I know I said I would share with you in this week’s blog the most effective prevention strategies you can use to work on the attitudes your middle school students have about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. However, I’m not. But, I promise I will – next week.
Instead…
I want you to think about something else that is impacting approximately 2.8 million students or about 6 percent of our U.S. public school student population. It’s something that is impacting students in every school and community – even yours.
What is it?
Out-of-school suspensions.
Did you know that in the 2015-2016 school year alone, students lost more than 11 million school days to out-of-school suspensions?
You read that correctly. Broken down further, that amounts to:
- 66 million hours of instruction time lost in one school year
- 63,000+ school years’ worth of learning
Out-of-school suspensions leave kids at home unsupervised and able to cause more problems. They also do nothing to teach appropriate alternative behavior nor address underlying issues that may be causing the bad behavior.
Students suspended from school lose important instructional time, are less likely to graduate on time, are more likely to repeat a grade, drop out of school and become involved in the juvenile justice system.
No matter if you work with students in school or out of school, the long-term impact out-of-school suspensions can have on your kids’ futures, their families and your community is concerning.
Finding a more successful solution to dealing with problem student behavior than out-of-school suspension is something I have found many schools struggle with. Administrators, classroom teachers and even parents know another alternative is important and needed.
But, what?
That’s the big question. And for years, when I was asked for my opinion, I didn’t know what the answer was either.
Until…
I met Bill Michener of The Lighthouse in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In all of my 34 years of working with schools and community-based youth organizations around the country, I have NEVER heard about an alternative suspension program like the one at The Lighthouse.
This program has all the components needed to make it one of the most successful alternatives to suspension:
A collaborative relationship between the school district and a well-established and respected community-based youth program
- The cooperation of school administrators and classroom teachers district-wide
- Parent/Guardian involvement
- Adequate and shared funding
- Skilled and dedicated staff
- Outcome evaluation measures
The alternative suspension program at The Lighthouse is so unique and the results it has seen in just three years has caught the attention of other school districts, community-based youth organizations and me!
There is no way I could do justice describing the program in a blog to you. The best and only way to capture what this innovative, proven alternative suspension program is doing is to have Bill Michener, the Executive Director of The Lighthouse, tell you himself.
I recently sat down with Bill to have a recorded conversation about how the idea of this alternative suspension program came to be, how the partnership between The Lighthouse and the Lincoln Public School district was formed, what the program challenges and successes have been, how the program has grown to what it is today and how you can replicate the program in your school or community.
After the conversation I was convinced even more that this program is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen or heard of and I’m pretty sure it will be for you, too!
And, that is why I’m sharing my conversation with Bill with you this week!
If you’re concerned about the number of single and/or repeat out-of-school suspensions in your school and the number of students falling behind academically or dropping out because of it, you definitely want to hear how The Lighthouse – a community-based youth program – was able to turn those same concerns into solutions and give students the opportunity to achieve success in their future!
So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back and relax and listen to my conversation with Bill and hear how you can reduce out-of-school suspensions with your students!