We at MO SW-PBS believe that educators enter the profession out of a desire to affect change, to make lives better for the students we serve. Yet, despite our best intentions, years of research shows that harsher consequences for misbehavior in schools falls disproportionately on students of color and students with IEPs, even when controlling for behavior. These findings are pervasive.
The question is, are our institutions perpetuating the problem? We don’t know unless we have the courage to take a hard look at ourselves, our schools, and our districts. Fortunately, this is what SW-PBS teams do best!
The National Center on PBIS has a simple, 5 point guide that explains how to use your existing school data to monitor for equitable disciplinary outcomes, explains how to interpret these metrics, and describes effective, positive, and proactive strategies that your team can take based on your findings.
Every school in Missouri has a diverse student population. We owe it to our kids to ensure that we are achieving equitable outcomes for all.