Soc 4444 Exam 2

Corporal Punishment (What is reasonable?)

In determining whether the use of corporal punishment is reasonable, courts look at the entirety of the circumstances of a particular case, including: -The seriousness of the student's infraction -The attitude and past behavior of the child -The nature and severity of punishment -The age and strength of the child -The availability of less severe but equally effective means of discipline -Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977)

Consequences of tracking

-Students in lower tracks become discouraged and often give up because they are labeled as "low-ability" and a self-fulfilling prophecy sets in -Students in upper tracks begin to see themselves as superior, while those in the bottom tracks see themselves as inferior -Students placed in the lower tracks are, in effect, tracked to fail and they fail at a far greater rate than students in higher tracks -Few than 10 percent of children slotted in these special tracks will graduate from school. They are tracked for failure -Such tracking is linked to both class and race, as a disproportionate number of lower class and minority students are placed into the lower tracks -Tracking has been found to have very little educational value

Resources Youth Identified as Positive for truancy and school dropout

-Support from family -Peer pressure -Lack of empathy from school administrators -Additional teacher support (tests, personal) -Culture -Parent's denial of student behavior -Overcoming low self-esteem

Background on Truancy and school Dropouts

-Truancy is costly due to the loss of education funding, court costs and the need for on the job training for uneducated individuals -Truancy is often considered and indication of future delinquent and criminal activity >Chronic truants have a history of convictions >Chronic truants are more likely than non-truants to report to having committed a serious assault >Chronic truants are also more likely to report having committed a serious property crime >Chronic truants are more likely to be arrested than non-truants -Truancy is a clear warning that youth may drop out of school >Truancy is difficult to measure >Each school, district, and DOE utilizes its own truancy policy >Political, social, cultural, and economic contextual factors influence the definition of dropping out.

No Child Left Behind

-Under the no child left behind act, school safety also has become a majority priority for local school districts, which must provide assurances that plans are on file regarding steps schools will initiate to maintain safe and drug-free environments.

Examples of unreasonable searches

-Teacher reports the student was not "acting right" was unable to understand the pronunciation of his name where school officials had no prior knowledge of the student. -School counselors observed student was "not acting himself" had bloodshot eyes and that "something was not right" lacking reasonable suspicion where those characteristics occurred among students not involved with drugs -Teacher notices the student had money in his hand and was fiddling in his pockets, even though the student had a prior record, had a bad attitude and school had a growing drug problem. -Generalized suspicion based on state information, previous misbehavior, and heavy use of public telephone. -Making contacts and looking back in a general direction while walking did not rise to the level of objective articulable suspicion that defendant was carrying drugs as to justify even limited detention under the fourth amendment.

Common Measures or Disorder

-Teacher, administrator, and staff victimization -Student victimization -Student misbehavior and delinquency

Factors in Threat Assessment(Precipitating stressors)

-These are incidents, circumstances, reactions, or situations which can trigger a threat. The precipitating event may seem insignificant and have no direct relevance to the threat, but nonetheless becomes a catalyst. For example, a student has a fight with his mother before going to school. The argument may have been a minor one over an issue that had nothing to do with school, but it sets off an emotional chain reaction leasing the student to threaten another student at school that day, possibly something he has thought about in the past.

School Records and Privacy (Records)

-A Record is defined by the FERPA regulations as any information recorded in any way including but not limited to handwriting, print, computer media, video, audiotape, film, microfilm, and microfiche

Levels of Risk (Low Level of Threat)

-A threat that poses a minimal risk to the victim and public safety -Threat is vague and indirect Information contained within the threat is inconsistent, implausible or lacks detail -Threat lacks realism -Content of the threat suggests person is unlikely to carry it out.

Levels of Risk (Medium Level of Threat)

-A threat which could be carried out, although it may not appear entirely realistic. -Threat is more direct and more concrete than a low level threat. -Wording in the threat suggests that the threatener has given some thought to how the act will be carried out. -There may be a general indication of a possible place and time (though these signs still fall well short of a detailed plan) -There is not strong indication that the threatener has taken preparatory steps, although there may be some veiled reference or ambiguous or inclusive evidence pointing to that possibility- an allusion to a book or movie that shows the planning of a violent act, or a vague, general statement about the availability of weapons. -There may be a specific statement

Factors associated with dropping out (economic factors)

-About 20 percent of dropouts reported that they left school because of financial difficulties in the house and they felt they had to work to help out their families.

