Making the grade:
"The question that's been discussed by school administrators, city officials and concerned citizens is whether the rate of out of school suspensions (OSS) has grown to a point where it is impeding the ability of many students, particularly African Americans, to receive the education to which every student is entitled.
At the August 5 School Board meeting, Dr. Quentina Miller-Fields made a presentation outlining two of the biggest issues with students, truancy and discipline, and discussing the actions being taken by the Board of Education. The BOE's goal is 'to reduce the number of infractions that give rise to referrals for suspension and expulsion,' according to the Dr. Miller-Fields report.
The BOE wants to proactively reduce the students' truancy rate - the number of students with more than five unexcused absences - from 14%, the level during school year 07-08, to less than 10.2% by 2012, and to reduce the number of disciplinary infractions almost 30%, from a total of 18,892 in SY 07-08 to less than 13,000 by 2012.
To help achieve their goal, the school system has installed a variety of new programs, including Response to Intervention (RTI), Positive Behavior Support (PBS), and new counseling programs, including a partnership with Gateway Behavioral Health to better evaluate issues students may be facing, whether it's a learning disability or personal problems"
"The question that's been discussed by school administrators, city officials and concerned citizens is whether the rate of out of school suspensions (OSS) has grown to a point where it is impeding the ability of many students, particularly African Americans, to receive the education to which every student is entitled.
At the August 5 School Board meeting, Dr. Quentina Miller-Fields made a presentation outlining two of the biggest issues with students, truancy and discipline, and discussing the actions being taken by the Board of Education. The BOE's goal is 'to reduce the number of infractions that give rise to referrals for suspension and expulsion,' according to the Dr. Miller-Fields report.
The BOE wants to proactively reduce the students' truancy rate - the number of students with more than five unexcused absences - from 14%, the level during school year 07-08, to less than 10.2% by 2012, and to reduce the number of disciplinary infractions almost 30%, from a total of 18,892 in SY 07-08 to less than 13,000 by 2012.
To help achieve their goal, the school system has installed a variety of new programs, including Response to Intervention (RTI), Positive Behavior Support (PBS), and new counseling programs, including a partnership with Gateway Behavioral Health to better evaluate issues students may be facing, whether it's a learning disability or personal problems"
