Meeting the Social-Emotional Needs of Students: Creating Alternatives to the School-to-Prison-Pipeline

Background and Purpose:  This presentation details outcomes of specific school interventions to improve student socio-emotional health and the policy development process to establish linkages between health, education, and school disciplinary policies. In California, more than 400,000 students are suspended from school annually, contributing to increases in school dropout, substance abuse, violence, and incarceration. Forty percent of suspensions are for “willful defiance,” a loosely-defined, subjective designation, which is often influenced by school personnel’s bias.  High school dropouts cost California $19.5 billion each year. African American and Latino male students are disproportionately affected by these policies.

Significance and Methodology:  Several California school districts have implemented evidence-based approaches to improve social-emotional health, while changing school disciplinary policies. Using pre- and post-data, these approaches have been evaluated by the funder, The California Endowment, the California Teachers Association, and UCSF.  The partnership uses these data to educate policymakers on statewide disciplinary policies.

Results and Conclusion:Schools that changed their focus to a social-emotional supportive approach implemented strategies including: restorative justice, Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports, Trauma-informed care, and the Good Behavior Game. Employing these techniques, schools have reduced suspensions and increased Academic Performance Index (API) scores for all students. For example, over a 4-year period, one school reduced suspensions from 375 to 45 and improved API for all students by 65%, (81% for Latinos, 75% for low-income students, and 85% for English-language learners). Data from multiple schools are presented. These data provide guidance for local and state policies related to social-emotional health and disciplinary policies.