THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 1, 1995 TAG: 9508010229
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Long : 125 lines
The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Board of Education directs its 10 schools to develop discipline plans under a policy approved Monday night.
The paragraph-long policy, along with a 14-page guide to help schools create their plans, is a step toward tackling what many believe to be one of the district's most serious issues.
``If we don't address it, I think we would be doing a disservice,'' said Sandra Hooker, instructional specialist at P.W. Moore Elementary and president of the local chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators.
Hooker praised the regulations submitted by Superintendent Joseph Peel to board members Monday.
``I like it, because the parents have responsibility as well as the students and the teachers,'' Hooker said. ``We're finally pulling in all of these people who have that responsibility for these students' needs.''
The regulations, an outline for schools to use in developing discipline plans, call for a ``contract'' among students, parents and teachers.
Under a philosophy that discipline must be taught like a subject, all parties must uphold their responsibilities: Parents must prepare their children for school, teachers must provide a learning experience worth showing up for, and students must do their best to learn and behave.
The plan emphasizes teaching behavioral skills - such as teamwork and individual responsibility - that have been identified in statewide projects as necessary for graduates to succeed in society.
``The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Board of Education strongly believes,'' the document says, ``that students who are not able to work productively with others and students who are not able to set goals for themselves, be dependable and hold themselves accountable for their actions will simply not be successful in the 21st century.''
The plan recommends that schools undertake such projects as peer mediation and develop places for angry students to ``cool off.'' Teachers are encouraged to hold class meetings, teach lessons on particular social skills and have students experiment with teaching the class.
Students who fail to behave themselves will be encouraged to take positive action - called ``restitution,'' which includes apologies for acts like name-calling and making up lost time for absences.
Students not willing to perform acts of restitution will face ``negative consequences'' - isolation within the classroom, in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension.
Even parents are expected to face the music if their children consistently misbehave. The district plans to begin an ``adult behavioral school'' that parents are required to attend with their children ``to develop a consistent approach between parent and school when working with student.''
Board member Nita Coleman applauded efforts to bring parents into the process.
``Sometimes you need to have the whole family involved in defining appropriate behavior,'' Coleman said.
The document, Peel said, works hard to preserve ``the sanctity of the classroom.''
``We have really tried hard to focus on helping every child,'' Peel said. ``But I think we've almost done that sometimes to the detriment of the classroom. . . . I think that what this does is try to help balance that again.''
Peel said many of the recommendations in the districtwide plan are already taking place, the result of three years of training in new ways to handle student behavior. Staff at Northeastern High School, working from a draft document, have already developed a plan.
``What I'm hoping that this will do is cause people to focus and pull together on these things,'' Peel said. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS
Parents and students can expect staff to:
Model and teach students appropriate behaviors.
Provide students with work that is challenging, novel and related
to the real world on a daily basis, in an environment that provides
choices and protects students from negative consequences for initial
failure.
Provide a caring, respectful learning environment that protects
students from humiliation or embarrassment in front of others.
Ensure that students are always adequately supervised.
``Breach of contract of these expectations will be addressed as a
disciplinary matter with the staff member involved.''
Teachers can expect parents to:
Be their child's primary teachers.
Work with school staff.
Ensure that students arrive at school on time and prepared to
learn.
Teach their child to behave appropriately.
``Breach of contract by parents will result in their child either
being removed or not allowed to enter the learning environment.''
Parents and teachers can expect students to:
Make every effort to learn.
Demonstrate appropriate behaviors at all times.
Never do anything that will place others in harm.
Attend school regularly and work diligently to succeed
academically.
``Students not meeting these expectations will lose control of
their educational future. They will be removed from class, school or
school system as needed.''
FROM THE ELIZABETH CITY-PASQUOTANK SCHOOLS DISCIPLINE PLAN
``Historically in schools, discipline has been viewed as
controlling students so that they would do what the adults wanted.
This approach to managing students is based upon punishment and
rewards. Its goal is to create students who are compliant and will
follow the rules and assumes that students come to school knowing
how to behave.
``Anyone who has been in schools lately knows that this approach
no longer works with today's students. The freedom which is inherent
in today's families and society has resulted in young people who
question authority and who usually behave according to what they
understand to be in their best interest.
``The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Board of Education believes that
as a result of these changes, educators must approach discipline
among students as a subject to be taught if they are to create the
environments in schools and classrooms needed for student learning
to take place. Just as in teaching any subject matter, goals must be
set, expectations for students and teachers must be understood,
instructional strategies must be developed, curriculum must be
adopted and consequences or alternatives for students who do not
learn must be established.
by CNB