Impacting Policy Using Research and Advocacy on Student Discipline in Illinois

• In Event: 28.086 - Teaching. Learning. Leading. Models and Examples of Teacher Leaders Using Research to Impact Education Policy

Abstract

Since 2014, the rising evidence of racial inequities in exclusionary discipline and guidance from the US Department of Education created a rapid response as states actively addressed this issue. As states work to reform their discipline policies, teachers in Illinois used research as a basis to advocate for better implementation of the discipline reform laws.

A disturbing trend served as the catalyst for discipline reform In Illinois. African American students were five times more likely to be suspended or expelled than white students, and at rates much higher than other states. In 2015, lawmakers sought to address the state’s wide racial disparities around exclusionary discipline which often result in student entry into the juvenile justice system by passing SB100. Passage of the bill was only the starting point for systems change. At the end of the first year of implementation, this study surveyed 392 teachers to learn how SB100 was implemented in schools and what teachers experienced as the result of the bill’s implementation.

The study found broad compliance with the bill’s requirements, yet it also found that most districts lacked the systems and supports necessary for effective implementation. For example, while 84 percent of teachers indicated that the zero-tolerance policies were eliminated and suspensions were limited, as required by SB100, 80 percent of teachers indicated that the training they received on alternatives to suspension was insufficient or nonexistent. Further, nearly half of teachers reported that student behavior and school culture and climate have deteriorated since the implementation of the law. The teachers who lead this research concluded that a strong, cohesive effort to successfully implement SB100 would help to ensure that Illinois leads the nation in addressing and disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline by minimizing the excessive use of severe disciplinary measures and prioritizing the creation of safe and positive school environments.

Using their research findings, the authors began an advocacy campaign, sharing what they were learning at four statewide conferences between February and April 2018. They published op-eds in four newspapers throughout the state. They met with the original legislative sponsors of the bill to share their findings and recommendations. The Senate sponsor, Kimberly Lightford, invited the teachers to write legislation to put their recommendations into law, which was introduced into the Illinois General Assembly in April 2018 as SB2347. While the legislation failed to pass in the 2018 session, its introduction brought to the table management groups who previously had refused to even meet with the authors. This two-year long research and advocacy effort shows the importance of combining research with effective, targeted advocacy and the need for continued, ongoing efforts to achieve policy and systems change.

Author

• Cynthia O'Brien