Connecticut Appleseed

Related Link: Recent Accomplishments

Keep Kids in School: Improving School Discipline

For 3 years, Connecticut had urged school districts to redirect their disciplinary procedures and policies away from out-of-school suspension and expulsion and toward in-school suspension. The state first passed a law in 2007 requiring districts to use in-school suspension for the vast majority of disciplinary infractions, but its implementation was delayed until July 1, 2010. Impressively, many districts had already begun making progress in this direction before this deadline. But there are vast differences between multi-day detention lacking much academic instruction and successful in-school combinations of instruction, mentoring and counseling for those disciplined.

Connecticut Appleseed released preliminary findings (Keep Kids in School: Improving School Discipline) in February, 2010 that offered a sampling of "best practices" in school discipline based on extensive interviews in 9 diverse Connecticut school districts. Connecticut Voices for Children produced a report on June 3, 2010 publicizing 2008-2009 disciplinary data from across the state that documents improvement in many districts and brings forward some additional best practices.

Final Report Issued on February 7, 2011

After analyzing the results of our interviews from school district officials and teachers, we developed a final report with our findings and distributed it to districts and education officials throughout the state. Our final report highlighted best practices and model school policies within school districts that should be considered statewide for possible implementation and featured the latest disciplinary data from the Connecticut Department of Education for the 2009-2010 school year. It also featured findings from a youth focus group and a webinar sponsored by CT Parent Power to help ensure that our report reflected the perspective of those most affected by school discipline -- parents, families and youth.

We were invited to lead a related forum on in-school suspension in November, 2011 at a joint meeting of Connecticut school superintendents (CAPSS) and boards of education (CABE). In advance of that forum, we will distribute copies of our final report to every school district superintendent, school principal and school board member in the state.

E-NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP:
Sign-up to receive our free e-newsletter. Simply type in your email address below and click on the submit button. QUICK LINKS TO OUR PROJECTS:

	Hartford H.E.L.P.
	Keep Kids in School: Improving School Discipline
	Dental Care for Disadvantaged Children
	Completed Education Projects
	Education: Increasing Parent Access to Basic Education Law Information
	Mental Illness and The Criminal Justice System
	Elder Law Education
	Expanding Access to Financial Services
	Literacy Connects Inmates & Their Children
	Bullying: Helping School Districts to Accept Greater Responsibility
	Resource Equity Within School Districts

A PART OF THE APPLESEED NETWORK
www.appleseednetwork.org

Appleseed, a non-partisan and non-profit organization, is a network of public interest law Centers working to identify and address injustices in their communities. Appleseed works to build a just society through education, legal advocacy, community activism and policy expertise, addressing root causes and producing practical solutions. As one of the nation's largest legal pro bono networks, Appleseed Centers work both independently and collectively, bringing their own experiences to create local solutions that are nationally relevant. We connect the top private practice lawyers, corporate counsel, law schools, civic leaders, and other professionals to tackle problems locally, at their root cause.