Low Suspension Rates at Dilworth PreK-5
Rising up: Dilworth PreK-5
Keeping suspension rates low by meeting students’ needs at Dilworth
2019 | Written by Faith Schantz, Report Editor
In the 2018-19 school year, the students who were suspended from the Pittsburgh Public Schools could have almost filled Heinz Hall.
The sheer number of students missing out on instruction is one part of the problem. The other is the difference in the number of black students, students from economically disadvantaged families, and students with IEPs for special education who were suspended, compared to other students. As has been true for decades, the biggest disparity relates to black students, who make up 53% of the district’s student population, but accounted for 75% of suspensions.
Local and national research shows that students of color are suspended far more often than white students. Evidence that suspension harms children has mounted over the years. A recent study shows that being suspended, regardless of the cause, creates a greater likelihood that a child will be involved with the criminal justice system in the future. And the negative effects are worse for students of color and younger children, such as those in elementary school.
Compared to the previous year, the percentages of PPS students who were suspended at least once in 2018-19 has stayed about the same for K-5 and 6-12 schools, risen slightly in K-8s, and declined in middle and high schools. However, the racial disparity hasn’t shifted, and the numbers are still high. Overall, 10% of the district’s students were punished by suspension this past school year.
As an alternative to suspension, the district has adopted “restorative practices” in all schools. Restorative practices focus on repairing relationships after students have offended, and also help to improve a school’s culture. (Read about how restorative practices helped students build better relationships at Brashear.)
Another way to reduce suspensions is to focus on the causes of problem behavior. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Monica Lamar, who is also the principal of Pittsburgh Dilworth PreK-5, says, “Sometimes we wait, with kids, and we react,” instead of being proactive. At Dilworth, where for years the suspension rate has been lower than the district K-5 average, being proactive has meant confronting issues that reach outside of the school building and beyond the school day. “Kids have to have what they need,” she says.
Lamar, her staff, and Dilworth parents have incorporated a number of strategies to reduce the need for suspensions at the school, including:
Station adults where they can see students arriving at the beginning of the school day.
Address students’ basic needs. Prompted by a parent’s concern, for the past several years the school’s PTA has worked with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to send backpacks of food home with students who might otherwise go hungry on weekends. If a child comes to school without a uniform, the school provides one.
Address students’ social and emotional needs. Dilworth staff and Familylinks, a service provider, run support groups for students that range from coping with grief and loss to how to be a good friend. Students who need more support receive one-on-one counseling. Volunteers, Dilworth staff members, and staff from organizations such as Strong Women, Strong Girls serve as mentors for students. The school responds to the “whole child” with enrichment periods for students to follow their interests.
Model positive behavior. Lamar uses “morning meeting,” a daily schoolwide assembly, to model behavior she wants to see from students. Even waiting for a glitch in the sound system to be fixed is an opportunity to model a positive trait: patience.
Offer students opportunities to be forgiven. Often, Lamar says, children realize they have made a mistake but they don’t know how to fix it. Adults can create a path forward.
Know students and be known by them. When something happens, Lamar says, a student is usually the first to report it to “a trusted adult,” including the principal. She believes relationships with students create accountability on both sides. “They don’t want to disappoint me, and I quite frankly don’t like to disappoint them. So we see eye-to-eye on that,” she says.