Smart & Good High Schools - The Flippen Group

CHAPTER 5: Fostering the 8 Strengths of Character—Outcome 5This teacher commented, “If a student forgets a rule, Ijust knock on one of my signs or go over to that person’sdesk. That almost always takes care of it. If it doesn’t, I’llsee the student after class or after school.”Discipline ReferralsThe teachers we spoke with said they send students to theoffice only as a last resort. When a discipline referral is necessary,they said its effectiveness depends on how the schooladministration handles it. In a large school known for itsorderly and productive environment, a veteran teacher said:I don’t often write up kids, but recently I wrote up five whohad not been coming to class. Now they are all coming,thanks to how our administrators handle this kind of situation.The immediate message to parents is, “Your child cannotcome back to school until we address this problemtogether.” The parent is there the next day.Require Students to Think DeeplyAbout Their BehaviorA high school that is the recipient of multiple awards callsits behavior management system its Success Code. When astudent is referred for problem behavior, there is a 4-stepprocess (see box).ONE SCHOOL’S DISCIPLINARY PROCESS1. A student sent to the office completes a form (a)describing what happened, first from his/her viewpointand then from the teacher’s viewpoint; (b)relating the student’s behavior to one of theschool’s eight Essential Learner Behaviors; and (c)planning what the student will do the next time.2. The student discusses the completed form with theprincipal or assistant principal.3. The student decides what restitution he or she willcarry out.4. The parent(s) or guardian(s) are notified. (Thismight be the first step, depending on the offense.)The principal explained:We want kids to really think about their behavior. That’swhy our form asks them to tell what happened from twoviewpoints: theirs and the teacher’s. Then they must chooseone of our eight “Essential Learner Behaviors”—problemsolving,critical thinking, communication, self-discipline, socialcooperation, citizenship, concern for the environment, andwellness—that they believe is relevant to the action that gotthem in trouble. The form asks them to explain: “How didyou not use that learner behavior when you did what youdid? What do you plan to do differently the next time?”The word gets around school about “the form.” One boysaid, “It’s not a good idea to get in trouble around herebecause you really have to analyze what you did.”“It’s not a good idea to get in troublearound here because you really haveto analyze what you did.”Once the form is completed, the student discusses it witheither the principal or assistant principal. “The conversationis often the richest part,” the principal said. “There’salways a reason for what kids do; it helps to know the reason.For example, there might be something going on athome that we should know about.”Require RestitutionThe conversation about the form concludes with a discussionof what the student will do to make restitution.We ask them, “What do you think you need to do to makerestitution—to make things better? What fits?” This yearwe had a boy pop off at a park official at his service-learningsite because he felt the official was rude to him. He waswritten up. For his restitution, he wrote a letter of apologyto the official and also apologized to him personally. Thiswas hard, hard, hard for this kid to do. The park directorsaid, “Having him come in here like a man and apologizemade all the difference in our letting him come back.”In the view of this principal, requiring restitution developspersonal responsibility in students because they mustdo something positive to set things right. “We talk a lot ineducation about teaching kids to take responsibility fortheir actions. But just sending them to detention doesn’tdevelop responsibility. Restitution, on the other hand,teaches them that when you do something wrong, youshould do something right to make up for it. Sometimesan apology is sufficient restitution, but often we ask studentsto do more—to think about what other positiveactions they might take to make up for what they did.”At another high school that included restitution in itsapproach to discipline, a teacher commented on itsimportance in teaching responsibility for one’s actions:154Smart & Good High Schools