school discipline

Just hours before the end of this year’s legislative session, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law several far-reaching juvenile justice bills. Brown endorsed a bill that will prevent the transfer of 14- and 15-year-olds into adult criminal court; provide internet access for youth in foster care and the juvenile justice system; bar children ages 11 and younger from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court; and limit the amount of time youth who are deemed mentally incompetent can spend in juvenile halls, among other legislation.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this month on school discipline with a topline finding that “black students, boys and students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in K-12 public schools.”

As we reported last week, the deal reached on fiscal 2018 spending included several boosts for programs that serve youth and families. Click here for our analysis of that, plus our full chart of youth spending in 2018.

Although chronic absenteeism occurs in most school districts, just 4 percent of the nation’s school districts account for about half of the nation’s chronically absent students. A report released by Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center highlighted disparities around chronic absenteeism thanks to data made available for the first time from the U.S.

A report from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) presents the results of an evaluation of its judge-led model that aims to keep kids in school and out of court.

More than a year after creating the Bureau of Children’s Justice, California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced five investigations across the state, including examining how counties report child abuse, excessive force at juvenile detention centers, the actions of school police and school discipline practices for special education students.

Trained as a clinical child psychologist, Ross W. Greene is perhaps best known for his influential books on school discipline, The Explosive Child and Lost at School. Over the course of his career, he has reframed school discipline issues among children with social, emotional, and behavioral issues as a matter of lagging cognitive skills rather than as a deficit of motivation.

Atlantic Philanthropies’ work in the area of school discipline reform is a particularly striking example of how limited-life philanthropy can play a key role in social movements for children and youth.

You know Texas? Big state, couple of pro football teams, hints at seceding every once in awhile? Yeah, you’ve heard of it! Here’s an interesting bit of Texas policy news that Youth Services Insider caught onto late in January: There are currently legislative efforts to increase the presence of police in schools, and to reduce the role that police play in school discipline.