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Chapter 1: Introduction

The author Tieken (2017) outlines the history of the American Educational System. The birth of the Great American Educational System began during with the Colonial Education. This classroom was very limited during these times: reading, writing, math and Bible instruction. Also, gender-determined how much schooling students received. Blanchette, Klinger, and Harry (2009) go on to discuss the changes that occurred in the 20th century. As the 20th century begins, the educational model included equal education for all students regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Brown v. Board of Education,1954 changed the American educational system for both African American and students with disabilities. The author states that the Brown v. Board of Education laid the foundation to challenge the separate but equal law that applied to students with disabilities. Before the Brown v. Board of Education case, school systems were not required to educates students with disabilities. The reversal of excluding special needs students ushered in new federal law, Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA). This law ensures students with disabilities Free Appropriate Education.

The latter part of the 20th century ushered in the era of High Stakes Testing. Politicians marketed this era as a way to improve a broken educational system, No Child Left Behind [NCLB], 2002). This Act promised to have every student on grade level in Reading and Math by 2014. No Child Left Behind started assigning schools a letter grade from A to F based on a students' performance on the yearly state's test. High school seniors had to pass the state's test to receive their high school diploma. The assignment of letter grade caused parents to explore their newly given option of school choice. School choice gave parents the opportunity of transferring students from their failing homeschool to another high performing school. Warren (2014) concludes that the result, subgroups such as the economically disadvantaged/poor and ESE students never came close to meeting the goal of grade-level proficiency that was set by lawmakers. In fact, the number of students in this subgroup began to shift their presence from school into another government-funded system, prison.                              

Today in the United States we currently have 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus (para 2), "no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its citizens.”  These statistics are alarming considering that since the 1990’s the crime rate has gone down.

The culture of mass incarceration resulted from the profits realized in inmates, mandatory sentencing guidelines for non-violent offenders, and disengaged students. Prisoners are required to work for little to nothing compensation. According to the article, 21st Century Slaves, significant corporations often utilize these inmates to work for pennies on the dollar versus hiring a civilian at a much higher rate. Another trend is the privatization of the prison system. Publicly traded, private companies are now in the business of building prisons for profit. Simmons (2015) states that public schools have become a market opportunity for the security industry. The security industry is defined by companies who offer security products such as metal detectors and for-profit prisons. As the jails increase its population the private companies bottom line increases; hence, the mandatory sentencing guidelines for non-violent offenders, such as drug users. Then, President Bill Clinton passed a sweeping law that required mandatory sentencing guidelines for those who were in possession of drugs, such as marijuana-now legalized in many states.

    Mallet (2012) defines the school-to-prison pipeline as the trend of children or youth from public schools ending up in juvenile and criminal justice systems. Most of the children represented here have histories of abuse, neglect or learning disabilities. They are primarily from minority communities, marginalized due to inequities within the educational system. Wilson (2013) states that due to the disproportionate number of special education students, administrators and teachers that academic and behavior support is in place for this subgroup.

   Schept, Wall, and Brisman (2015) stated that the implementation of zero tolerance on school grounds with the growing number of presence of police in schools have led to the criminalization of school discipline. Schools districts nationwide began to increase the use of school resource officers on campus, particularly in inner-city schools. Also, hardline discipline measures were implemented. In other words, a zero-tolerance approach toward student misconducted became the norm, hence the process criminalization versus education of poor, minority youth. Many studies conducted have shown a clear link between school expulsion in the form of out-of-school suspension and juvenile detention. For instance, Skiba, Horner, Chung, and Rausch (2011) stated that an overrepresentation in out-of-school suspension and expulsion appears to place African American students at risk for poor academic performance and involvement in the juvenile justice system. When students are placed on out-of-school suspension, too often they are left without any adult supervision which leads to an increased likelihood of them engaging in criminal behavior.

Statement of the Problem

The general problem addressed in this study is minority youth face more risk and threats of criminalization as compared to other ethnic groups, and this displays a significant problem and causes for concern for the lives of these youth. (Porter 2015). The educational system was intended to be equitable and equal. The disproportional rate of minority boys transitioning from school to prison raises the question of equality and fair within the school systems. The school-to-prison phenomenon is an issue in the American society that requires exploration of solutions that will create a more equal and equitable educational experience for all.

The specific problem is the correlation between students’ learning, ethnicity and non-violent school consequences connected to the increasing likelihood of criminalization. A few elements cause at-risk youth to move from the educational system to adolescent framework. Cramer(2014) conducted research that showed that African American males that have been determined to have a learning disability are the most elevated risk group to be subjected to criminalization. The second most elevated at-risk group are Latino males. As per the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2011), both African American and Latino males additionally make up most of the jail population and dropout rate. The correlation between minorities with learning disabilities and criminalization for non-violent offenses highlights the inequality in the educational system. Many researchers have demonstrated an unmistakable connection between school suspension and adolescent confinement. Cuellar and Markowitz (2015), the outdoor suspension may expand criminally culpable conduct by issue youth, dramatically increasing the likelihood of incarceration.

Using the Correlational methodology,  the study will seek to determine the relationship between research-based, engaging instructional strategies on increasing academic success in students' with learning disabilities. The study will also measure the degree of impact that positive behavioral plans have on reducing at-risk students suspension rates. The study participants will be Black and Latino students in the middle of high school. The study's outcome will determine which instructional strategies and behavioral strategies are most effective in reducing or eliminates at-risk youth from entering the criminal justice system; therefore increasing the number of educated, productive minorities.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify measures that will reduce the number of at-risk youth being funneled through the school-to-prison pipeline. The study will be conducted in a large urban school setting. The participants will be poor, African American and Latino, middle school students, ages 11-16; who have been placed on outdoor or indoor suspension.

