Program keeping kids in school

Local schools' success with using positive reinforcement instead of suspensions might inspire statewide change

RALEIGH -- A program many Triangle school systems are using to reward students for good behavior could help reverse rising statewide suspension rates.

Statewide, short-term suspensions and expulsions rose in 2005-06 from the prior school year, according to a report presented Wednesday by the state Department of Public Instruction.

But state education officials said school districts that use the positive behavioral support system, which promotes rewards instead of punishments, seem to have reduced suspensions.

"We do have some programs that are being successful," said Priscilla Maynor, DPI's executive director of agency operations and information management. "The question is how can we scale it up and implement it statewide."

In North Carolina, the program was used in 299 schools in 66 school systems last year. Another 280 schools and 17 school systems started this year.

Locally, schools in Wake, Durham, Johnston and Chatham counties and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system use the program.

Schools using the new approach don't assume students know how to behave. Instead, teachers teach things such as how to walk silently in hallways. Students who are seen acting properly may get rewards such as lunch with the principal or a chance to pick prizes.

In Wake, 42 of the 147 schools use the positive behavioral support program. The goal is to expand it to all schools in Wake within the next four years.

John Ringo, coordinator of Wake's program, said it has been so successful that he has a waiting list of schools who want to start in the fall.

Districtwide last year, Wake saw a 3 percent drop in short-term suspensions, in which a student is put out of school for 10 days or less.

But Wake expels more

But one troubling number for Wake is how expulsions nearly tripled from six to 17 in 2005-06. All 17 were black males. Expelled students are banned from returning to their school system.

Wake parents have to arm themselves with school district policies if the number of black students expelled is to decline, according to Calla Wright, co-founder of the parent advocacy group the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African-American Children.

"Many parents are giving the schools too much responsibility," Wright said. "We as parents must step up to the plate and monitor problems academically and behaviorally."

She said knowing the policies and keeping in constant communication with teachers would allow more parents to be more proactive.

The number of short-term suspensions per 100 students has dropped from three years ago in Wake, Durham, Johnston, Chatham and Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Total suspensions fell 38 percent in that time in Chapel Hill.

Community programs and school teams of teachers, nurses and other staff have all contributed to the decline, said Jeff Reilly, Chapel Hill's coordinator of student services.

"I think we're doing some really good things in our school, and it's working now and hopefully it will always work, but we've got to continue to look at what's working, continue to investigate how we can make things better," Reilly said.

Durham has come a long way from past years. In 2003-04, Durham students were suspended more than 9,700 times, compared with 6,383 this past school year. But short-term suspensions grew about 7 percent from the previous year. No students were expelled, according to the records.

Still, Durham's short-term suspension rate is among the highest in the Triangle.

Board member Kirsten Kainz said she felt school leaders would appreciate the data and use it to hone their approach.

"This is another set of information for us to evaluate our progress to date ... and consider what else needs to be done," she said.

Statewide trouble

The numbers weren't as good statewide.

Short-term suspensions rose to 302,303 in the 2005-06 school year, up 4.3 percent from 2004-05. More than one of every 10 students statewide received a short-term suspension.

Expulsions rose from 68 in 2004-05 to 95 in 2005-06.

Long-term suspensions were down 1.7 percent to 3,949 in the 2005-06 school year. Long-term suspensions can run from 11 days to 365 days.

Black students, especially males, continued to represent a disproportionately high percentage of the suspensions.

More students were being suspended and expelled in the earlier part of the decade as school systems embraced "zero-tolerance" policies. In 2002-03, 353 students were expelled. Amid criticism that too many students were being suspended, school systems were urged to review their discipline policies.

But the many suspensions still trouble education leaders.

"Right now I can't sleep at night because we're not doing everything we can," said Howard Lee, chairman of the State Board of Education.

(Staff writers Kinea White, Cheryl Johnston Sadgrove and Samiha Khanna contributed to this report.)