School Support Teams: Building State Capacity for Improving Schools

Universal public education may be a mirage if we consider the role that behavior policies play in providing mechanisms by which schools can disentitle nonconforming students. In traditional schools, students are legally suspended or expelled from school for disruptive behavior, habitual neglect of duty, or chronic absenteeism through policies that encourage the exit of difficult students rather than addressing their problems. This article includes an overview of behavior and attendance policies in Canadian schools and a discussion of a sample of schools in which policies have been revised to provide alternative programs designed to meet the needs of all students, especially those who are at risk. These schools work with other social agencies to address the problems associated with high dropout rates instead of expelling students who have problems.