A 16 page research paper that presents a hypothetical grant proposal to start an alternative program to out-of-school suspension in the Palm Beach County School District in Florida. The writer discusses why suspension and zero tolerance policies have not worked to correct disciplinary problems; reviews literature on alternative programs; and recommends the RALLY program designed by Noam, Warner and Dyken (2001). Budgetary considerations and evaluation processes are also discussed. Bibliography lists 15 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_khzerono.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
potential problems and protect other students and staff (Taras, et al, 2003). Between 79 and 94 percent of all schools have policies that are popularly known as "zero tolerance" and
invoke automatic suspension or expulsion for a list of prohibited behaviors (Taras, et al, 2003). According to Skiba and Peterson (1999), the term grew out of state and federal drug
enforcement policies in the 1980s. While 90 percent of the American public support these policies, there is considerable empirical evidence that suspension and expulsion, as straight disciplinary punishment, simply do
not work. Rather than alleviating a problem, they frequently exacerbate declining academic performance, which is particularly true when students are not provided with an immediate educational alternative (Taras, et al,
2003). Out-of-school suspension/expulsion often results in increased student alienation, delinquency, crime and substance abuse (Taras, et al, 2003). Research has shown that schools often suspend precisely those students who have
the greatest academic, economic and emotional needs (Noguera, 2003) Suspension has been shown to be a poor deterrent to violence and the fairness of this policy has been questioned by
many, a it frequently targets poor male minority students, as well as academically-challenged students (Breunlin, et al, 2002). Skiba and Knesting (2001) report the ludicrous levels of disciplinary action that
zero tolerance policies have instigated. For example, in Fort Myers, Florida, a high school senior, who was also a National Merit Scholar, was arrested, spent a day in jail and
was suspended for five days (which caused him to miss his graduation) because a kitchen knife was found in the back seat of his car (Skiba and Knesting, 2001). In
2001, the American Bar Association (ABA) recommended that schools should end such hard-line policies. The ABA argues that it is wrong to automatically suspend, expel, or refer a student to