Title I Middle School Administrators’ Beliefs and Choices about Using Corporal Punishment and Exclusionary Discipline

2017 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianna L. Kennedy ◽  
Amy S. Murphy ◽  
Adam Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Title I ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Exclusionary Discipline ◽  
Middle School Administrators

Opening Access to STEM Experiences One Day at a Time: Successful Implementation of a School-wide iSTEM Day

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-207
Author(s):  
Georgia Hodges ◽  
Sophia Jeong ◽  
Peggy McKay ◽  
Tom Robertson ◽  
David Ducrest
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
School Context ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Middle School Administrators

Creating partnerships that leverage skill sets from universities and corporate entities to improve STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education is often discussed in theory. However, examples of successful models that might inform practice are scarce. This article describes how one STEM business, university educators, and middle school administrators and teachers successfully developed and implemented an integrated STEM education (iSTEM) experience for all eighth-grade students at a local middle school. We created a professional learning community to establish the goals and vision for the iSTEM day, which included the use of instructionally sound pedagogical methods, intellectually stimulating learning experiences, and a deeply developed understanding of the school context. Our team successfully completed a one-day learning experience that focused on the fundamental concept of osmosis and problem-solving skills. However, the broader impacts of this day included a new collaborative network between the university, the company, and the middle school that remains intact and productive.

scholarly journals Counselor Perceptions: Let Us Do Our Job!

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Stephen Benigno
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
School Counselors ◽  
School Counselor ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Middle School Student ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Counselor Perceptions ◽  
School Counselor Perceptions ◽  
Middle School Administrators ◽  
Elementary And Middle School

Elementary and Middle school administrators continually struggle with developing instructional programs that will address the academic and human developmental levels of the students in their care. Addressing the human development and the academic issues related to the elementary and middle school student is only a small percentage of the attention required for that student. Many students at the elementary and middle school levels encounter issues related to social and emotional development that are often overwhelming and many times detrimental to the academic development of those students. School administrators address those issues by utilizing the existing infrastructure of the schools. One of the key components of the school infrastructure is the school counselor. In some situations, school counselors are being required to perform duties outside the realm of their perceived responsibilities. This study was conducted to ascertain school counselor perceptions with respect to job performance, expectations, satisfaction and responsibility. The results of the study indicated that the counselors involved in the study believed that they are being required to perform duties outside the realm of their responsibilities and that the performance of these duties has an impact on their effectiveness as school counselors.

“Everybody Knows Everybody”: Adolescents’ Perceptions of What Helps Them Succeed in a Rural Title I School

2021 ◽  
pp. 074355842110438
Author(s):  
Erin M. West ◽  
Staci M. Zolkoski ◽  
Justin R. Lockhart ◽  
Jessica M. Holm ◽  
Josh Tremont
Keyword(s):  
Title I ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
School Size ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Parental Consent ◽  
Title I School ◽  
Black African ◽  
Study Participants

The current study explored adolescents’ perceptions of what contributes to their experiences of success in a rural Title I school through interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Participants included adolescents who were enrolled at a rural Title I Middle/High School in the southern United States. The single campus school district serves approximately 185 students from Prekindergarten to grade 12. Approximately, 73% of the students are identified as At-Risk, 88% of the students are economically disadvantaged, and 100% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Ten students from this school, with assent and parental consent, participated in the current study. Participants’ ages ranged from 13 to 18, and the students represented different genders (seven males, three females) and various racial and ethnic backgrounds (three Black/African American, four Latinx, two White, and one Biracial). Results from the current study suggest low-income adolescents in a rural Title I school perceived (a) school size, (b) family support, and (c) their own internal drive to succeed as contributing to their success at school. These themes, their corresponding subthemes, and representative participant statements are included. Implications for school administrators, teachers, and counselors along with directions for future research are discussed.

Corporal Punishment in Schools

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-173
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
American Academy ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
Student Behavior ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
School Achievement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Physical Force ◽  
School Officials ◽  
American Academy Of Pediatrics

It is estimated that corporal punishment is administered between 1 and 2 million times a year in schools in the United States.1 Thirty states have statutes that allow school officials to use corporal punishment. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that corporal punishment may affect adversely a student's self-image and his or her school achievement, and that it may contribute to disruptive and violent student behavior.2-4 Alternative methods of behavioral management have been shown to be more effective than corporal punishment.2-4 It is also recognized that physical force or constraint by a school official may be required in selected situations to protect students or staff from physical injury or to disarm a student. In carefully selected circumstances, the use of physical force or constraint may also be justified to prevent property damage. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents, educators, school administrators, school board members, legislators, and other adults to seek (1) the legal prohibition by all states of corporal punishment in schools and (2) the employment of alternative methods of managing student behavior.

