Students who are disruptive, rude or violent are every teacher's worst nightmare and every kid's worst example of how to behave. Just a few bad actors can derail an entire classroom. No wonder school officials' natural impulse is to kick them out. But that rarely solves the problem, and in the long term it may even make things worse when the offenders return to school.
That's why news that the Baltimore County school system now leads the region in the percentage of students it suspends ought to worry school board members, administrators, reform advocates and parents. As The Sun's Liz Bowie reported this week, county schools last year had the highest suspension rate — nearly 10 percent — of any district in the state apart from the Eastern Shore.
Even more troubling, the system suspended about 10,000 students last year despite its avowed efforts to focus on disciplinary methods that don't require students to miss classroom time. Clearly, something is not working.
Make no mistake: Suspending large numbers of students from school for extended periods has serious adverse consequences for both the children and the school. Not only are suspended students more likely to drop out entirely, they're also at greater risk of getting into mischief or running afoul of the law. One recent survey found that suspended students were far more likely to be victims of a shooting or homicide than their peers who remained in the classroom and that they were also more likely to commit such crimes.
For schools, frequent and extended suspensions of troublesome students are also counterproductive. Though the offenders are temporarily out of sight and out of mind, eventually they return to the classroom with the same problems they had when they left. And too often, those problems were made worse during the period of their absence because the students found themselves in an environment that only reinforced their antisocial behavior.
Meanwhile, they have missed classes and failed to master crucial skills. That puts them at a terrible disadvantage when they are called upon to take state standardized achievement tests, but it also drags down their school's overall scores. That will become even more of a concern as the county's teacher evaluation system — and compensation formula — is revised to reflect new rules that measure teacher performance in part on growth in student achievement.
County school officials say they are tracking data to find out where and how students are most likely to have behavioral problems, and they have developed interventions that focus on rewarding good behavior rather than simply punishing bad actors.
Such positive behavior intervention programs are now in place in about 72 of the system's 165 schools, with more coming on line each year. Officials say such programs have gradually reduced suspension rates from their peak of 12.6 percent in the 2006-2007 school year and that they are now at their lowest level in 10 years.
Yet far too many students are still being suspended for low-level, nonviolent nuisance offenses such as using a cell phone during school hours or talking back to a teacher. The county allows school administrators to routinely suspend students for two or three days for such behavior, even though there are often more constructive ways of dealing with the problem.
School officials say they are now in the process of drafting a list of alternative interventions that principals and administrators must try before any decision regarding suspension is made. That's a step toward a more rational policy and one that the county school board should seriously consider adopting systemwide at its next meeting in January.
There's no question schools have the right to suspend students who bring weapons or drugs into the classroom or act out violently and endanger other students or staff. There's no excuse for such behavior, and it can't be tolerated. But for most minor offenses, there are almost always more effective ways of dealing with behavioral problems. Kicking kids out to resolve a troublesome situation ought to be considered the punishment of last resort.