From the desk of ... Mary Robinson Reynolds,
Re: School Discipline

Here's an article that is worth forwarding...

The dark underbelly of school discipline
By jestevensin ACE Study

Take a short walk on the dark side of our public education system, and you learn some disturbing lessons about school punishment.

First. U.S. schools suspend millions of kids - 3,328,750 to be exact. Since the 1970s, says a National Education Policy Center report published in October 2011, the suspension rate's nearly doubled for white kids, to 6%. It's more than doubled for Hispanics to 7%, and to a stunning 15% for blacks. For Native Americans, it's almost tripled, from 3% to 8%.

Second. If you think all these suspensions are for weapons and drugs, recalibrate your thinking. There's been a kind of "zero-tolerance creep" since schools adopted "zero-tolerance" policies. Only 5% of all out-of-school suspensions were for weapons or drugs, said the NEPC report, citing a 2006 study. The other 95% were categorized as "disruptive behavior" and "other," which includes cell phone use, violation of dress code, being "defiant," display of affection, and, in at least one case, farting.

Third. These suspensions don't work for schools. Get rid of the "bad" students, and the "good" students can learn, get high scores, live good lives. That's the myth. The reality? It's just the opposite.

Says the NEPC report: "...research on the frequent use of school suspension has indicated that, after race and poverty are controlled for, higher rates of out-of-school suspension correlate with lower achievement scores overall."

Fourth. They don't work for the kids who get kicked out. In fact, these "throw-away" kids get shunted off a possible track to college and onto the dead-end spur of juvenile hall and prison.

"Studies show that one suspension triples the likelihood of a juvenile justice contact within that year," California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye told the California Legislature last month. "And that one suspension doubles the likelihood of repeating the grade."

Fifth. All these suspensions have led many communities to create "alternative" schools, where they dump the "bad" kids who can't make it in regular public school.

When I talk and write about a more compassionate, acknowledging, investigative approach with extremely tough and out-of-control kids, I get feedback from those who believe that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Some seem to think that I haven't been in as violent or emotionally disruptive, de-energizing situations as they are currently in, so what I'm proposing could not possibly work.

So, I put together a video to visit with you about my extensive, diverse educational background and what I did to not only transform the lives of the extremely intense students, but also to get their test scores where they needed to be.

Grab an iced tea and give me just a few minutes of your time to explain what I've uncovered that will get you the kind of results that make a long lasting - self sustaining - difference for your students, faculty and staff.

Click to watch

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5 Ways You Can Get Everybody on the Same Page Right from the Start!

There are basically 5 ways to get this field-tested New Approach, Make A Difference with the Power of Acknowledgment UTrain® Program into a school:

1 - Hire me to come in and train your faculty & staff (my fees begin at $10K);

2 - Hire one of my MDPA Certified Facilitators (fees begin at $2500);

3 - Do a School Kick Off Assembly: play the Acknowledgment Movie for the entire school ($20) and do the "I Make A Difference" Acknowledgment Ceremony. For Wristbands and the print out of the Who I Am Makes A Difference Ceremony go to: makeadifference.com/Wristbands

4 - Do It Yourself with my Step-by-Step Make A Difference with the Power of Acknowledgment UTrain® Program ($497 includes LIVE one-day training.)

5 - SKYPE ME IN! - I'm opening up my calendar THIS WEEK and am reducing my Speaking Fee by 70% to deliver this transformative program to educators everywhere via Skype. First come, first serve until my calendar fills up. I'd love to walk your faculty and staff through Make A Difference with the Power of Acknowledgment to KICK OFF the school year.

       To inquire go to: makeadifference.com/Speaking

Invest in this UTrain® Program and you can come spend a full day with me.

I want to work with you, and the most affordable way (F*R*E*E) for that to happen is for you to come to Boston, August 9th to have me take you through my Make A Difference with the Power of Acknowledgment UTrain® Program so YOU can experience it first hand before you bring it back to your school. By the end of the day you will be ready to implement it with your faculty and staff when you get back.

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Remember: People who really know that they matter, and who know that they Make A Difference, feel valued. Feeling valued feels good, and people who feel good, do good.

Reaching out ...

Mary Robinson Reynolds
Author & Founder, Heart Productions & Publishing
MakeADifference.com/Project

PS ...For more information about how YOU can DROP SUSPENSIONS with a NEW APPROACH - start preparing NOW to bring Make A Difference with the Power of Acknowledgment UTrain® Program into your school go to: makeadifference.com/Acknowledge

MDPA UTrain® Program is specifically designed to:

==> create social connectedness
==> provide concrete support in times of need
==> teach social and emotional competence

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