Policy implications of delinquency and dropout

-Address both academic and social needs of students -Start before high school- more effective and less costly -Focus on individual students and institutions that support them (Families, Schools, and Communities)

Youth Identified steps to curb truancy and school dropout

-Anonymous peer counselors -Additional tutoring for standardized tests -Provide programs to improve low self-esteem -Changing the image of attending school -Provide after school jobs -Additional information on trade schools and careers -Increase teacher training -Improve school security -Stiffer penalties for chronic truants (family court)

Search

-Any attempt to gain access to any item shielded from open public view and located in a protected place or thing -A governmental intrusion into an area in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. -In a democratic society, a citizen is given the rights to move about freely and not have their property taken -The phrase "expectation of privacy" refers to a setting or place a reasonable person would expect privacy. -To be searched by school staff is an intrusion if the place searched is in a private place. -Where a reasonable search may conducted is limited to an area where contraband may be found and begins with the least intrusive place the contraband may be found.

Exposure to media violence (Individual risk factors )

-Are youth with certain mental illnesses more or less sensitive to violence media? -Are males with extremely traditionally masculine gender roles particularly at risk for violence media effects? -Very young children may be especially at risk for negative outcomes after violent media exposure. How much and what kinds of violent media do young children (less than 8 years old) consume and how does that exposure impact their development -How does playing newer kinds of aggressive games on apps influence children's aggressive thoughts and behaviors. -The relationship between gaming and depression among adolescents is poorly understood. -Fantasy reality distinctions and transfer to real life settings: The distinction between fantasy and reality is blurry for very young children. Older youth could be susceptible to such problems as well. -Group processes: Youth often play aggressive games in groups, sometimes in the same setting.

Implementing Standards

-Assess how schools have managed to implement higher academic standards for all students without creating inequalities for certain categories of disadvantaged students. -Pay special attention to three aspects of school reforms: raising academic standards, enhancing the academic climate of schools and out of school environments, and preventing dropouts and providing second chance programs. These have special implications for students who are educationally at risk -Assess how schools have managed to implement higher academic standards for all students without creating inequalities for certain categories of disadvantages students. -Assess how schools have enhanced the climate on campus to encourage student learning and how they have assisted in the progress of improving out of school learning environments for their students -Assess how dropout prevention and second chance programs work to increase student engagement in learning activities.

Discipline and Pushout

-Background on zero tolerance and suspension statistics -Linking discipline and pushout -Policing Criminalization and Pushout -Alternative school programs and pushout

Perspectives on truancy and dropout

-Compulsory School Attendance -Truancy Statutes -Court Procedures

Prong 1

-Coping with conflicts, disappointments, failures, insults, or other stresses encountered in everyday life. -Expressing anger or rage, frustration, disappointment, humiliation, sadness, or similar feelings -Demonstrating or failing to demonstrate resiliency after a setback, a failure, real or perceived criticism, disappointment, or other negative experiences. -Demonstrating how the student feels about himself, what kind of person the student imagines himself to be, and how the student believes he or she appears to others. -Responding to rules, instruction, or authority figures. -Demonstrating or failing to demonstrate empathy with the feelings and experiences of others. -Demonstrating and expressing desire or need for control, attention, respect, admiration, confrontation, or other needs. -Demonstrating his or her attitude toward others.

Freedom of Speech and Expression (School-Sponsored newspapers)

-Courts generally hold that a school publication has the responsibility for providing a forum for students to express their ideas and views on a variety of topics of interests to the school community -While the newspaper is intended to represent a forum for student expression, those responsible for its production should be mindful of their obligation to embrace responsible rules of journalism -Broad censorship by school officials is not permitted and is in violation of the free speech rights of students -Censorship: Limited review of school sponsored publications may be permitted, but broad censorship is not.

Defining and Measuring Dropout

-Dropout as a status -Dropout as an event -Dropout as a process

Factors associated with dropping out (school related factors)

-Dropouts have performed poorly in school as measured by grades, test scores, and grade retention. -Behavior problems in school, absenteeism, truancy, and having a record of frequent disciplinary actions are associated with dropping out. -School misbehavior, students school performance, whether they like school and are involved in activities, and whether they feel alienated from school. -School quality is an important factor in dropout rates. -Dropout rates tend to be higher in segregated schools, those who have high student to teacher ratio, in larger schools with larger class sizes, and in schools that place emphasis on tracking and testing. -Other factors include, school safety, school discipline, grading policies, amount of homework assigned, and the extent to which students receive resources and support.

