Approximately 2400 referrals in a middle school I know — but that was then

From: (An assistant principal who always meant well)
Sent: (Before COVID)
To: (Around fifty teachers and paraprofessionals)
Subject: Referrals are in

Referrals are in, referrals are in!!!  I only order (sic) 2500 since the past two years we haven’t exceeded 2400.  They are in my office for pick up, please feel free to stop by and pick them up!

(An assistant principal who always meant well)

(Name of Title 1 school)

(Somewhere in the Midwest)

Eduhonesty: Found this while cleaning old email. I remember we ran out of referrals in the spring. I am sharing this because the number is worth a moment’s reflection. Currently, the school has closer to 600 than 500 students, but those are hardly large urban numbers. It’s a little smaller than the US average. (Table 5. – Average public school size (mean number of students per school), by instructional level and by state: Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000 (ed.gov))

I stopped to think about this, reader. Let’s do the math: 2,400 divided by 180 = 13.33 referrals per day. Except we ran out of referrals. Let’s say the number turned out to be 14 or 15 referrals per day. Let’s also note that school policy had teachers managing many behaviors without use of referrals. Teachers were to manage lesser infractions such as the random swear word or “tardiness of less than 5 minutes” etc. That “Prior Action Taken by Teacher” on the form is all about avoiding office referrals, and I don’t want that to seem a criticism. Teachers should not be bombing the office with every kid who decides to drop an “F” bomb when he hears his ex-girlfriend may be seeing a new guy.

COPY OF REFERRALS RELATED TO THAT OLD EMAIL

The numbers will not be in yet, but I don’t personally know a single teacher who does not think that behavior is worse post-pandemic than before. For one thing, we have added a whole new category of infraction: refused to mask/distance/follow COVID protocols. Changes in routines alone are throwing off even the go-along, get-along crowd, many of whom want their old schools and their old lives back.

I only want to make one observation here: Admin may be struggling but those well-meaning assistant principals and deans must step up to the plate right now. Teachers are too busy to manage afterschool and lunch detentions. They may even be covering for a colleague at lunch. Deans and others who are part of the disciplinary process may want to let the little stuff go because of the sheer volume of referrals, BUT THAT MUST NOT HAPPEN. The kid who gets away with stealing an extra hour of game time on Tuesday will try to steal two hours on Wednesday. Kids naturally take advantage of weaknesses in policy enforcement, and if a kid gets away with cursing at his or her teacher once, that behavior may even be pushed pushed pushed just to find a limit — or find out there isn’t one, not really.

I am reading all sorts of “should I quit” posts and even “I am so glad I quit” posts on social media right now. Many say things like, “the kids are awful this year, worse than I have ever seen in my (10-20-30) whatever years of teaching.” “I can’t handle this anymore.”

Depending on their location, kids may be experiencing whole new levels of stress, unlike anything in their earlier lives. Their behavioral shifts are understandable. They are suffering from rapidly changing routines and expectations, leaving many nervous, angry and confused. Some have suffered family job losses, illnesses and even tragedies. This fact leaves administrators and teachers feeling a natural compassion and desire to go easy on off-the-charts behavior.

But we cannot afford to be too understanding. Student behavior has always been a major component in how teachers view their jobs — probably the major component — and teachers’ working conditions must be prioritized. A teacher shortage is coming, a fiery comet blazing in our sky. In some areas, the comet has entered the atmosphere. Schools are tapping district office secretaries and IT support people to teach in classrooms. Palo Alto High Unified School District asked for help from parents to help keep schools open Palo Alto schools recruit parents for support as teachers, other staff call in sick amid omicron surge (mercurynews.com). I wouldn’t be surprised to find a few maintenance and lunchroom employees helping to hold the line. Staying firm on student misbehavior will help keep teachers in the classroom — and students on track academically.

I see many changes coming, including better pay for teachers eventually. Shortages push up salaries. That’s still in the future, though, and right now this country needs to support and nurture teachers. That means letting them send kids out who are disrupting the learning process. It may mean taking advantage of recent steep climbs up the remote learning curve. Suspensions can include time logged for learning from home. Yes, some kids won’t log on, but while we don’t seem to be watching a planet-killer of a comet yet, that post-impact tidal wave may not be far away. School districts are seeing educators leave profession at alarming rate (kktv.com)

Eduhonesty up: With all of our recent educational changes, figuring out where to put our energies will be tough. One major item to prioritize stands out, however: interventions to manage student behavior must be positioned front and center. Strategies for behavior management must also be created with the understanding that teachers cannot add hours to their day to manage those behaviors. Too many are already drowning as they try to juggle home, family and job requirements. Too many keep finding themselves with 36 hours of work to do in a 24 hour day.

School administrators need to step out onto the front lines to manage this problem. If next year’s curriculum meetings don’t happen because of today’s disciplinary challenges, last year’s curriculum should become the default move. Business cannot continue as usual. Teachers who feel unsupported, or even isolated, are choosing to move on. I know a fair number currently who are only hanging on to reach a critical point in their pension benefits before turning in retirement forms.

Discipline should be the central topic in those schools that are struggling with surging disciplinary infractions. If thirteen office-managed disciplinary infractions have crept up to twenty-some infractions, classroom learning has already been badly impacted by those behaviors. Teacher morale is going down rapidly, too. I absolutely guarantee this. Teacher morale is DIRECTLY tied to student learning for most teachers.

All eyes now should be watching our teacher exodus. We can recover from many forces undercutting education. We can’t recover from a widespread, permanent loss of dedicated teachers.