthesis of Existing Literature. This report was requested by
Congress and examines the incidence and prevalence of abuse,
patterns of misconduct, and prevention strategies. [
source
]
Preface
- Full report download files
PDF
(790K) |
Word
(1M)
Antisocial Personality Disorder
What lurks within murderous minds?
The neural roots of murder
Who is Adrian Raine All about the work of Adrian Raine - Adrian Raine, D.Phil (York University, England, 1982) is Professor in Psychology, University of Southern California since 1987. His research interests include antisocial behavior (violence, crime, conduct disorder, psychopathy, delinquency), schizotypal personality disorder, alcoholism, brain imaging, psychophysiology, neuropsychology.
Archives of General Psychiatry
Brain Difference Found in Antisocials
Front Part of the Brain in Antisocials Deficient
A 3-D MRI scan of the brain of one ofthe study subjects diagnosed
with antisocial personality disorder. The prefrontal cortex is
visible. (Adrian Raine)
Academic Press Daily InSCIght
Neural Roots of Murder
Tall, independent toddlers more likely to become bullies
When it comes to predicting which toddlers are the school-yard
bullies of tomorrow, size does matter, according to a study in the
August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
"Three-year-olds -- male or female -- who average just half an
inch taller than their peers tend to be more aggressive than
normal when they reach age 11," says Adrian Raine, Ph.D., lead
author of the study. The same is true of toddlers who are more
fearless and stimulation seeking than their peers, says Dr. Raine,
a professor of psychology in the University of Southern
California's College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Prior research
has consistently shown that the most aggressive children at age 11
are more likely than normal to become violent criminals as adults
-- regardless of their height at age 11. "There appears to be a
critical period in development -- sometime after age 3 but before
age 11 -- when a child learns to use his physical advantage to
aggressive ends," says the USC researcher into biological factors
that may predispose an individual to crime, particularly violent
crime. "Parents of tall toddlers -- especially those who are very
stimulation seeking and fearless -- need to take extra care to
drive home the message that there are a lot better ways than
physical force to get what you want in life."
Science Daily
Functional Families, Dysfunctional Brains
If Murder's Upbringing Provides Few Clues, Brain Dysfunction May
Explain The Crime
Dysfunctional brains -- not dysfunctional families -- may explain
some murders, especially when the murderer comes from a "good"
home, according to research published in the current issue of the
journal Neuropsychiatry.
Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati
http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/ Study links lead exposure to
antisocial behavior
The study is published in Neurotoxicology and Teratology
" Public release date: 28-Feb-2002 Contact: Jim Feuer
jfeuer@chmcc.org 513-636-4656
The first comprehensive lead study to track children over a period
of time found that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to lead
were associated with antisocial behavior in children and
adolescents. Adolescents with the highest blood lead
concentrations when they were first graders reported, on average,
4.5 more delinquent acts in the previous 12 months compared to
children with the lowest blood lead concentrations as first
graders. It appears that the neurodevelopmental effects of this
avoidable environmental diseases of childhood may not be limited
to declines in IQ or academic abilities. The researchers found
that exposure to lead was associated with antisocial behavior,
even after adjusting for other factors that could lead to similar
behavior. These included quality of home environment, low birth
weight, parental intelligence and social class. Surprisingly, the
researchers found no gender differences in antisocial behavior.
Girls were just as likely as boys to be violent and to be
institutionalized for their behavior."
Decision-making processes following damage to the prefrontal
cortex Brain, Vol. 125, No. 3, 624-639, March 2002 © 2002 Oxford
University Press
http://brain.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/3/624
Decision-making processes following damage to the prefrontal
cortex
Facundo Manes*,1, Barbara Sahakian1, Luke Clark3, Robert
Rogers4,3, Nagui Antoun2, Mike Aitken3 and Trevor Robbins3
Correspondence to: Dr Barbara Sahakian, University of Cambridge
Psychiatry Department, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Box 189, Cambridge
CB2 2QQ, UK E-mail: jenny.hall@addenbrookes.nhs.uk
*Present address: Cognitive Neurology Division, Department of
Neurology, Raul Carrea Institute of Neurological Research,
Montañeses 2325 (1428), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Recent work has suggested an association between the
orbitofrontal cortex in humans and practical decision making.