Factors Identified by Youth for Truancy and School Dropout

-Economic Pressure to work -Lack of motivation -Diminished educational aspiration -Family problems at home -Gang violence -Drug abuse -Bullying -Negative peer pressure -Teenage pregnancy -Stress and anxiety -Boredom

Substantive Due Process

-Ensures that a valid reason exists if a person is deprived of life, liberty, or property and that the means used to deprive the person are reasonable.

Common Measures or Climate

-Fairness of rules -Clarity of rules -Organizational focus -Morale -Planning -Administrative leadership

The cause of Truancy

-Family difficulties at home -Drug and alcohol abuse -Illiteracy -Teenage pregnancy -Boredom in the classroom -School safety -Ineffective teaching staff

Prong 2

-Family dynamics are patterns of behavior, thinking, beliefs, traditions, roles, customs, and values that exist in a family -When a student has made a threat, knowledge of the dynamic within the student's family- and how those dynamics are perceived by both the student and the parents. -A key factors in understanding circumstances and stresses in the student's life that could play a role in any decisions to carry out the threat.

What could be done

-Fix the accountability system in order to maintain pressure and to allow sufficient time to address the problem -Collect and report more useful data on dropouts and the state's progress in improving graduation rates -Develop high school reform standards and create lighthouse districts to implement them in schools with high dropout rates -Undertake middle school reform -Make strategic investments in proven dropout prevention strategies targeting the most disadvantaged students and schools.

Factors associated with dropping out (individual factors)

-Have lower self-esteem, and less sense of control over their lives. -They have poor attitudes about school and low educational and occupational aspirations. -Many girls drop out because they are pregnant. -The marginal students who remained in school have avoided misbehavior, believed that school had relevance to their future jobs, had experience some success in school, had parents who monitored their school performance, and avoided peers who dropped out.

Employment

-High school dropouts had only a 52% employment rate, compared to 71% for high school graduates and 83% for college graduates -High school dropouts earned only 65% of the median earnings of those who worked full time

Control Theory

-Holds that school involvement provides a protective social bond that helps youth avoid delinquency. -Weakening or severing social bond through truancy or dropout increases the probability of drug use and delinquency. -Believe that delinquency takes place when young people's bonds to conventional society are weak. -Individuals who are attached to conventional social institutions and to nondelinquent peers are less likely to become delinquent.

Strain Theory

-Holds that the frustration of school failure leads to delinquency and in turn dropout. -After dropping out delinquency is likely to decline as the dropout no longer experiences the strain of school failure. -States that delinquency is a response to the frustrations or strains of school experiences. -The frustration of working class youth meet middle class school standards and explained delinquency as a response to the frustration of students who were failing in school.

Due Process: Disciplinary Alternative Education Program(DAEP)

-In 1995, the Texas 74th legislature passed the safe school act which required school districts to establish DAEPS -Notice in the student code of conduct- must set out standards of student behavior and specify which violations could result in DAEPS placement -Conference regarding a student's removal- no later than the third class day after a student is removed from class. -Reasonable notice of the conference is given to all parties -Length of removal to a DAEP- there is no absolute limit, but there are some guidelines.

Seizure (or property)

-Includes a meaningful interference with a person's rights in possessing property -Within the meaning of the fourth amendment, includes the willful detention or willful taking of both a person and thing. -Something is seized when school officials confiscate or take it away from a student. A student is seized then detained

School crime: School problem

-Increasing efforts in student governance and rule enforcement -Treating students fairly and equally -Improving the relevance of subject matter to suit students interests and needs -Having smaller classes, with teachers instructing smaller number of different students

National Cost of the social problem of dropping out

-Increasing the male graduation rat by only 5% would result in a savings of $49 billion in crime related costs annually -Over a lifetime, a high school dropout contributes about $60,000 less in federal and state taxes -Since 1997, 41% of prison inmates and 31% percent of probationers 18 years and older has not graduated from high school or earned a GED compared with 18% of the general population. -The average dropout costs society more than $800,000 over the course of his or her lifetime

Perspectives on Truancy and Dropout

-Status offences including truancy generally come to the juvenile court's attention when juveniles under court-ordered probation supervision are brought back for a revocation hearing for violating rules or conditions of probation. -Law enforcement and juvenile court policies are dependent upon community priorities and individual problems and needs. -In Great Britain under the 1944 education act, when a child fails to attend school it is the parents that are legally responsible. -Under Britain's child and young persons act of 1969, failure to attend school may result in a care order by the court.

