EBD Blog

Today is the official launch of the Consortium to Prevent School Violence (CPSV). The consortium will provide many resources including fact sheets, research summaries, training resources, and more.

The Consortium to Prevent School Violence (CPSV) seeks to promote the effective implementation of school violence prevention practices that are:

Based in high-quality scientific research

Proven to prevent and reduce school violence

Following the school shootings of Fall 2006, a group of 20 researchers and practitioners in the field of school violence prevention collaborated on the creation of a position statement on the school shootings. In the process, it became apparent that an alliance of researchers and practitioners in school violence prevention to further the common goal of reducing school violence would be highly valuable.

The Consortium is primarily a volunteer effort.

Visit CPSV on the Web. Snag a copy of CPSV press release about the launch.

In “Crown seeks 10-year term for young killer,” Sherri Zickefoose of the Calgary (Alta, CA) Herald reported about the trial of a 14-year-old girl who was convicted of first-degree murder last summer for her contributing to the stabbing deaths of a family of three. The girl was 12 at the time of the murders.

Noting that the “prosecutor says girl is ’significantly disturbed’ and fails to show any remorse” and has requested the maximum punishment, Ms. Zickefoose reported that Justice Scott Brooker is reviewing psychiatric reports.

He is also reviewing a media request to view the reports on which he will base the girl’s sentence.

The girl, who cannot be identified, has both oppositional defiance disorder and conduct disorder, according to psychiatric reports, the hearing in Court of Queen’s Bench was told.

“The young person does not recognize that she has committed a crime, nor does she have any insight into her condition,” said Crown prosecutor Stephanie Cleary, calling the girl “seriously disturbed” and saying she shows no remorse or acceptance of criminal responsibility for her role in the triple slaying.

Court heard the girl suffers from dependency issues, anxiety and depression, and is prone to immature problem-solving and wishful fantasies, though a psychologist hired by the defence said she had no homicidal or sadistic tendencies.

Jeremy Steinke stands accused of actually stabbing the family members, at the encouragement of the girl. Shortly after the girl and Mr. Steinke were arrested, she agreed to marry Mr. Steinke, according to reports in multiple sources. In a story that appeared on MacLeans.ca, James Stevensonof The Canadian Press reported about the jailhouse romance.

Just 18 months ago, the girl and Steinke were arrested in the back of a pickup truck in Leader, Sask. as police combed her blood-soaked house in suburban Medicine Hat.

In the following days, the two exchanged a series of crudely written prison-house

love letters full of spelling mistakes that culminated in Steinke asking for her hand in marriage. The girl, now Canada’s youngest convicted multiple killer, said yes.

“Ahahaha! I never thought I’d find myself hystericaly (sic) laughing in a holding cell in these kinds of circumstances,” wrote the girl. “But still! ahaha you make me so happy! Yes! Yes! I will, I would love to.”

There’s a lot to this story. Whatever the sentence, I hope she gets some good intervention.

Here are some links:

Ms. Zickefoose’s story;
Mr. Stevenson’s coverage of the girl breaking the engagement to Mr. Steinke;
Victoria Times Colonist coverage;

When should a student’s right to participate in education be denied because his or her behavior is inimical to rights of other students’ to benefit from education? When is one student’s behavior so problemsome that his “right” to be in a classroom is trumped by his peers’ right to participate in an orderly learning environment?

Most educators, I would hazard a guess, want to make it possible for students to participate in a minimally restrictive environment. Although the “least restrictive environment” clause of the US special education law is buried pretty deeply in the structural outline of legal guarantees, it is advocated strongly by many people (educators, parents, attorneys, etc.) concerned about special education. And, many advocates argue that it—the “right” to the “least restrictive environment”—is the ace of trumps.

Is it? When does the balance shift from the access rights of an individual to the access rights of the individual’s peers? When are the interests of an individual to participate in “mainstream” education of lesser importance than the interests of peer students’ access to an environment that is conducive to learning (i.e., not disrupted)?

These and some other matters are the likely subjects of discussion at a forthcoming meeting on classroom disruptions. Suitably scheduled for Hallowe’en, the meeting will be held in Washington (DC, US). here’s the basic info:

Class Disrupted: Disorder and Its Effects on Learning and School Culture

October 31, 2007

Location: Washington, DC

Many teachers and principals struggle to create and maintain positive classroom and school cultures–free of disruption, disrespect, bullying, intimidation, and violence. While public school systems are rightly focused on meeting AYP and the other requirements of No Child Left Behind, they must also address the fact that without order and respect, little learning and progress can be achieved. Student misbehavior that goes unaddressed in the hallways and the classroom undermines instruction, stifles the development of character and social skills, and contributes to teacher burnout. This forum will:

* Examine disorderly conditions in schools, including factors contributing to the problem, looking beyond traditional concerns about safety and violence, to acts of disrespect, disregard for school rules, and disruptive behavior;
* Highlight the consequences of disorder in schools, specifically on learning and culture;
* Present new ideas on how law impacts student discipline at the school level; and
* Share key perspectives on what must be done to help restore respect and order and maintain safe and productive schools.

Date: October 31, 2007
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.
Lunch will be provided
Location:

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1779 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.

If you’re interested in this topic, contact RSVP@cgood.org. (or for more information, contact Ali Kliegman at akliegman [at] cgood.org or 212.681.8199 x14.

