2015 presentation at the Raising the Bar summit. Addresses teacher knowledge and empathy as part of a strategy to improve academic performance and reduce suspensions.

1. Susan M. Green, Principal
Alain L. Locke Magnet School for
Environmental Stewardship-PS 208
Raising the Bar on
Academic
Achievement
Improving School Climate
and Discipline for
Westchester County’s
African American Students

2. A P r i n c i p a l ’ s
R e f l e c t i o n …
T h e J o u r n e y
If you want to make the world a better
place, take a look at yourself and then
make the change.
Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror

3. • Reflect on current disciplinary practices and what
drives these practices
• Identify methods for building knowledge of and
developing empathy for students’ social plights that
may negatively impact social and academic
behaviors
• Commit to developing new approaches to
discipline, particularly students of color
Objectives

4. Alain L. Locke Magnet School for
Environmental Stewardship-PS 208
Alain L. Locke, the Man
• Born in Philadelphia, PA in 1854
• Studied Philosophy and Literature
• Harvard Graduate
• Professor at Howard University
• First African American Rhodes Scholar
• Dubbed as the Father of the Harlem
Renaissance
• Creative mentor to many greats:
Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston
and Ossie Davis

5. Alain L. Locke *Magnet School for
Environmental Stewardship-PS 208
ALLMSES-PS 208 the School • Located in Central Harlem
• 159 students in Grades 3 through 5
• 64% African Americans
• 32% Latinos
• 3% Caucasians
• 2% Asians
• 11% English language learners (ELLs)
• 22% of students who receive special
education services
• 47% boys; 53% girls
• average attendance rate for the
2013-14 school year was 91%
• 11% of students live in temporary
housing
• 95% of students are eligible for free or
reduced lunch
*A magnet school is a school with a theme designed to attract students according to
interest, with a goal of ethnically diversifying traditionally segregated populations.

6. Technology, Sports and Arts are used to help
students discover talents and areas of interest.

7. Fall 2006
In this Corner: The Newby

8. And in this Corner: The Challengers
Marco, Anthony, James, Shakur,
Shakim, Adrian and Tykwan

9. The Greatness Mantra
I was born from GREATNESS
Therefore that makes me
great
Today I will spread love
Not hate
Not lies
Not violence
Just love
Today, I will do more
I will learn more
I will be more, than anyone
ever thought I could
Today I will strive for
GREATNESS
And nothing less
Susan M. Green © 2007

10. • Children are to be seen and not heard
• Power Tripping-I’m not having it!
• Do as I say
Screaming doesn’t make
the message clearer.
The Old School Mentality
Me, My Beliefs, My Practices…

11. The Oprah Syndrome…
Suspension Giveaways

12. The Turning Point

13. • In the United States, 21% of students under the age of 17 are
living in poverty.
• For African-American male children, the number is nearly
double, standing at 39%.
(National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015)
Single parent households, limited access to resources, less than
adequate housing and temporary living conditions are just some of
the variables associated with poverty.
(Roy and Raver, 2014)
Statistics

14. If you’re not part of the
solution,
then you’re part of the
problem.
The Turning Point

15. Statistics
Safequalityschools.org, 2014

16. • Black students represent 16% of the student population, but 32-
42% of students suspended or expelled.
• Twenty percent (20%) of black boys and more than 12% of black
girls receive an out-of-school suspension.
• Black children represent 18% of preschool enrollment, but 42% of
the preschool children suspended once, and 48% of the
preschool children suspended more than once.
U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2014
Statistics (cont.)

17. Change Begins Here…

18. This is not an Option

19. Foster
Care/
Raised
by Adult
other
than
Parent
Shelter/
Temp
Housing
Meds Incarcerated
Parent
Resides
with
and/or
Multiple
Siblings
Domestic
Violence
Parents
with
Disability
Overage
Students (2
yrs. +) who
will be 20
years old at
graduation
Nicholas
Joseph
Zaire Que Joshua David/
Emely
Zaire Jaylene Christian
Mc.
Tashawn Qween Dharin Skylar Yanishlen Baptista
Kids
Tashawn Chris J.
Leslie Chasity/
Chazel
Elijah C. Anigel Elijah C. Naval
Marco Thomas
Kids
Anijah Thomas
Kids
Anijah Marco Mohamed
Samaya Jolissa Jolissa Jolissa Josue Samaya
Ian Jonae Jonae
Developing Knowledge of Students

20. Other variables that may impact students’ behavior
• Student with Individual Education Plan
• Overage student; will be 20 years old at graduation
• Was in more/less restrictive special education setting
• Students traveling more than 45 minutes to school each
day/reside in another borough
• Parents who are not literate
• Children who come from non-English speaking
Developing Knowledge of Students

