If you have little knowledge about the zero-tolerance policies in U.S. schools, you will at very least know that this area is historically a hot topic. Olayinka Alege, along with J. Howard Johnston, present: “Policy Brief: Educational Policy Information Center” to elaborate on these policies and their aspects. They tried to combine the reasons behind the policies, their implementation, and the results of these policies.
Olayinka Alege stated that in a recent study (2014), researchers documented that Hispanic and dark-skinned high school students were significantly more being a target of out-of-school suspensions for the same misconduct as their white classmates. This is an indication of the degree of racism prevalent in many educational institutes.
He also discusses the factors that not only initiate, but also accelerate these practices. A significant reason for these exclusionary measures at schools is the mindset of the school administrator and teachers in charge of such decisions, the make-up of and also the student body’s diversity. Furthermore, he stated that gender was also a major factor in such decision-making practices in schools and directly proportional to the race of the students.
The writers tried to preach equality among all the students, no matter what group or creed they belong to. The schools should be cleared of every kind of discrimination – be it gender discrimination or creed discrimination. All students should be treated the same with no discriminatory treatment coming from the school staff. No one should be made to feel embarrassed or insecure because of their color.
Considering past behavioral practices, this tells us that exclusionary practices were very common in former days. The most significant indication of these practices was reflected in the form of low student achievement and bad school performance. Students were always insecure, because a minor mistake could cause suspension from the school.
The most devastating thing to learn was that gender discrimination was practiced in schools. Male students were more likely to get harsh punishment resulting in suspension from school as compared to female students. Perhaps less surprisingly, students with darker complexion were at higher risk: Teachers used to punish darker students more easily for mistakes while light-skinned students were more likely tolerated for the same incident. It could well be the worst thing ever for a darker student to see such biased behavior on the part of teachers and the school administration.
Olayinka Alege , along with J. Howard Johnston, suggested in their work that shifting the focus from a deficit-based perspective to a developmental and educational approach can save future generations from poor leadership and discrimination.
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