Suspension and Dropout: week 5

This week I read a very breathtaking article on "The Link Between Suspension and Dropout" written by Robyn Gee on Edutopia.  She writes about one shocking statistic in particular which is that 49% of students who enter high school with 3 suspensions on their record eventually drop out completely.  It's also surprising at first, until you think about students that you may already know, that once a student gets suspended they will become that repeat offender.  I myself can think of at least 3 in particular in my very short time teaching that that scenario had happened to and low and behold they have since dropped out and at least one of them has entered an alternative education program in my district.  Basically what she says is that suspension does not change the behavior and is therefore ineffective overall.  This article was intriguing and made me take a step back and see why it is that most students who get suspended eventually do drop out.  Great article for educators to read!