Advancement Project

March 24, 2005

On March 24, 2005, Advancement Project released Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track, a follow-up report to Derailed: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track. The colloborative report further investigates the nationwide trend towards using zero tolerance polices in schools as a "take no prisoners" approach to dealing with the most trivial acts of student misconduct. The report also examines how students of color are disproportionately affected by these policies. Three school systems, Chicago Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, and Palm Beach County Public Schools, are profiled as an example of how the national trends are being enacted at local levels. The report dissects the schoolhouse to jailhouse track by examining:

• How zero tolerance, a policy originally designed to address the most serious misconduct, morphed into "take no prisoners" approach to school discipline issues and created a direct track into the juvenile and criminal justice systems;
• The expanding role of law enforcement measures in schools; and
• The disparate impact of these practices on students of color.

• Full Report
• Acknowledgments
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Zeroing on Zero Tolerance
• A Tale of Three School Districts

1. Denver, Colorado
2. Chicago, Illinois
3. Palm Beach County, FL

• Conclusion
• Endnotes
• Appendices:

1. Appendix I: Explanation of Offense Categories for Chicago and Palm
2. Beach County
3. Appendix II: Prevention, Intervention, and Diversion Programs
4. Appendix III: Baltimore Schools Police Directive 03-20

Attached files

• Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track (16.68MB PDF)

Filed under Opportunity to Learn, Schoolhouse to Jailhouse

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