Reasonableness of a search: Additional Factors

-Individualized suspicion searches should be preceded by a question directly related to the nature of the infraction. For example "Were you smoking on the playground?" the appropriate introductory question serves two purposes: (1) provides notice to the student of the objectionable conduct with which the student has been implicated and (2) May obviate the need for a search if the student admits the conduct and or produces the contraband. It also implies a limitation on the authority for such searches where the reason has been eliminated. -What is reasonable depends on the context in which the search takes place. The nature of the infraction can affect whether a search is appropriate. Running in the hall may be a rule violation but doesn't justify a search on the basis of that infraction. -Among the things to consider is the age of the student the nature of an infraction, the source of information and the search's intrusiveness. -Any search involving an alleged infraction violating requires a reasonable suspicion that evidence sought will relate to the ultimate fact in issue -The validity of search does not depend on whether it will conclusively prove the ultimate fact in issue -The search need only make the existence of the fact at issue either more probable or less probable.

School Policies and "Pushouts"

-Low Achievement, testing and pushout -special education and pushout -Other factors contributing to dropout and pushout: Student disengagement and teacher relationships, Early development

Factors associated with dropping out (Influence of peers)

-Many students drop out because of their friends who were doing poorly in school, had low educational expectations, began skipping school, and dropped out

Procedural Due Process

-Means that if a person is to be deprived of life, liberty, or property, a prescribed constitutional procedure must be followed.

Factors associated with dropping out (race ethnicity and gender)

-Members of racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to drop out. -Males drop out at a higher rate than females. -Families that are below the poverty level or on welfare have higher dropout rates.

Popular identifiers of rampage school shootings

-Mental health illness or disorder -Uncontrollable anger or aggression -Anxiety and stress -Social isolation or withdrawal -Feelings of rejection -Expressions of violence in writings or drawings -Family problems -Animal abuse -Bullying and victimization -Peer support -Changing communities -History of discipline problems -Culture of violence -Substance use -Intolerance -Gun access and availability -Copycat effect -Violent media

No Child Left Behind (LCLB)

-NCLB requires states to define graduation rates in a rigorous and standardized manner -States are required to make progress toward their state determined graduation rate goal -The graduation rate among subsets of students- including those in poverty, ethnic minorities and those with disabilities- also would have to improve -Graduation rates must be reported annually to the US Department of Education and must steadily increase each year, reaching proficient levels by spring 2014 -Variation must be explained in state accountability plans -Alternative graduation certificated, such as GED program, cannot be counted as equivalent to high school graduation -NCLB require state education agencies to report truancy rates on a school-by-school basis to the US Department of Education starting for the 2005-2006 school year -Every state is to determine the definition and the calculation -Moreover, 95% of students in each subgroup must be present when the NCLB accountability tests are given -Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measured under NCLB is measured in Reading and Math -Other academic indicators are also measured -Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, school division may choose among: Attendance, Science, Writing, or History and social science

Safe Schools: Required by law?

-National security and school safety have had a significant impact on the administration and operation of public schools -School safety is a major concern because schools are presumed to be safe places by the court. -National and school safety creates policy implications for school teachers -Contingency plans should be developed, simulated and implemented as the need arises to address, anticipate or foresee events that may threaten school safety -USA Patriot Act: While the intent of this act is to address potential terrorist acts in the United States, it does implicate public school in the following manner: School leaders are required under authorized investigations by the FBI to produce books, records, paper documents or other items.

Freedom Of Speech and Expression (Non-School Sponsored Newspapers)

-Non school sponsored newspapers are those not endorsed by the school but printed at student's expense away from school premises. -These publications may not be totally prohibited by school officials. -Restrictions however may be imposed regarding the time and place of distribution. -Such restrictions are recognized as conditions affecting freedom of press not prohibitions -Students who are responsible for producing the newspapers are held accountable for any libelous material printed in the newspaper.

Other Decisions on Search and Seizures (Metal Detector Searches)

-Opinion of the Attorney General (August 30, 1994) "It is constitutionally permissible for school officials to use a metal detector to determine if students are carrying weapons into school, however the school district should adopt policies to ensure the reasonableness of the metal detector search"

Factors associated with dropping out (Family background and structure)

-Parents who value education and offer support and encouragement for their children's education are important factors in preventing dropout. -Students who are at risk include -Single parent families -Low parental education and occupation levels. -The absence of learning materials and opportunities at home. -The absence of parental supervision and monitoring -Few opportunities for non-school related learning -Mothers with lower levels of formal education -Mothers with lower educational expectations for their children -Speaking a language other than English in the home.

Tracking

-Placing students into different classes or groups based upon perceived intellectual ability, mostly through standardized tests. -Such tracking goes on in at least 80 percent of the secondary schools and 60 percent of all elementary schools in the country.

