Schools in Maryland and Connecticut are rethinking suspension policies and practices. They are finding that promoting positive behavior choices rather than punishing the negative is leading to higher graduation rates, especially among students of color. In the 2003-2004 academic year, Baltimore City Public Schools recorded 26,000 suspensions. Six…

Significant numbers of students are being pushed out of school as a result of "zero tolerance" school discipline policies. While nobody questions the need to keep schools safe, teachers, students, and parents are questioning the methods being used in pursuit of that goal. Initially enacted to counter violent behavior and drug use, zero tolerance…

Discusses problems with the zero tolerance policy and exclusionary discipline in schools, describing how one Kentucky school district formed a continuum of services to support students with behavioral problems, using exclusionary models as a last resort. Students are taught the skills they need to solve their problems and get along with others…