A recent Education Week survey found 64 percent of teachers report classroom behavior has gotten worse in the past year, according to an article in The Hill.
Other survey findings:
- Smaller class sizes are the most oft-cited solution to behavior problems
- More than 55 percent said parents should get instructions on teaching children how to behave in the classroom
- About 50 percent said tougher consequences for students such as suspensions or expulsions were needed
- Parents’ ability to undermine punishments such as detention should be limited
- Most teachers favored restricting screentime in schools
Parental support can make or break student behavior in the classroom, according to experts.
“I think the majority of parents are still very supportive of discipline in schools, says Daniel Buck, research fellow for the American Enterprise Institute and a former teacher and school administrator.
It can be more difficult to work with parents who don’t believe in formal punitive punishment, parents who think their kid “can do no wrong” and those who are “not actually going to reinforce the school’s norm” at home, Buck says.
Tension between teachers and parents about discipline has been exacerbated by increasing behavior problems since the pandemic.
A growing number of educators and parents say punitive punishments, such as suspensions, don’t work and restorative practices need to be the line of defense against bad student behavior.
“The issue is not necessarily that educators know best or that parents know best. It’s just that we need to be making sure that collectively, we are using evidence based practices to support student discipline,” says Nancy Duchesneau, research senior manager who leads social, emotional and academic development at EdTrust.
Justin Wax, principal of Denham Springs Junior High in Louisiana, says his school has cut suspensions and expulsions in half over the past three years, offering tutoring during detention and alternatives to punishments such as having students participate in programs like a vaping education course.
Some school leaders worry that the pendulum swung too far towards less punitive discipline, and a mix of restorative practices and consistent punishments helps students and keeps parent complaints at a minimum.
Nicole Peterson, principal of Brentwood Middle School in Colorado, says it is the job of the educators to set expectations and teach classroom rules, not the parents, but the use of “strong routines, procedures, expectations, recognitions and consequences” to curb behavior reinforces that “we have every right to hold kids accountable in our spaces.”
Some parents see a natural need for input regarding school discipline processes.
Says Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union: “We don’t give up custody of our children when we send them to school, so the idea that we shouldn’t be a part or allowed to have any kind of say … just comes across in a pretty aggressive and offensive way. It’s the audacity that’s really getting me.”
The Hill