Listening to “Frequent Flyers”: What Persistently Disciplined Students Have to Say about Being Labeled as “Bad”

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianna L. Kennedy-Lewis ◽  
Amy S. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
African American ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Character Trait ◽  
Exclusionary Discipline ◽  
Office Referrals ◽  
School Students ◽  
K 12

Background Educators’ increased use of suspension and expulsion has led to some students repeatedly losing access to learning opportunities. Students excluded from school are at a higher risk of dropping out, with those who receive multiple sanctions, often called “frequent flyers” by K—12 educators, faring even worse. The loss of access to classroom instruction resulting from exclusionary discipline disproportionately affects low-income students of color, reflecting a discipline gap between White students and their minoritized peers. Purpose While discourse regarding persistently disciplined students typically positions them as poor decision-makers who squander opportunities, a growing number of studies examine how educators and social contexts play a role in student exclusion. This study investigates middle school students’ experiences with becoming “frequent flyers” to understand whether and how they adopt educators’ labels of them as “bad” and how this label may shape their educational experiences. Setting/Participants Data collection occurred at Peninsula South Middle School, an urban school located in the Southeast. Participants included four African American boys, five African American girls, and two girls of mixed racial descent. During the school year in which we interviewed them, these students were suspended between one and six times and received an average of 28 office referrals. Research Design/Data Collection/Analysis We interviewed each student four times, with each interview lasting between 45 and 60 minutes, asking them about their school experiences starting from kindergarten through their current grade. We coded all transcripts according to our symbolic interactionist theoretical framework and derived themes. Findings Students explained how they experienced an iterative cycle of labeling and exclusion; they viewed “badness” as fleeting but believed that teachers saw it as a pervasive character trait; and, in their descriptions of the challenges they attempted to make against a system they perceived as unjust, students’ accounts revealed that those attempts only heightened the power their “badness” elicited from institutional agents. Conclusions While participants did not see themselves as “bad kids,” their descriptions of their schooling suggested that labeling occurred as written documentation of infractions via office referrals led to students’ physical exclusion from school. Students discussed how their previous punishment led educators to presume students’ guilt and employ more exclusionary discipline with them. Students did not adopt the label of “bad” as part of their identities even though their responses, reactions, and resistance led them to play the role of “bad hid “in some situations.

School Bullying Case Law: Frequency and Outcomes for School Level, Protected Status, and Bullying Actions

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane M. Holben ◽  
Perry A. Zirkel
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
School Bullying ◽  
Gender Nonconformity ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Students ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Status Classification ◽  
Gender Based

Purpose: During the past decade, concern with student bullying incidents has increased. When schools do not halt bullying, victims increasingly choose litigation as a remedy. Although the professional literature identifies the pertinent factors associated with bullying victimization, the available legal analyses have not kept pace. To identify focus areas for preventing bullying litigation, this study quantifies the frequency and outcomes for bullying cases disaggregated by the victims’ school level, protected status classification, and types of bullying actions. Methodology: We analyzed the 239 student bullying court decisions for the 20-year period 1995–2014, identifying the outcomes for each specific legal claim as well as each victim’s school level, protected status classification, and the types of bullying actions. Outcomes were conclusive if the plaintiff or defendant decisively prevailed and inconclusive if additional legal action was required for resolution. The analysis identified the most plaintiff-favorable outcome for each case and disaggregated by these three variables. Findings: The frequency of bullying cases was highest among middle school students, students asserting gender-based claims, and students experiencing both verbal and physical bullying actions. Conclusive outcomes strongly favored district defendants. Conversely, claims based on perceived sexual orientation resulted in the highest rates of inconclusive outcomes. Implications: The pro-district outcomes skew suggests that school administrators should focus on bullying prevention as a matter of educational effectiveness. To the extent that legal defensibility is a significant factor, education leaders should focus their efforts on reducing bullying of middle school students and students displaying gender nonconformity.

Willingness to Use Corporal Punishment among School Administrators in South Carolina

1992 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic J. Medway ◽  
Julie M. Smircic
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Middle Schools ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Willingness To Use

Administrators of 221 South Carolina public elementary and middle schools were surveyed regarding behaviors appropriate for corporal punishment. Analysis indicated that aggressive acts by students, both mild and severe, were rated appropriate for corporal punishment, and these were not typically seen as appropriate for a psychologist's intervention. Rather, psychologists were seen as useful for character problems such as lying, cheating, and tantrums.

The First Year as Teachers Assigned to Elementary and Middle-School Special Education Classrooms

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-110
Author(s):  
Kathy Gee ◽  
Jean Gonsier-Gerdin
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Special Education ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
First Year ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
Elementary And Middle School

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences and perceptions of 10 first-year teachers who had been trained to provide evidence-based practices, including integrated services and supports, and subsequently took jobs in self-contained, special education elementary and middle-school classrooms designated for students with “moderate/severe disabilities.” A collective case study design was used to follow the teachers over the course of their first year of teaching. The narrative and teacher-reported data demonstrated their accomplishments, the joys of their work with the children and families, and their growth in confidence levels. The data also revealed their frustrations with some of the systemic issues they faced. Many of the difficulties stemmed from the lack of a shared vision between the teachers and their school administrators and systems. Implications for policy and practice regarding the segregation of students with severe disabilities and their teachers are discussed, as well as issues related to the evaluation of special education teachers and the induction of new special education teachers.

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