Plain view doctrine

-Prior intrusion must be valid, discovery of the items must be inadvertent, and the items found in plain view must be immediately recognizable as evidence. -Identification of contraband in the course of a normal interaction with a student (plain view)

Truancy and Dropout Prevention Programs

-Programmatic- focus on students: Support programs, Alternative programs -Systemic- focus of system: Comprehensive school reform, School/community partnerships, School/district capacity building

The Four-Pronged Assessment Model

-Prong 1: Personality of the student -Prong 2: Family Dynamics -Prong 3: School dynamics and the student's role in those dynamics -Prong 4: Social dynamics

Freedom of Speech and Expression (Protests and Demonstrations)

-Protests and demonstrations are considered forms of free expression -Thus students are afforded the right to participate in these activities -As long as these activities are peaceful and do not violate school rules or result in destruction of school property, they cannon be disallowed.

Direct services to students, families, and staff

-Provision of isolated information -Prevention curriculum, instruction, or training -Counseling, social work, psychological/therapeutic interventions -Behavioral or behavior modification interventions -Recreational, enrichment, and leisure activities -Individual attention, mentoring, tutoring, coaching -Serviced to families -Treatment of prevention interventions for administrators, faculty, or staff

Freedom of speech and expression (dress and appearance)

-Student dress as a form of free expression is not viewed as significant as most other forms of free expression -There is however a first amendment freedom associated with it -However school regulations that violate student's right to being vague, ambiguous, and failing to demonstrate a connection to disruption will not meet court scrutiny.

School Funding and Educational Inequality

-Public schools in the United States receive sharply unequal funding. Among the nation's school districts, annual funding per student can range from less than 4,000$ to more than 15,000$ and although the typical school district with 1,000 or more students receives roughly $5,000 per year for each student, affluent districts may receive $10,000 per student or more. -Large differences in public school funding appear both among the states and within many states -Funding differences appear, in part, because much of the financial support for public schools comes from local property taxes, which means that the amount of funding that communities are able to provide for their schools varies according to community affluence. -Strong studies indicate that level of student advantage within the home or community matters a great deal to outcomes in education, but sizable net effects are also associated with differences in school funding. -New demands placed on public schools have driven aggregate increases in school funding during recent years. These increases have not been used for additional resources that would generate increases in average student achievement. -Two types of resources associated with greater school funding have been tied to higher levels of student achievement. (Strong teacher qualifications and Smaller class sizes in the early grades) -The achievements of disadvantaged students are more likely to suffer in response to inequalities in school funding for two reasons: Those students are more likely to attend poorly funded schools, and More likely to be hurt by lack of academic resources when schools are underfunded. -Legal and political efforts to reform funding inequalities have been weak at the federal level, but considerable activity concerned with unequal funding has taken place in state courts and legislatures. The latter efforts have provoked some increases in state funds for poorly funded districts while leaving funding for affluent, suburban districts largely in place, as well as increased support for charter schools.

Structural Inequalities and Disparities with dropping out (Student Factors)

-Race and Ethnicity -Gender -Socioeconomic Status -Family Characteristics -Disabilities

Three Aspects of School Reforms

-Raising academic standards -Enhancing the academic climate of schools and out of school environments -Preventing dropouts and providing second chance programs

Rampage Shootings

-Rampage shootings in schools differ in dramatic ways from "Street violence" commonly associated with urban areas. -School rampages typically occur in stable, close knit, low crime and very small rural towns and less often in exurbs -Rampage shooters are stereo-typically a white adolescent male, with no recorded history of disciplinary problems, and no documented history of medical treatment for mental disorders -The shooter is often at the high end of the intelligence and academic achievement spectrum, but lacking in the badges of athletic ability and other social attributes that are highly valued by peers

Organizational and environmental arrangements

-Reorganization of grades, classes, or school schedules -Architectural features of the school -Use of external personnel resources in classrooms -Distinctive culture or climate for interpersonal exchanges -Improved instructional method or practices -Improved classroom organization and management methods or practices -School planning structure or process- or management of change -Improved inter-group relations or interaction between school and community -Altered school composition

Exposure to Media Violence (Biological Factors)

-Researchers are beginning to explore the addictive nature of video games, but more research is needed. -Do video games tap into biological reward systems? -Does group shared fun while playing games enhance reward effects? -What is the difference between engagement, which can increase learning, and addiction? -How do violent media impact brain development and function?

Discipline and safety management

-Rules, policy, regulations, laws, and enforcement -Security and surveillance -Youth roles in regulating and responding to student conduct.

