This week, you will watch the video and reflect on the idea of disproportionality. Students with disabilites are suspended/expelled at a disproportional rate, meaning that they are suspended/expelled more frequently than their typically developing peers. Please watch the video Disproportionality in discipline of students with special needs and reflect on the following questions:
- What societal problems arise when disciplining students with disabilities at disproportional rates?
- How does PBIS/RTI becocme part of the solution for this problem?
- What could your role become as a member of the school team to help mitigate this problem? (ex: SLPs could work on pragmatic skills, lang skills; teachers could implement RTI/PBIS; BAs could implement PBIS and become part of the team relating to building language skills).
this is a discussion post so after writing about 150 words for each question. Respond to this person in 1-4 sentences With statements like agree or I noticed or anything of that sort.
soshana stated
One of the biggest concerns when disciplining students with disabilities at a disproportionate rate is the absence of academics and an educational setting to learn essential pragmatic skills. This lack of school presence will affect the child’s emotional, social, and learning abilities in the future, thus affecting how the child functions in society. For example, by expelling or suspending a child for an extended period of time at disproportionate rates, it reinforces that challenging behavior because you are rewarding them by sending them home. This counterproductive act will later affect the child because you are teaching them that the more they do something inappropriate, they will be able to go home. Secondly, as discussed in the video, “research shows us that students who experience even just one suspension are twice as likely to be involved in the criminal justice system” (Effective Alternatives to Exclusionary Discipline Practices with Dr Shannon Jones, n.d., 18:23). Additionally, “nationally, between 30-80 percent of students who are detained or incarcerated have a disability” (Effective Alternatives to Exclusionary Discipline Practices with Dr Shannon Jones, n.d., 20:50). This is a substantial statistic that can be avoided if educators, school administrators, and therapists work together to mitigate this problem.
