Voices unheard: An interpretive study of in-school suspension.

Abstract

This research project challenges public school officials to examine existing punitive curricular programs so that the programs may be better aligned with program descriptions and goals or eliminated from the curriculum. Secondly, public school educators are prompted to seriously examine the influence that their interactions have on children. Finally, a call for more research in this area is extended.

In-school suspension (ISS) is the temporary placement of a misbehaving student in an alternative location within a school or a school district. ISS is designed to offset the negative effects of long-term exclusion and external suspension from school. Ideally, students placed in ISS are supervised by school personnel who continue to provide educational experiences for the student.

Interpretive interactionism as an approach to research was used to examine and contextualize the interrelationship between the lived experiences of the students who were assigned to ISS and the response to their personal troubles. Participant and researcher collaboration revealed that the participants experienced the totality of punitive ISS as a sequence of three occurrences: a problematic event, a punitive event, and an accommodation event. In addition, the issues of maltreatment and depression were identified as part of the ISS experience.

Punitive ISS is a specific type of ISS that employs strict rule enforcement, punitive activities, and isolation in order to eliminate student misbehavior. These curricular practices were put into place under the pretext of being ideal ISS. However, there is no research-based support for their use. This research project sought out the perceptions of nine students who were placed in a punitive ISS setting. Perceptions of this type were missing in the existing literature.