Threat Assessment for School Violence

-Threat assessment in the campus setting involves law enforcement and school officials working collaboratively to determine risk. It consist of evaluating a threat, reaching a conclusion regarding threat level, and determining an effective response. This approach, developed by the U.S. Secret Service, is based on six key principles.

Other Decisions on Search and Seizure (School locker searches)

-School lockers are under the joint control of the student and the school officials. -Zamora v. Pomeroy: The court ruled that a search without warrant of school lockers conducted by trained police dogs was reasonable under the fourth amendment, even when no reasonable suspicion existed.

Students rights in school

-School officials are granted broad powers to establish rules and regulations governing student conduct in the school setting -These powers however are not absolute -They are subject to the standard of "reasonableness" -Generally rules are deemed to be reasonable if they are necessary to maintain an orderly and peaceful school environment and advance the educational process. -Since students enjoy many of the same constitutional rights as adults, courts have been very diligent in ensuring that their constitutional rights be protected. -In the landmark Tinker case, the U.S Supreme court for the first time held that students possess the same constitutional rights as adults and that these rights do not end at the school house door.

Structural Inequalities and Disparities with dropping out (School Factors)

-Segregation -Poverty and resources -Climate -Culture -Community Demographics

Freedom of Speech and Expression (Controversial Slogans)

-Slogans worn on t-shirts, caps, and other media that are in direct conflict with the school's stated mission may be regulated -Those expressions which violate standards of common decency, contain vulgar, lewd and otherwise obscene gestured also may be regulated.

Prong 4

-Social Dynamics are patterns of behavior, thinking, beliefs, customs, traditions, and roles that exist in the larger community where students live. These patterns also have an impact on student's behavior, their feelings about themselves, their outlook on life, attitudes, perceived options, and lifestyle practices. -An adolescent's beliefs and opinions, his choices of friends, activities, entertainment, and reading material, and his attitudes toward such things as drugs, alcohol, and weapons will all reflect in some fashion the social dynamics of the community where he lives and goes to school. -Withing the larger community, an adolescent's peer group plays an especially crucial role in influencing attitudes and behavior. Information about a student's choice of friends and relations with his peers can provide valuable clues to his attitudes, sense of identity and possible decisions about acting or not acting on a threat.

Factors in Threat Assessment

-Specific plausible details are a critical factor in evaluating a threat. Details can include the identity of the victim or victims: the reason for making the threat: the means, weapon and method by which it is to be carried out: the date, time, and place where the threatened act will occur: and concrete information about plans or preparations that have already been made.

The extent of absenteeism and dropout.

-The NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) compile reports on enrollments by grade, dropout statistics, and numbers of high school graduates originally collected by state education agencies. -General Education Development (GED) -The NCES define a dropout as an individual who (1) Was enrolled in school at some time during the previous school year. (2) was not enrolled at the beginning of the current school (3) has not graduated from high school or completed a state or district approved educational program (4) Did not transfer to another school district or private school, was not in a correctional facility, and was not temporarily absent due to suspension or an excused illness. -The dropout rate (event dropout rate) is the number of dropouts for a school year divided by the number of students enrolled at the beginning of that school year. -The median rate of reporting states was 4.2 -The number varies because of population and population demographics. -Status dropout rates, represent the proportion of young people ages 16-24 who are out of school and who have not earned a high school credential. -high school completers are the students who graduated and received a diploma and also those who received a certificate of attendance. The students who received a GED are NOT included. -Tests of general educational development are tests that cover math, science, social studies, reading and writing.

Factors in Threat Assessment (Emotional Content)

-The emotional content of a threat can be an important clue to the threatener's mental state. Emotions are conveyed by melodramatic words and unusual punctuation: "I hate you!!!!! You have ruined my life!!!! May god have no mercy on your soul!!!!" Also in excited, incoherent passages that may refer to god or other religious beings or deliver an ultimatum.

Factors in Threat Assessment (Pre-disposing Factors)

-The impact of a precipitating event will obviously depend on pre-disposing factor: underlying personality traits, characteristics, and temperament that predispose an adolescent to fantasize about violence or act violently. Accordingly, information about a temporary "trigger" must be considered together with broader information about these underlying factors such as a student's vulnerability to loss and depression.

Concerns about the dropout rate

-The long term trend of dropping our has declined but the short term trend has remained steady and even increased especially for some groups. -Minority populations who have always had higher dropout rates than the while population are increasing in public schools. -Many states have recently passed legislation to raise academic course requirements for graduation to motivate students and improve performance, but others might be more inclined to drop out. -There is a widespread belief that the educational requirements for employment will increase in the future, leaving dropouts even more disadvantaged in the job market. -There is increased political pressure on schools because state and federal education officials have begun to judge school's performance by a series of indicators like dropout rates and test scores.

