Two Contrasting Articles

Educational policy doesn't get much play in the media lately, but two articles in Sunday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel caught my attention.

The first, an article that claims that the drop in suspension rates is to blame for a perceived drop in classroom safety.
The second, an article about the promises of character education in schools.

I offer two pieces of advice:
• Don't confuse correlation with causation
• A rising tide lifts all boats

The first article, about suspension rates, claims that "the increasing hesitancy of schools to utilize discipline is having a negative effect on the learning environment" and "the rapid drop in suspension rates has also raised safety concerns".  The article blames the drop in suspension rates on political structures.  Correlation is not causation.

This take on suspension rates ignores the idea that hardworking educators are finding new and better ways to build relationships and communicate with students and families on an ongoing basis.  Ideas such as culturally-responsive teaching, trauma-informed teaching, and equity have found center stage.  Does that mean we don't deal appropriately with extreme misbehavior when we see it?  Absolutely not.  But it also means we care at least as much about the antecedent as we do the behavior and the consequence.

The second article is about the need for character education in all schools.  My favorite line:
"Drilling the multiplication tables will not help lonely, desperate children or develop a world-class workforce.  What we need to do is encourage character where it exists and grow it where it is lacking".  Educators work hard to create a common language about academic outcomes.  We fall flat when trying to speak a common vocabulary about the character outcomes we expect.  But it's not impossible.  A rising tide lifts all boats!  Our efforts at character education proactively benefit every student.

We must ask ourselves:  Do we face a "character gap"?  And if so, how does it relate to the "achievement gap"?  These have become color-blind, poverty-blind, ability-blind questions.
Discipline?  Yes.  Character?  Yes.  Achievement?  Yes.
Which of those do you think is the starting point for long-term student success?