that “silo” model and create what Rasheed calls “a constellation of service systems.” “We want to build programs for veterans


that are linked, like a spider web,” she says. “That means someone could come in for one issue but benefit from the other ser- vices we offer.” The School of Social Work is developing


four projects to help veterans, Rasheed says, and they all will contain a social services element. A partnership with the School of Law will provide legal aid for veterans, for example, while another with the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing will study sleep disorders, which affect many veterans who were deployed in combat zones. The School of Social Work also will


partner with the new Loyola Community and Family Services clinic to provide mental health counseling for veterans and their


“ Career counseling should start while


they are in the military. Planning for a new job after you get out is


already too late.” —JANICE MATTHEWS RASHEED, PhD


families. And the school will work with private agencies and community groups to help improve their job training programs. That last effort is especially important be-


cause unemployment can lead to so many other problems, Rasheed says. And while many veterans leave the military with years of high-tech work experience—in fields ranging from avionics to cyber security— they often are overlooked for positions be- cause they don’t have civilian certifications. Rasheed thinks the country must do a


better job of preparing men and women to succeed after their military service comes to an end. “Career counseling should start while they are in the military,” she says. “Planning for a new job after you get out is already too late. “Students at Loyola get to attend job


fairs and resume workshops before they graduate. We should be doing the same thing with veterans before they leave the service.” L


SCHOOL OF LAW/SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Suspending discipline


Out-of-school punishments can hurt kids more than they help. Two Loyola professors are working toward a more positive approach.


Fin ing r search sho


inding research showiing the consequences of suspen- sions and expulsions isn’t dif- ficult. The role of discipline in the school-to-prison pipeline has become a national talk- ing point for educators and legislators. There is, however, limited data showing schools what might work better.


ng


Pamela Fenning, a professor in the School of Education, and Miranda Johnson, associate director of Loyola’s Education


Law and Policy Institute, are working to address punishments that take students out of school. “You need to think about what’s happening with those young people in school and how founda- tional education is to their life outcomes,” says Johnson, an attorney who has handled school discipline and special education cases in New York and Chicago. “From working with students individually and hearing their stories, I think for many of them school is one of the few safe places that they have in their lives.”


In addition to showing that students can feel


more isolated and fall behind in schoolwork, re- search has found that just one suspension in ninth grade can affect a student’s likelihood of graduat- ing or attending college. But discipline often begins much earlier—Fenning says that some are starting to use the term “cradle-to-prison pipeline” based on suspension data in preschool. As students get older, they often start acting


out more, either out of frustration or to hide that they’re struggling academically. Getting suspend- ed just lets them fall further behind. To address these issues, recent Illinois legislation will change how students are disciplined starting this fall— and Fenning and Johnson hope their research, published in the Children’s Legal Rights Journal, can help schools handle that change. Both professors helped found the Transform-


ing School Discipline Collaborative, which brings together attorneys, school psychologists, policy advocates, and community partners to help districts lower the number of suspensions and expulsions. A large part of that work has been developing a standard set of guidelines to help


n p g pra he e’s no one


misbehaving students, not just punish them. The new law will limit the length of suspensions and expulsions and require administrators to release data categorizing which students are being disciplined. “What our collaborative would like to see happen is that districts not only comply with the strict letter of the law,” says John- son, “but also incorporate the decades-long research on the negative impacts of exclusion-


eh pu ad h the t the l d expu ra


g s ud nt , n t j . The new l w wi gth of su s a d r s to r


se d ne e i


s to do d sc l a


s of e


ary discipline together with the emerging research on promising practices to do discipline differently.” There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but the


ne d ntly , b t the


collaborative’s “Model Student Code of Conduct” provides administrators with a framework based on the latest research. Fenning, who worked as a school psychologist before coming to Loyola more than 20 years ago, has conducted a number of studies looking at suspension and discipline poli- cies, high rates of disproportionality in discipline, alternatives to out-of-school punishments, and ways to address behavior more proactively. In any given school, the code of conduct out-


lines policies on student behavior and discipline guidelines—but rarely are they uniform in how they deal with offenses. The collaborative’s model code addresses a number of issues, specifically preventing students from being suspended for minor offenses; asking administrators to look for a root cause to misbehavior; and preventing more vulnerable groups—such African American boys, those with disabilities, and LGBT students—from being disproportionately punished. This summer, Fenning, Johnson, and others


are leading training sessions statewide for school administrators and are putting finishing touches on a toolkit that will offer resources and informa- tion on topics like restorative justice, implicit bias, and new discipline strategies. “When schools start excluding students, it leaves them feeling like they have no good options and no real future,” says Johnson. “I think that is both dangerous for our communities to have young people feeling that sense of hopelessness and also a sad testament to what school should be.” —Anna Gaynor


SUMMER 2016 33


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