Research Questions

Frequently, at-risk youth feel disengaged starting at an early age. The study of Bell (2015) cites student lack of positive schooling experience as a primary cause of disengagement. Bell concludes that fostering a positive school experience includes validation, fair and justice treatment when misconduct occurs, and high expectations. According to Rocque and Paternoster (2011), another factor to student engagement is a curriculum that students connect with. The research questions guiding this study are:

Q1. How will teaching and classroom structure keep at-risk youth engaged?

Q2. What is positive behavioral plan effective in reducing or eliminating school suspensions of at-risk youth?

Conceptual Framework

This study has examined research that addresses the school-to-prison pipeline phenomenon. Leading experts all agree that outdoor suspension/expulsion increases a students' chances of getting involved in criminal activity which ultimately ushers them into the School-to-prison pipeline. Another critical point, experts seem to be in agreeance with are the high-risk groups: African American Males, Hispanic, and special education. Research uncovered various behavior modification initiatives or positive behavior reinforcement plans, but little information was found on how to engage better, therefore educating students who fall under the umbrella of special education.

According to Cuellar, A. E., and Markowitz, S. (2015) Out-of-school suspension may increase offending criminal behavior by problem youth, more than doubling the probability of arrest. The effect is unusually substantial among African American youth, relative to Whites. Wilson, H. (2014) also argues the same point that school expulsion and suspensions are the leading contributors to school-to-prison pipeline phenomenal. More than a Metaphor: The Contribution of Exclusionary Discipline to a School-to-Prison Pipeline the author highlight that there is a direct correlation between the increase of student suspension, which doubled from 1974 to 2010, to the creation of the school-to-prison pipeline. The study goes on to state that the majority of offenses students were suspended for were minor to moderate, non-violent crimes. When students are suspended, they are not engaged. High level of student engagement and access are linked to academic achievement. Consequently, students being suspended or expelled are not allowed access to education nor are they engaged. Suspension leads to academic failure.

Nature of Study

In this qualitative study, case study research method will be utilized. Case study methodology was selected because the study will require selecting and analyzing two case studies: at-risk youth who excelled academically and behavioral plans that increase appropriate behavior in at-risk youth. Creswell (2013) states that case studies are relevant when a researcher has identified cases with boundaries and seeks to provide an in-depth understanding of the facts or comparison of several cases. The study will involve at-risk youth ages 11-16 in a large urban school setting. Participants will be selected from researcher's school site; however chosen participants will not be former students of the researcher; this will be done to ensure a non-basis study.

The study will include multiple sources of information: interviews, surveys, observation, documentation, and reports. The researcher will conduct a structured interview with selected participants. The advantage of using a structured interview format is to ensure specific relevant information is asked of the participants. The one-to-one format will be used to protect the participants' privacy and confidentiality. Interview questions will include questions about involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Electronic surveys could be used in the study as a pretesting survey instrument. Dane (2011) stated that pretesting is necessary to trust the accuracy of data. An electronic survey will then be used to gather data on the level of participants' connectivity and engagement to classroom curriculum. If available, an existing valid survey would be used. The advantages of using electronic surveys versus a telephone survey are that electronic is more time effective. Although most youths have access to phones, the telephone would require an extensive amount of time compared to an online platform.

Observations of participants would be used when observing participants' in a highly engaged classroom setting. Due to the nature of the research, small group observation is the only appropriate option. The researcher needs to observe classroom engagement. Data will be recorded using field notes, audio recording, and web-based. Data from classroom observations will be collected using field notes. Notes will be taken while direct observation is being conducted.

The data collection will be from multiple sources. One-to-one structured interviews, classroom observation, and school's discipline and academic documents will be used. The researcher will meet with parents or guardians to discuss the details of the study. Parents will be informed of their right to withdraw their child at any point in the study. Also, parents will be required to give verbal and written consent for their child's participation. A total of 20 at-risk youth will participate in the study: 12 African American, 8 Hispanic, 16-males. 4-females. The study will take place over a six-month period, November-May. The interviews will last 25-30 minutes. To protect the identity of the participants, the researcher will assign numbers to each participant. Participants will be asked 15-20 questions, for example: "What is your favorite class?", "What do you like best about your favorite class?" Data will be stored on a USB. Only the researcher will have access to USB.

Analysis of the data which includes data from interviews, classroom observations and school's records will begin by coding. The researcher will utilize a computer program that will identify keywords and phrases in participants' interviews. The researcher will use a computer program such as HyperRESEARCH. Green (2011) explains that HyperRESEARCH allows researchers to code, retrieve, build theories and conduct the analysis. HyperRESEARCH codes all kinds of sources; audio, video and notes.

References

Bell, E. E. (2015). Understanding African American males' schooling experiences:

A qualitative inquiry. The Qualitative Report, 20(8), 1260-1269. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/1716946608?accountid=28180

Blanchette, W., Klinger, J., and Harry, B. (2009) The Intersection of Race, Culture, Language, and Disability: Implications for Urban Education. Urban Education

Vol 44, Issue 4, pp. 389 – 409

Cramer, E. D., Gonzalez, L., and Pellegrini-Lafont, C. (2014). From classmates to inmates:

An integrated approach to Cramer, E. D., Gonzalez, L., and Pellegrini-Lafont, C. (2014). From classmates to inmates: An integrated approach to break the school-to-prison pipeline. Equity and Excellence In Education, 47(4), 461-475. doi:10.1080/10665684.2014.958962

Cuellar, A. E., and Markowitz, S. (2015). School suspension and the school-to-prison pipeline. International Review Of Law and Economics, doi:10.1016/j.irle.2015.06.001