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Student Wellbeing
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Discipline

California districts are looking closely at their zero-tolerance discipline policies. Changes include raising awareness of the impact of trauma on students and implementing restorative justice principles, which require misbehaving students to make amends to those they have harmed. Disproportionate numbers of African-American and, to a lesser extent, Latino youth are suspended or disciplined.

January 4, 2019

Restorative justice reduces suspensions in elementary grades but not middle school, study shows

Many educators say restorative justice has transformed school climates. Others say it is over-hyped. A new study by the RAND Corp. lends support to both sides.

David Washburn
December 19, 2018

Trump administration’s school safety report met with harsh criticism in California

The report strongly recommended rescinding the Obama policies that both emphasized alternatives to suspensions and expulsions and highlighted data showing that students of color and those with disabilities were more likely than white students to face these punishments.

David Washburn
December 11, 2018

School suspensions continue downward trend in California, new data show

About half as many students were sent home for disciplinary reasons during the 2017-18 school year as had been at the beginning of the decade.

David Washburn And Daniel J. Willis
October 1, 2018

Gov. Brown vetoes expansion of California’s school suspension ban

Brown's decision is a bitter disappointment for youth and civil rights advocates who have made eliminating suspensions for "disruption and defiance," which are disproportionately meted out to students of color, a priority.

David Washburn
September 24, 2018

Evidence justifies limiting student suspensions for disruptive behavior

Eliminating 'willful defiance' as a basis for suspending students does not result in more serious discipline problems

Dan Losen
September 20, 2018

Suspensions in California schools drop, but trouble spots remain

Instruction days lost to suspensions dropped nearly by half from 2011-12 to 2016-17, according to a new report. But African American and Native American students -- and students with disabilities -- are still suspended at disproportionately high rates.

David Washburn
September 17, 2018

Reversing 760,000 lost days of learning in our schools

Schools must be both creative and effective at responding to discipline problems.

Pedro A. Noguera and Joseph P. Bishop
September 4, 2018

Expanded suspension ban gets approval from California Legislature

The bill passed Friday would expand the current ban, which covers grades K-3, to grades K-8. However, Gov. Jerry Brown, who several years ago vetoed a similar bill, has yet to signal support.

David Washburn
August 31, 2018

California lawmakers pass limits on restraint and seclusion in schools

The bill would also reinstate requirements for schools to collect and report data on student restraint, and ban certain restraint techniques.

Nico Savidge
August 31, 2018

The price of punishment — new report shows students nationwide lost 11 million school days due to suspensions

The report, based on federal government data from 2015-16, also found that racial disparities in suspensions remain an acute problem. Nationwide, African-American students lost five times as many days as white students.

David Washburn
July 25, 2018

Improving California school environments focus of pilot program

UCLA and two county education departments are collaborating to train teachers and administrators throughout the state on alternatives to traditional discipline.

David Washburn
July 15, 2018

Educators to Trump school safety commission: Don’t repeal Obama discipline guidelines

More than 80 individuals and organizations have come together to urge the commission established by President Donald Trump to retain federal guidelines issued by the Obama administration to combat racial disparities in school discipline.

David Washburn
June 21, 2018

Discipline reform gets boost in California budget

Efforts to expand California's ban on suspending students for “willful defiance," now limited to K-3 grades, also still in play.

David Washburn
June 11, 2018

How rewarding positive behavior turned around our school

Breaking the chain of misbehavior and punishment by recognizing students for what they do right.

Chelsea Ramirez and Jacob Rosario
June 4, 2018

Will state budget deal include expanded ban on 'willful defiance' suspensions?

Tucked inside Gov. Jerry Brown’s May Revision of the state budget is a proposal to extend California's ban on suspensions for “willful defiance” in early elementary grades.

David Washburn