The aim of this study was to investigate the profile of
cognitive deficits, with particular emphasis on decision-making
processes, following damage to different sectors of the human
prefrontal cortex.
Patients with discrete orbitofrontal (OBF) lesions, dorsolateral
(DL) lesions, dorsomedial (DM) lesions and large frontal lesions
(Large) were compared with matched controls on three different
decision-making tasks: the Iowa Gambling Task and two recently
developed tasks that attempt to fractionate some of the cognitive
components of the Iowa task. A comprehensive battery including the
assessment of recognition memory, working memory, planning ability
and attentional set-shifting was also administered. Whilst
combined frontal patients were impaired on several of the tasks
employed, distinct profiles emerged for each patient group. In
contrast to previous data, patients with focal OBF lesions
performed at control levels on the three decision-making tasks
(and the executive tasks), but showed some evidence of prolonged
deliberation. DL patients showed pronounced impairment on working
memory, planning, attentional shifting and the Iowa Gambling Task.
DM patients were impaired at the Iowa Gambling Task and also at
planning. The Large group displayed diffuse impairment, but were
the only group to exhibit risky decision making. Methodological
differences from previous studies of OBF patient groups are
discussed, with particular attention to lesion laterality, lesion
size and psychiatric presentation. Ventral and dorsal aspects of
prefrontal cortex must interact in the maintenance of rational and
'non-risky' decision making.
Social behavior among monkeys may be more nature than nurture
Public release date: 3-Dec-2003 Contact: William Harms
w-harms@uchicago.edu 773-702-8356 University of Chicago Medical
Center
"Similarities in Affiliation and Aggression Between Cross-Fostered
Rhesus Macaque Females and Their Biological Mothers," published in
the current issue of Developmental Psychobiology. Dario
Maestripieri
An unusual experiment with monkeys who were switched between
mothers shortly after birth has demonstrated the importance of
nature over nurture in behavior. Young monkeys reared by a mother
other than their own are more likely to exhibit the aggressive or
friendly behavior of their birth mothers rather than the behavior
of their foster mothers, a University of Chicago researcher has
shown for the first time.
The discovery of inheritability of social behavior traits among
non-human primates has important implications for people as it
reinforces other research that suggests that such characteristics
as sociability and impulsive aggressiveness among humans may have
a genetic basis, said Dario Maestripieri, Associate Professor in
Human Development at the University. The work withm monkeys may
help other researchers understand the biological origins of
characteristics that promote socialization among humans, he said.
When Maestripieri looked at the behavior of the monkey offspring
and their mothers over the span of three years, he found that
while the offspring's behavior mirrored the behavior of their
biological mothers, there was practically no similarity between
the offspring and their foster mothers. "I was surprised by what
we found," Maestripieri said. Scholars have felt that social
learning from the mother would play an important role in the
development of female social behavior from early infancy. The
study shows that inherited behavioral predispositions are probably
more important. "Using an innovative design to disentangle the
effects of 'nature' and 'nurture,' Maestripieri demonstrates that
heredity has a surprisingly important impact on the behavioral
dispositions of infant macaques. These findings have important
implications for understanding how evolution shapes behavior and
temperament in primates and humans," she added.
Seclusion and Restraints States and Territories Summary
Summary Table of Seclusion and Restraint Statutes, Regulations,
Policies and Guidance, by State and Territories
About Seclusions and Restraints
On May 19, 2009, the Education and Labor Committee in the U.S.
House of Representatives held a hearing to examine the abusive and
potentially deadly misapplication of seclusion and restraint
techniques in schools. Related to this hearing was the testimony
issued on the same day by the Government Accountability Office on
“Seclusions and Restraints: Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at
Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers.”
The below table and accompanying document summarizes the state and territorial policies regarding seclusions and restraints that resulted from these discussions in order to share information that will help protect all students.