SUPERINTENDENT CARVALHO, MIAMI DELEGATION ATTEND GATHERING AT WHITE HOUSE FOCUSED ON RETHINKING SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho, Deputy Superintendent Valtena Brown and Chief Academic Officer Marie Izquierdo joined other educators from across the nation at a gathering hosted by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. The event today, “Rethink Discipline,” a daylong conference at the White House, is focused on helping school districts to create positive school climates and implement effective discipline practices.

"At M-DCPS, we strive to implement consequences without depriving students of valuable instructional time," said Carvalho. “If students are not in school, whether absent or suspended, they are not learning.”

“Today’s conference shows that there are leaders across the country who are committed to doing this work,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “We are proud to stand as partners with these educators to say that we have to continue to do better for all of our students.”

According to data from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the number of students losing critical learning time due to out of school suspensions and expulsions is staggering. Over three million students are suspended or expelled every year. State data show Miami-Dade County has among the lowest suspension rates in the state: about 10 percent.

At the event, Carvalho and other district and state leaders learn more about new maps based on CRDC data illustrating out-of-school suspensions across the country to help educators and communities understand the extent of this practice. The following maps are being released today:
• Percent of all students who have received one or more out-of-school suspensions by district Map and Data Table
• Percent of students with disabilities who have received one or more out-of-school suspensions by district Map and Data Table

New resources and initiatives are also being announced today to assist school leaders in their efforts to reduce suspensions and expulsions and provide safe and supportive school environments. The resources are:

• Addressing the Root Causes of Disciplinary Disparities: An Educator’s Action Planning Guide: This new resource from the Department’s National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments provides a guide to assist schools and districts in identifying the root causes of disparities in the outcomes of school discipline through an analysis of student-level discipline data. Addressing the Root Cause of School Discipline Disparities provides a practical, action-oriented method for schools and districts to develop an action plan to address the roots causes of discipline disparities. The Guide includes a Disciplinary Disparities Risk Assessment Tool to aid in data gathering and analysis, templates to help plan and facilitate communication among stakeholders, real world examples from schools and districts already experiencing success and much more tools and information.

• Rethink School Discipline: Resource Guide for Superintendent Action: This Resource Guide offers a set of seven potential action items to help school leaders implement safe, supportive school climate and discipline by engaging stakeholders, assessing the results and history of existing school climate and discipline systems and practices; implementing reform; and monitoring progress. Also included in the Resource Guide are links to federal guidance and resources as well as postcard templates that districts may use to support local educator and parent and family engagement in the district’s school discipline reform efforts.

• Support for State and Local Educational Leaders and Partners from Other Systems: On July 27, the U.S. Department of Justice is launching the National Resource Center for School Justice Partnerships to advance school discipline reform efforts across the nation. In addition to serving as a dynamic resource hub, the center will also serve as a training and technical assistance portal for juvenile courts, schools, law enforcement agencies, and others to support school discipline reform efforts at the local level. Among its many responsibilities, the Center will support the Supportive School Discipline Training and Technical Assistance Collaborative, an effort by the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services to coordinate resources and provide strategic support to schools and school communities in areas such as building safe and supportive learning environments and addressing disparities in discipline for students of color and students with disabilities.

• #RethinkDiscipline Public Awareness Campaign: In the weeks and months following the conference, the U.S. Department of Education will continue to use social media events, blogs, and other approaches to engage the field about new tools and resources to help school communities to improve school climate and discipline.

The White House Rethink Discipline conference builds on the work of the President’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative (MBK) to the White House Council on Women and Girls (CWG), and the Supportive School Discipline Initiative— a collaboration between the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice launched in 2011 to support the use of school discipline practices that foster safe, supportive, and productive learning environments while keeping students in school. For more information about the Administration’s work on school climate and discipline go to http://www.ed.gov/school-discipline.

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