Flash of the electrons to Elona Hartjes of Teachers At Risk whose post, “Class Disrupted: Disorder and Its Effects on Learning and School Culture” brought this to my attention.

According to a story in the Richmond (VA, US) Times-Dispatch, the Richmond Public Schools have collaborated with a statewide legal-aid group called JustChildren to address problems arising when discipline rules conflict with the right to an education under US and VA laws that is due to students with disabilities. In the article, Olympia Meola describes efforts to ensure that children with disabilities who are subject to disciplinary rules because of misconduct are not suspended or expelled inappropriately.

This week, JustChildren and Richmond schools entered a broad agreement aimed at improving services for all special-education students who are disciplined for violating the student code of conduct in school.

“There was good will, there were good people, and the teachers would rally around that individual child, but we were fishing kids out of the stream one at a time,” she said. “We needed to step back and make the system as a whole better.”

The agreement with Richmond schools is a first for JustChildren, and it’s intended to help the schools boost services for students who are facing a disciplinary hearing or have been suspended or expelled. During the 2006-07 school year, 166 exceptional-education students in Richmond schools had a disciplinary hearing.

JustChildren approached the Richmond school system with the partnership idea about nine months ago. The move was spurred not by one particularly egregious case, but rather by the cumulative effect of many cases, and the fact that JustChildren’s growth has allowed the organization to do more expansive work, said Andrew Block, the program’s legal director.

The intersection of disciplinary rules and disabilities has been a lightening rod in special educational policy. Why, some people wonder, aren’t rules applied equitably regardless of whether students have disabilities? Why, some other people wonder, should a problem that is manifestation of a student’s disability cause her or him to lose access to educational services? I’m very glad to see advocates and a local education agency addressing this issue in a positive and reasoned manner.

Link to Ms. Meola’s story. Learn more about JustChildren, which is one of several programs of the Legal Aid Justice Center.

The annual meeting of Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders (TECBD), now named after Rob Rutherford who founded it, will be held 15-17 November 2007 in Tempe (AZ, US). Steve Forness, Cheryl George, and John Maag are among the people who’ll be speaking this year.

Every year, EBDBlog has announced the call for papers, so this is nothing new. There is still time to propose a presentation for this year’s meeting. Potential presenters may submit proposals for sessions using the TECBD site.

Link to the Web site for TECBD. Link for proposing presentations.

Multisystemic Therapy, on which I’ve reported previously, received another boost recently. Over on Social Programs that Work, a new study was added to the corpus of studies supporting the efficacy of Multisystemic Therapy. The new study by Jane Timmons-Mitchell and colleagues extends the literature about the value of this method for addressing Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.
Continue reading ‘MST redux’

NARSAD: The Mental Health Research Association announced its grants for 2007, including 23 Distinguished Investigators and 222 Young Investigators. The awards represent more than $15 million in grants, and many of them are relevant to Emotional and Behavioral Disorders among children and youths.
Continue reading ‘NARSAD 2007′

Over on ms-teacher, a teacher has a little piece applauding a mother’s response to her daughter being suspended from school for bullying. The entry refers to a newspaper article describing how 12-year-old Miasha Williams’ mother had her hold a sign reading “I engaged in bullying behavior. I got suspended from school and this street corner. Don’t be like me. Stop bullying” in front of schools.
Continue reading ‘Bully picture’

In an article entitled “City special-ed lapses increase school violence,” Martha Woodall and Susan Snyder of the Philadelphia (PA, US) Inquirer describe how the local education agency’s failure to provide appropriate services to a student with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders played a role in that student’s beating of a teacher. On 23 February 2007 in a hallway outside Frank Burd’s algebra class, student Donte Boykin pushed his teacher (Mr. Burd) into another student, James Footman. Mr. Footman punched Mr. Burd in the face repeatedly, and Mr. Burd fell, breaking his neck.
Continue reading ‘Schools failed’

A school board in Milwaukee (WI, US) voted to develop a policy that would allow schools to permit the use of handcuffs on students. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel commented on this issue in an editorial in late April. Here’s the beginning of that editorial:
Continue reading ‘Handcuffs in school’

The Incredible Years programs, which comprise a coordinated set of (a) parent training programs and individual family counseling, (b) teacher training and school consultation, and (c) group child training in social skills, problem-solving, and anger management, are in the news again. The IY programs are aimed at reducing conduct problems in young children. They have been researched extensively.

Continue reading ‘Incredible Years’

Here’s a story about a troubling combination of race, disability, adolescence, sports mentality, and probably other factors that apparently combined to result in—you guessed it—violence. Under the headline “Martin schools sued over beating,” Daphne Duret of the Palm Beach (FL, US) Post reported about a suit being brought by Michele Potts because of a beating she says her son, Henry Daniel Banks, received after a football practice, ostensibly for using a racial slur during the practice.

A Hobe Sound mother sued the Martin County School Board Monday claiming school officials failed to protect her emotionally disabled son, who briefly played football at South Fork High School before several teammates accused him of using a racial slur and beat him up in a locker room.

Michele Potts’ son, Henry Daniel Banks, was a week into his freshman year and an offensive lineman on the junior varsity football team in August 2005, when at least two players followed him into the freshman locker room at the end of practice one afternoon, records show. They beat him so badly they caused permanent damage to his teeth and jaw, knocking two of his teeth into the roof of his mouth, his mother said.

Link to Ms. Duret’s story.