21. • Cumulative Records
• Informal meeting with students themselves and parents
• Speaking with former teachers
• School support staff (i.e., social worker, parent coordinator,
family worker) that has access to parents
• Home visits
• An open door policy and nurturing disposition
Additional Methods for Acquiring
Information about Students and
Circumstances

22. Change Begins Here…
Setting the Tone
Follow the Leader (Modeling)
• Be transparent about what is
important to you as and why
• Engage in ongoing reflection on
how my actions support/contribute
to the School-to-Prison-Pipeline
• Model alternative responses and
reactions to student negative
behaviors
• Become a student-attend
professional training on how to
manage behaviors and support
needs
Susan Says (Clear Expectations)
• Black and Latino boys will not be
disposable
• We won’t pigeon hold students’
potential, regardless of their current
behavior or external influences
• Planning, preparation and
instruction are to be for students
academic and social needs

23. A Call for Empathy

24. Chezare A. Warren-Towards a Pedagogy for the
Application of Empathy in Culturally Diverse Classrooms
Objective of the qualitative study: To determine how
empathy is applied as a professional disposition in
culturally diverse school settings
Empathy requires:
• Empathetic Concern (Emotions)
• Perspective Taking (Cognition)
Warren, 2013
Research

25. Empathetic Concern
• Attention to the Needs of the Whole Child
• Utilizing the Concept of Family
• Teacher Availability
• Getting to Know Students
Warren, 2013
Warren’s Findings: Variables that lend
themselves to developing empathy

26. Perspective Taking
• Written and Oral Communication
• Understanding of the Community Context
• Prior Knowledge
• “Family Business”: Organized structured time for
student expression
Warren, 2013
Warren’s Findings: Variables that lend
themselves to developing empathy

27. Social empathy is the art of
understanding another’s perspective in
relationship to their inequitable, societal
circumstances that prevent them from
having a better quality of life, while
keeping them at a marginalized
disadvantage.
Segal, 2007
Social Empathy

28. Social Empathy Components:
• Insight into the contextual environment, with
particular understanding of systemic barriers to
health and well-being
• The ability to take the perspective of other
groups and imagine what it is like to live as a
member of those other groups
Segal, 2007
Social Empathy

29. Segal’s Social Empathy Model
Segal, 2007

30. The Impact
Focused Professional
Development
Buddy Project

31. The
Impact
The teachers…
• have started committing themselves to be
buddies to some of the most challenging
students
• have visited the homes where students live,
giving greater insight of students plights
• have reduced the number of referral to the
main office
The students
• have started engaging reflecting on areas
where they make poor decisions
• have started reporting problems to staff
before they escalate
Suspensions are
currently at 4%
compared to
highest rate of
28% in 2010.

32. I have a lot to learn. This definitely made me contemplate my
reactions to students’ behavior. I often try to express my authority
when I encounter issues of behavioral problems. I need to work on
that. I am going to reflect on what needs to change about ME!
4/5 Grade Self-Contained Teacher
I learned a lot about the background of a few students and it has
helped me to realize I need to connect to certain students like ----
in a different way. She’s 10 years old in the 3rd grade, so my
approach with her has to be different than with my eight year olds.
She’s a young lady; I have to begin treating he as such.
3rd Grade General Education Teacher
Teacher Testimonials

33. Established
Expectations
Here is
where adults
set clear
expectations
Actions
Here is where children are
empowered:
Their actions dictate the outcomes
They get to decide how they want to
proceed
Outcomes
Yield
Privileges or
Punishments)
Here is where
adults must
act on
promised
outcomes
PG’s Ownership for Action Model

34. Managing Student Behavior

35. • Analyze your current practices when managing difficult situations; do
they help or exacerbate
• Think long-term about your legacy and how you want to be
remembered
• Pick and choose your battles; determine what is most important to you
and address it accordingly
• Make a choice to change a behavior within and commit to it, but
forgive yourself when you backslide
• Be patient with the process
• You won’t change the kids, their behaviors or their circumstances, you
can only change yourself
Final Thoughts

36. • If Only She Knew Me by Jeff Gray
• Hanging In...with Students Who Challenge Us the Most by Jeff
Benson
• Life Space Crisis Intervention by Long, Wood and Fecser
• The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
• There are No Children Here by Alan Kotlowitz
• The School to Prison Pipeline by Marilyn Elias (found in Teaching
Tolerance publication)
Suggested Readings and
Other Resources

37. sgreen8@schools.nyc.gov
onelesscot@gmail.com
M y
r e f l e c t i o n .
M y
j o u r n e y .