Other Decisions on Search and Seizures (Sniff Searches)

-The majority of the courts have ruled that a canine sniff of a person is a search. You must have reasonable suspicion to conduct a canine sniff of a person

Exposure to Media Violence (Environmental Factors)

-The media environments of children and youth have increasing amounts of aggressive content delivered by numerous platforms. -How much aggressive content is in current television programs, films, video games, apps, and music? -Do consumption patterns of violent media vary by geography, socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, or household composition? -Rating systems have not kept up with the increasingly violent content of popular games.

School Crime: Community Problem

-The question of social inequality -Schools reflect community -Community crime -Community social control -Community poverty -Community disorganization -Family characteristics -Pursuits of addressing school crime must include community interventions

Restrictions on Rights of Students

-The right of students can be restricted in significant ways based on two principles: In Loco Parentis (In place of parents) and the school's important role to educate.

Procedural Due Process (Suspension)

-The united states supreme court has held that students must be afforded procedural due process before being suspended, even if the suspension is for a short period of time. -A student who is facing short-term suspension has a constitutional right to: oral or written notice of the nature of the infraction and the punishment for the infraction. An explanation of the evidence the authorities have if the student denies the charges. An opportunity to refute the charges before an objective decision maker Gross v. Lopez 419 U.S. 565 (1975)

Corporal Punishment

-The united states supreme court has recognized that a student's liberty interests are implicated when corporal punishment is imposed by educated. However there is not a great deal of due process to which a student is entitles before corporal punishment is used. -Corporal punishment usually involves the use of physical contact for disciplinary purposes. -Corporal punishment as a disciplinary tool is not uncommon within school systems in the united states. -An educator entrusted with the care, supervision, or administration of a student may use force, but not deadly force against the student for the special purpose of controlling, training, or educating the student -The use of force is justified only when and to the extent that the educator reasonably believes the force is necessary to further the special purpose or to maintain discipline in a group. -Educators may be subject to both civil and criminal liability for the unreasonable use of corporal punishment. In addition, Texas statutes prohibiting assault and injury to a child also provide protection against excessive use of corporal punishment.

Levels of Risk (High Level of Threat)

-Threat is direct, specific, and plausible -Threat suggests concrete steps have been taken toward carrying it out, for example, statements indicating that the threatener has acquired or practiced with a weapon or has had the victim under surveillance.

Expulsion

-Unlike suspension, expulsion is considered one of the more severe forms of discipline because it involves long term separation from the school district and in some instances permanent separation.

Balancing Test

-Used by the supreme court in balancing the interest of the student against the interest of teachers and administrators to maintain order in schools.

Six Key Principles

-Violence is not unpredictable or spontaneous; therefore, information about the student, as well as the pupil's behavior, can prevent violence. -Information should include knowledge about the student, environment, specific situation, and target of the violence. -All information should be verifiable and reliable. -Authorities should leave out assumptions or subjective impressions about the student's personality or other characteristics and instead base evaluations on facts and observable behaviors. The warning signs should be used more as guidelines than absolutes. -Multiple sources of information should be obtained. -Conclusions should support the facts as to whether the student poses a threat, not necessarily whether the individual made a threat. Also, assessments should include considerations of whether the subject has the means and intent to carry it out.

Prong 3

-While it may be difficult for educators/assessors to critique their own school, it is necessary to have some level of understanding of the particular dynamics in their school because their school can ultimately become the scene of the crime. -School dynamics are patterns of behavior, thinking, beliefs, customs, traditions, roles and values that exist in a school's culture. Some of these patterns can be obvious, and others subtle. -Identifying those behaviors which are formally or informally valued and rewarded in a school helps explain why some students get more approval and attention from school authorities and have more prestige among their fellow students. -It can also explain the role a particular student is given by the school's culture, and how the student may see himself or herself fitting in, or failing to fit in, with the school's value system. -Students and staff may have very different perceptions of the culture, customs, and values in their school. -Assessors need to be aware of how a school's dynamics are seen by students. -A big discrepancy between student's perceptions and the administration's can itself be a significant piece of information for the assessor.

Safe Schools/ Health Students (SS/HS)

A unique collaboration among the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Justice: -Created in 1999 in response to rising concerns about youth violence and school safety -Empowers local communities to create coordinated, comprehensive programs that recognize the complexity of youth violence.

