Creating a Safe Learning EnvironmentPART OF THE SCHOOLS PORTLAND’S STUDENTS DESERVE

Urgent Need to Address Safety in PPS

34% of educators believe their school environment is unsafe. (PAT survey) Last year only 17% felt their school environment was unsafe. (TELL survey) Epidemic of students and staff getting hurt in our schools this year. A school that is unsafe for staff can’t be safe for students.

Urgent Need to Address Safety in PPS “Students do not feel safe because there is, at times, a feeling of chaos. Students who are doing the right thing do not necessarily see anything being done when others don’t do the right thing.”

“I have a student with severe behavioral/emotional needs. He is in my class full time, usually without support. This student is unpredictable. He hits, runs, throws objects, yells and pushes others. I often worry about the safety of my other students.”

Portland Association of Teacher (PAT)Advocacy Committee

Al Rabchuk, Chair, Wilson HS Michelle Lacaden, W. Sylvan MS

Tija Smith Wallis, Lincoln HS David Child, Woodlawn K-8

Mike Bauer, Roosevelt HS Kevin Conroy, W. Sylvan MS

Jeanne Grant, SpEd, CTP Shelly Simonsen, CJOG K-8

About the Safety Survey

Every PAT member got it (excluding substitutes) 30 percent of our members responded We’re presenting several of the key results tonight We will meet with the Teaching and Learning committee at a later date to continue the discussion.

Analyzing Three Areas Tonight PPS Track Record in Developing, Disseminating, and Applying Discipline Policies Hollowing out Special Education Services and the Impact on Discipline Patchwork of Discipline Systems

PPS is doing an poor job following its own rules and the PPS/PAT contract. Cutting special education services has contributed to unsafe classroom conditions. The District is using a patchwork of disciplinary systems, and rarely provides the front-end resources necessary to make them work.

Conclusions

Discipline Policy: Dissemination and Application

Written Student Discipline Plan

62% of respondents either do not have

or do not know if their school has a

written building Student Discipline Plan

Yes38%

No 20%

Don't

Know

42%

Written Student Discipline Plan “I have asked to see one, and have never been given one. I was told there is no handbook.”

“ We have written rules and expectations, but no procedures to follow when said rules and expectations are violated.”

Clearly Communicated Policies and Procedures

50% of respondents do not believe

that student conduct policies & procedures are

clearly communicated.

36%

50%Disagree

Agree

“Staff is not really sure what the policies and procedures are. I am not even sure the administration really knows what they are, with all the change happening.”

“There is no transparency. Students will engage in very unsafe behaviors and administrators respond that their hands are tied by the district, that they cannot exclude students. Students get the message there are no real consequences for their behavior, so their behavior escalates to dangerous levels.”

Clearly Communicated Policies and Procedures

Consistent Consequences

47% of respondents do not believe that

consequences are consistent with written discipline plans

or the PPS discipline handbook.

27%

47%Disagree

Agree

“Our written building plan does NOT outline or describe consequences. The district handbook does not seem to be followed at all.”

“Students at our school are not safe. There are no real consequences for violent behaviors. Students will be sent to the office, only to be returned to class 5 minutes later. Students are bullied, and our administrators are either unwilling or unable to hold kids accountable.”

“There is minimal to no information shared regarding how discipline is determined, defined, assigned, etc. As a teacher, I feel in the dark about what discipline issues exist at my school, if there are any trends I should be noticing or anything that may assist in protecting and aiding students.”

Consistent Consequences

Timely Discipline Follow-up

Nearly twice as many respondents

feel they do not receive timely follow-up to discipline

referrals as feel they do.

Agree

Disagree 47%

28%

“My students have received referrals and there is nothing in Synergy or nothing of substance. When the behavior is repeated and the consequence remains ‘conference’ the behavior DOES NOT CHANGE and the students suffer.”

“I never hear a word. 99% of the time students are sent back to class or show up the next day.”

Timely Discipline Follow-up

Effective Discipline Process

By nearly a 3 to 1 margin respondents believe that

the referral process at their site is not efficient

and effective. 26%

74%No

Yes

74%

26%

“While we write referrals and appropriately escalate, we are told that students cannot be suspended and we have no form of detention or in-school suspension. These factors create a situation in which the students feel they can get away with anything, therefore making our classroom management plans nearly useless.”

Effective Discipline Process

Special Education and Discipline

Special Education Supports

70% of respondents believe that Special Ed

supports are not adequate for behaviors that create

unsafe classroom conditions Disagree

70%

Agree19%

No Opinion

“We have worked from September through April to finally get some support through Special Ed for 3 students in this building. It has impacted the entire building and I have to credit our Principal for being persistent in helping us get the help these students need.”

“We don’t have adequate supports and need one-on-ones for certain students. The model we have doesn’t support the number of IEP’s in my classroom. Close to 15 IEPs in one class alone.”

Special Education Supports

“There needs to be a more efficient process for taking data, tracking students who are struggling, and helping teachers design/implement interventions. Many students are falling through the cracks until they get in 2nd-4th grade, at which time they are already very behind academically and behavior-wise.”

Special Education Supports

Discipline System Patchwork

Discipline Systems PBIS 41% RESTORATIVE JUSTICE 25% CHAMPS 17% ENVOY 3%

“Neither discipline style [PBIS or RJ] has been fully explained. We have just been told we are doing these models. We were explicitly told that the District is making our school do Restorative Justice, but without a RJ trainer. But we are still expected to follow it – whatever “it” is.”

“I strongly believe in the imperative to reduce inequity in student discipline, and I believe that Restorative Justice is a powerful tool in doing so. However, the way it has been “implemented” was to just throw out the referral process. I have had several incidents with students that would previously have gotten them suspended. They experienced no consequences, and then we did not go through a RJ process before the student was returned to my class. This only exacerbates issues rather than resolve them.

Discipline Systems

Discipline Systems“Like so many initiatives, we talk about PBIS. We say it frames our work and yet there is not enough time for teachers to develop a meaningful program. We get a superficial set of protocols and structures, but never enough time to develop real embodied understanding.”

Question for the BoardDo you feel you know what PPS has done differently to achieve the results presented to you last week?