Alarming numbers of students, particularly minority students, are being suspended and expelled from our nations’ schools. The surface issue is discipline; however, the underlying issues are literacy and barriers to academic success. To address these issues, a large urban district opened a new school for students who were not succeeding in traditional settings, had escalating discipline problems, and were failing academically. It was called Project Succeed Academy. This article details the lessons learned in the schools design, implementation, and evolution. An analysis of the political, community, and financial issues that caused reduction of the original design are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Boehnlein, M. (1987). Reading intervention for high-risk first graders. Educational Leadership, 44, 32-37.
2.
Buenger, C. L. (1991). Report & Recommendations. The Cincinnati Business Committee Task force on Public Schools.
3.
Brown, L. (1992). Discipline advisory board report and recommendations. Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati Public Schools Office of Student Discipline.
4.
Campbell-Whatley, C., & Comer, J. (2000). Self-concept and African-American student achievement: Elated issues of ethics, power and privilege. Teacher Education and Special Education, 23, 19-31.
5.
Clay, M. M. (1990, April). Reading recovery in the United States: Its successes and challenges. Paper delivered at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Boston.
6.
Comer, J. P. (1997). Waiting for a miracle. New York: E. P. Dutton.
7.
Corder, G. W. (1999). Behavioral contracts in the martial arts classroom (ERIC Clearing House ED437370). ERIC Issue: RIEJUN00. Clearing House: SP.
8.
Edwards, P. A., McMillon, G. T., Turner, J. D., & Laier, B. (2001). Who are you teaching? Coordinating instructional networks around the students and parents you serve. The Reading Teacher, 55, 146-150.
9.
Esposito, C. (1999). Learning in urban blight: School climate and its effect on the school performance of urban, minority, low-income children. The School Psychology Review, 28, 365-377.
10.
Finn,J. D. (1989). With drawing from school. Review of Educational Research, 59, 117-142.
11.
Griffin, B. W. (2002, April/May). Academic disidentification, race, and high school dropouts. The High School Journal, pp. 71-81.
12.
Kaplan, A., & Maehr, M. L. (1999). Achievement goals and student well-being. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 24, 330-358.
13.
Keogh, B. K. (2000). Risk, families, and schools. Focus on Exceptional Children, 22(4), 1-10.
14.
Keogh, B. K., & Weisner, T. (1993). An ecocultural perspective on risk and protective factors in children’s development: Implications for learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 8, 3-10.
15.
Lonigan, C. J., Bloomfield, B. G., Anthony, J. L., Bacon, K. D., Phillips, B. M., & Samwel, C. S. (1999). Relations among emergent literacy skills, behavior problems, and social competence in preschool children from low- and middle-income backgrounds. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 19, 40-53.
16.
Maughan, B., Pickles, A., Hagell, A., Rutter, M., & Yule, W. (1996). Reading problems and antisocial behaviour: Developmental trends in comorbidity. Child Psychology Psychiatry, 37, 405-418.
17.
McDonald, D. (2002). Education policy shifts in new law. Momentum, 33(2), 73-74.
18.
Morgenthaler, S. K. (2002). Wellness, fitness, and young children. Luthern Education, 137, 313-314.
19.
Odden, A. (2000). Costs of sustaining educational change through comprehensive school reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 81, 433-438.
20.
Reginald, L., Green, C., & Plata, E. (1999). Building collaborative relationships between schools and the university for instructional improvement. Education, 120, 388-396.
21.
Sameroff, A. J., Barto, W. T., Baldwin, A., Baldwin, C., & Siefer, R. (1998).Family and child influence on the development of child competence. In M. Lewis & C. Feiring (Eds.), Families, risk, and competence (pp. 161-186). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
22.
Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the leaning organization. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
23.
Serim, F. (2002). What a difference a decade makes. Multimedia Schools, 9(3), 6-8.
24.
Sesko, F. P., (1999). Complex role of discipline in our school. NASSP Bulletin, 83(6), 117-121.
25.
Smith, V. K., & Prelock, P. A. (2002). A case management model for school-age children with multiple needs. Language, Speech and Hearing Service in Schools, 33, 124-129.
26.
Taylor, R., Hasselbring, T. S., & Williams, R. D. (2001). Reading, writing, and misbehavior. Principal Leadership, 2(2), 33-38.
27.
Tufly, C. (2001). An alternative to failure. Principal Leadership, 2(2), 39-41.