Truancy and Dropout Prevention Programs Pros and cons

Advantages: -Easier to design, fund, implement, evaluate Disadvantages: -Limited impact- only appropriate where dropout problem is small -Adds to programmatic overload at local level -Few proven programs

What conduct amounts to a search?

In general, the more difficult it is to gain access to something that is inaccessible, the more likely the effort to obtain it amounts to a search. Examples of student search include: -Physically examining the student's person -Looking through personal possessions -Handling of feeling any closed item to determine its contents -Opening any closed container -Prying open locked containers or possessions -Enlarging the view into closed or locked areas -Taking extraordinary steps to penetrate natural or other barriers that screen activities or possessions from open public view -Examining the contents of a personal electronic device (cell phone)

School Records and Privacy (What is an education record)

In order for a document to receive protection under FERPA, it must be considered an educational record. An educational record consists of those records that are: -Directly related to the student and -Maintained be an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution.

School Records and Privacy

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): A federal privacy law that affords parents the right to... -Have access to their children's education records. -Seek to have the records amended -Consent to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records, except as provided by law

School Records and Privacy (Directly Related to the Student)

Personally identifiable information is information about a student that includes but is not limited to: -The students name -The name of the student's parents or other family members -The address of the student's family -A personal identifier such as the student's social security number or student's number -A list of personal characteristics that would make the student's identity easily traced -Other indirect identifiers such as the student's date of birth, place of birth, and mother's maiden name

Chapter 5

Power Point Notes

Chapter 6

Powerpoint Notes

Chapter 7

Powerpoint Notes

Chapter 8

Powerpoint Notes

Chapter 5

Notes

Public schools as a potential source of delinquency

School conditions contributing to educational failure and juvenile delinquency -Belief in limited potential of disadvantaged students -Irrelevant instruction -Inappropriate teaching methods -Testing, grouping, and tracking -Remedial educational -Poorly trained teachers and facilities in low income schools -School-community distance -Economic and racial/ethnic segregation

Other Decisions on Search and Seizure (Vehicle Searches)

Shamberg. v. State of Alaska -Determined that school officials may search a student's vehicle that is left in a school parking lot or on school grounds when they have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will disclose evidence that the student violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school.

Open Public View

Something suspicious is exposed openly to public detection by sight, smell, and hearing.

The challenges faced by schools

There are four factors to keep in mind to provide proper context and foundation for a discussion of the role of schools in the community and in crime -The role of the school as important social institution -The role of the school as an instrument for social change -Expectations and demands placed on schools -The claim that schools can be a source of juvenile delinquency

Consequences of dropping out

There are seven social consequences of the failure to complete high school: -Forgone national income -Forgone tax revenues for the support of government services -Increased demand for social services -Increased crime -Reduced political participation -Reduced intergenerational mobility -Poorer levels of health -Robins and Ratcliff found that high school truancy was a predictor of poor occupational opportunities, very low earnings, low self esteem, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and adult deviance.

Types of threats

Threats can be classes in four categories: Direct, Indirect, Veiled, or Conditional. -A Direct Threat identifies a specific act against a specific target and is delivered in a straightforward, clear, and explicit manner: "I an going to place a bomb in the school's gym." -An indirect threat tends to be vague, unclear, and ambiguous. The plan, the intended victim, the motivation, and other aspects of the threat are masked or equivocal: "If I wanted to, i could kill everyone at this school." While violence is implied, the threat is phrased tentatively, and suggests that a violent act could occur, not that it will occur. -A Veiled Threat is one that strongly implies by does not explicitly threaten violence: "We would be better off without you around anymore." This clearly hints at a possible violent act, but leaves it to the potential victim to interpret the message and give a definite meaning to the threat. -A conditional threat is the type of threat often seen in extortion cases. It warns that a violent act will happen unless certain demands or terms are met: "If you don't pay me one million dollars, i will place a bomb in the school."

Freedom of Speech and Expression

Types of speech NOT protected: -Defamatory speech: False speech that damaged a person's good name, character, or reputation (Slander-spoken, Libel-written) -Fighting words: Insulting words that provoke immediate violence. (Any offensive, derisive, or annoying word to any other person who is lawfully in any street or public place) -Student Speech: Profane and indecent speech on school property or at school events is subject to suspension. (The same speech is protected outside of school) (Tinker v. Des Moines ruled that students do not give up all their freedoms in school) -Bethel school district v. Fraser (1986) ruled that school officials can decide what manner of speech is appropriate in school. (Court established distinction between: Students personal expression, and Speech appropriate in school)