Suspension rates all over the map Lorraine Forte Suspension rates in Chicago high schools vary widely from school to school, according to a Catalyst analysis of data on suspensions and enrollment for 1994-95.
Disparity in stats
Citywide, high schools had an average of 28 suspensions for every 100 students, a low figure compared to other large urban districts.
However, the rate for individual schools ranged from a high of 106 per 100 students at Kennedy High in Chicago Lawn and Gage Park High in Gage Park, to a low of less than one suspension per 100 students at Chicago High School for Agricultural...
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'Teachers at fault too' Lorraine Forte, Lisa Lewis Ask just about any disciplinarian or principal about discipline problems, and they'll likely say that teachers often are as much to blame as the students are.
"You hit the nail on the head," says Herman Blade, disciplinarian at Senn Metro High in Edgewater. "You have a lot of teachers who just can't control kids."
Students know who will tolerate nonsense and who won't, says Hazel Steward, Region 3 education officer and former principal of Tilden High in New City. "And it has nothing to do with race, age, size or anything else. It has to do with the person."
Even if a...
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Mather creates ties that bind Lisa Lewis Last year, Mather High School in West Ridge posted a suspension rate of 13 per 100 students, about half the city's average.
Mather, an overcrowded school that enrolls 1,700, relies heavily on alternative punishments, such as Saturday detentions, that keep kids in class during the week. But faculty also make a deliberate attempt to forge close relationships with students through after-school activities.
"The idea is to keep kids active and involved," says Beth Rollander, dean of students. "Our philosophy is that we are parents to these kids. They need guidance and role...
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A day in the life of a discipline office aide Lisa Lewis For a year before returning to college, Catalyst intern Lisa Lewis worked as an aide in the discipline office of a Chicago public high school. This is her story; the names have been changed.
I started work at Chi-Town High with two years of college and extensive office experience, so the principal told me I'd be helping out in Mr. Belmont's office, where messy piles of dog-eared forms were waiting to be entered into a computer.
Mr. Belmont, I soon learned with a sinking feeling, was the school disciplinarian.
As a petite 22-year-old, I felt the need at first...
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Numbers missing for 21 schools Lorraine Forte Contrary to state law, nearly a third of Chicago high schools reported no data on suspensions, or incomplete data, to the Board of Education for 1994-95.
Nine of 62 high schools (not including special education schools) reported no suspension data; another 12 reported data that appeared incomplete; i.e., for only one or two of the five categories of infractions in the Uniform Discipline Code. Catalyst contacted these schools to obtain their tallies; four responded. Three of the four gave Catalyst higher tallies than those on record at the board.
According to the...
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Survey shows blacks suspended more Lorraine Forte Black high school students in Chicago are more likely to be suspended than whites or Latinos are, according to a student survey conducted last year by the Consortium on Chicago School Research.
In a survey of 10th-graders, 82 percent of both whites and Latinos reported that they had never been suspended, compared to only 73 percent of African-American students. And 83 percent of whites said they had never been placed on in-school suspension, compared to only 72 percent of black students and 75 percent of Latinos. About 6,000 students responded to the survey.
Data submitted by...
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Zero tolerance keeps Mr. Gorecki busy Dan Weissmann Last year, Gage Park High, along with Kennedy High, posted the highest suspension rate in the city: 106 suspensions for every 100 students. Gage Park disciplinarian James Gorecki says the school's "get-tough" approach is necessary because many students are behind academically. "To catch up, they need to be in class as much as possible," he says. "Unfortunately, [strict] discipline is the way you have to go to do that." In addition, the school's active counseling department runs support groups for students with problems, and incentives are offered for good behavior. Detentions and...
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Niños Heroes tries 'looping' Jennifer Randall Last spring, Gloria Stratton, principal of Niños Heroes Academy in South Chicago, gave her teachers the option of staying with their classes for a second year. "I felt that they would be able to develop a strong instructional program and strong relationships with the children that would be beneficial to both," she explains.
Eleven of the school's 42 teachers accepted Stratton's offer and launched multi-year teaching, or "looping," last September.
Supporters say the practice makes it easier to track students' progress and that teachers are more accountable as well. When...
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