Rethinking Universal Suspension for Severe Student Behavior

Driven by a combination of concern for historically high suspension rates and substantial disproportionalities in suspension use, a recent wave of education reforms encourages schools to reduce their use of suspensions for student behavior management. Both academic and political discourse has focused on the extensive use of suspension for relatively minor behavioral infractions, with an implicit assumption or explicit articulation that suspension could still be used for severe infractions. This article tests that assumption, providing evidence that reductions in suspensions for severe infractions may produce positive impacts without harming school safety.

Using data from high schools in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), 2007–2014, we examine how declines in school reliance on suspensions for severe infractions are associated with changes in academic performance, attendance, and student reports of school climate for all students in the school. Recognizing the substantial methodological difficulty in obtaining impact estimates, we exploit a series of official and unofficial policy-induced changes to suspension practice, using school and student fixed effects models with extensive controls to reduce potential sources of bias in the estimates.

We find the reduction in out-of-school suspension for severe infractions was associated with small but statistically significant increases in student test scores, consequential attendance improvements (beyond the impact of fewer days suspended), and heterogeneity in changes to students' perceptions of school safety. Test score impacts are concentrated in racially diverse schools and those with low baseline suspension use. Attendance impacts are driven by schools predominantly serving African American students (which also had the highest baseline suspension rates); these schools also had large, significant improvements in perceptions of school climate.     

Children's perceptions of discrimination: a developmental model

Discrimination affects millions of children in the United States and throughout the world. Although the topic is important for both theoretical and applied reasons, little developmental work has examined children's perceptions of discrimination directed toward themselves and others. A review of past theoretical and empirical work on the perception of discrimination is provided. Next, a developmental model of the perception of discrimination is offered. The model identifies developmental and individual differences expected to influence judgments about discrimination, as well as situational variables that are likely to support attributions to discrimination.     

Explaining variation in student efforts towards using math and science knowledge in engineering contexts

Previous research suggests that in classes that take an integrated approach to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, students tend to engage in fulfilling goals of their engineering design challenges, but only inconsistently engage with the related math and science content. The present research examines these inconsistences by focusing on student engagement, or effort, towards math and science concepts while working on an engineering challenge, through the lens of expectancy-value theory. Specifically, we examine how students’ perceptions of the value of math and science and expectancy for success with the math and science relate to the efforts they put towards using math and science while working on engineering challenges. Our results suggest that subjective task value significantly predicts efforts towards both math and science, whereas neither expectancy, nor the interaction between expectancy and value predicted effort. We argue that integrated learning environments need to help students understand how the domains of math, science, and engineering support their work in fulfilling the engineering project design goals. In other words, we argue that we, as educators, must help students to recognise the value of each of the domains addressed within STEM integrated learning environments. This paper discusses strategies for accomplishing this goal.     

Polymerase chain reaction: It’s diagnostic application

The development of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has been a major technical milestone in molecular genetics with the greatest impact on research, in rapid medical diagnosis and in studying the pathogenesis of disease. This study highlights the practical applications of polymerase chain reaction in diagnosis and includes a recent application of PCR in differentiating polio from other nonpolio enteroviruses.     

We belong together: belonging to the principal’s in-group protects teachers from the negative effects of task conflict on psychological safety

Psychological safety is the shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. Critical team events such as conflict and faultlines (hypothetical lines that split a team into subgroups) should impact psychological safety. Previous research has shown the benefits of task conflict on team outcomes under certain conditions and the consistently negative effects of demographic faultline strength on team outcomes. We propose that being close to the principal (what we call belonging to the principal’s in-group) should help attenuate the negative effects of task conflict and faultlines among teachers, because it is associated with a more effective working relationship. In a survey study with 244 teachers from 45 primary schools, we tested the moderating effect of belonging to the principal’s in-group vs. belonging to an out-group on the relationships of task conflict and faultlines on psychological safety. Results of multilevel model tests showed that relationship conflict (but not task conflict) and faultlines decreased psychological safety. However, when teachers belonged to the principal’s in-group as compared to an out-group, task conflict had no negative effect on psychological safety. We present implications to bridge the negative effects due to subgroup presence, so that psychological safety can become a resource for all.     

Educators’ perceptions of learners with intellectual disabilities’ sexual knowledge and behaviour in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

Over the past two decades, comprehensive sexuality education has increasingly been recognised as a measure that positively impacts on the sexual behaviour of young people in Africa. Despite this, and a political call to scale-up the use of comprehensive sexuality education in schools in South Africa, learners with disabilities continue to be left behind. Besides contending with negative hegemonic constructs of disabled sexualities, educators of learners with disabilities lack skills and resources to teach sexuality in accessible formats. Based on this premise, a comprehensive sexuality education approach – Breaking the Silence – was developed and piloted to assist educators of learners with disabilities to provide access to comprehensive sexuality education in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This article presents results from the formative evaluation of this pilot work and discusses educators’ perceptions of their learners with intellectual disabilities’ sexual knowledge, agency and behaviour after implementing the approach. Although educators appeared to situate learners with intellectual disabilities as sexual agents, their implementation of the approach was dependent on the cognitive ability of learners, and discourses of culture, gender and protection from violence.     

Interview Experiences and Diversity Concerns of Counselor Education Faculty From Underrepresented Groups

The authors used transcendental phenomenology to explore the campus interview experiences and diversity concerns of counselor education faculty from underrepresented populations. Six themes were identified: issues of integrity, disappointment in the counseling profession, importance of authenticity, intersectionality of major identity markers, competence, and supportive experiences. Findings suggest that culturally competent search committees should be aware of biases and policies promoting institutional and systemic discrimination.     

Promoting intercultural friendship among college students

This study assessed the efficacy of a semester-long buddy project in facilitating intercultural friendship development. Results of pre-, post-, and follow-up surveys show significant improvements in knowledge and attitude; correlations between post-project knowledge, attitude, and interest in continued contact; and correlations between interest in continued contact and actual contact in the follow up. The majority of the participants evaluated the project as effective for friendship formation. Of the follow-up respondents, 23% developed friendships with their former buddies. The project serves as an example for assignments with the potential for friendship development, which is essential for optimal intergroup contact.     

Learning to Lead: an Approach to Mathematics Teacher Leader Development

This paper describes a partnership between a university and an urban school district, formed with a goal of preparing mathematics teacher leaders to conduct professional development (PD) at their schools. The university and district partners worked together to achieve the district’s mission of providing every student with high-quality instruction and equitable learning opportunities in mathematics by building the district’s capacity to conduct school-based PD for mathematics teachers. Given the power of school-based subject-specific PD for improving instructional quality, we worked with Teacher Leaders from participating schools to prepare and support them to lead PD workshops at their schools. In this paper, we examine how Teacher Leaders learn and adapt key elements of a PD model over three school years through the lenses of Prediger et al.’s Three-Tetrahedron-Model (2019) and the university’s Learning to Lead model. Over 3 years, we see that Teacher Leaders use the key structures of the PD model; make adaptations in response to school goals, interests, and priorities; and gain confidence in their work with colleagues. By viewing the adaptations through the lens of pedagogies of practice as well as the relationships illustrated by the 3-T model, this work offers insights into the complexities of teacher leadership development.