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Dignity in Schools Campaign Survey on Reauthorization of ESEA (No Child Left Behind)

How can changes to the federal ESEA law impact pushout in your community?

The Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) is bringing together parents, students, educators, researchers, and attorneys who want to see school discipline reform included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, also known as No Child Left Behind).

A DSC Working Group has identified broad recommendations for changes to the federal ESEA law that could impact discipline policies in schools across the country.

• Fill out this survey to let us know what you think about our broad recommendations and how they could impact change in your community

• Please join us as we prepare more detailed recommendations for Congress and develop advocacy strategies at the local and national levels
50%
1.Recommendation:

Create a unified system for reporting comprehensive
disciplinary data in all schools (including charters)
that is broken down by race, gender, special educational
status, socioeconomic status, and English proficiency
and posted on school websites
Yes
No
Would this information help you to monitor and/or identify which policies and practices to change locally?
2.Recommendation:

Allocate resources dedicated to the additional data
reporting requirements and the monitoring of trends
Yes
No
Would this bring about better reporting on school discipline practices in your community?
3.Recommendation:

Include school discipline and climate as a factor
in holding schools accountable
Yes
No
If schools were held accountable for having healthy school climates and evidence-based discipline practices (practices that have been proven to work for children's best interests), would that give you more leverage in your local organizing – i.e., students and parents could exert more power and influence?
4.Recommendation:

Include a broader range of measures to assess the health of
a school's learning environment – a “school climate index”
Yes
No
Would this information help you make a better case for changing school discipline practices and for launching local campaigns?
5.Recommendation:

Inadequate ratings on the school climate index should trigger
review and technical assistance at local and state levels
Yes
No
Would such a “trigger” help hold the schools in your community accountable?
6.Recommendation:

Require “turnaround schools” to also implement and
receive training in improving school climate
Yes
No
Would you consider the required improvement of school climate a necessary component of school “turnaround” in your community?
7.Recommendation:

Create a discretionary grant program to create local/
regional councils to design and implement comprehensive
reduction of exclusionary school discipline and the number
of youth entering the juvenile and criminal justice systems
Yes
No
Would such a grant program help bring together the best practices, programs, and leadership within your locality/region to address the school-to-prison pipeline and make systemic impact?
8.What are the top 3 recommendations that you think are most important?
(choose from among the drop down menu choices which reflect the recommendations listed above)
Number 1
Number 2
Number 3
9.Do you have other recommendations for how to include school discipline reform in the reauthorization of ESEA?
10.Are there any statements you would like to make about these recommendations that we can include as quotes (with your permission) in our appeals to legislators?