Dr. Muktha Jost

Assistant Professor
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
North Carolina A&T University

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Understanding and Reducing Suspension Rates through Shared Experiences and Unheard Voices

Based on teaching, research, and community involvement since 2001, teams from six schools with the highest suspension rates in the urban School District (Guilford County, NC) are participating in a 2004 Fall Institute on Responsive Pedagogies. The suspension rates are high in the school district, and African-American males are suspended disproportionately (about 10,000 to 12,000 suspensions each year). The interdisciplinary teams include principals, core and noncore teachers, counselors, parents and students. The central goal of the Institute is to help school teams design policies, conversations, and experiences in their schools to bring about a significant reduction, if not end, to the high rate of out-of-school suspensions. Equitable involvement of parents and community, especially those historically excluded from decision making is another objective. The Laser Fund proposal includes support for key areas of the Institute to help design a model responsive learning environment, strengthen existing partnerships within the university and in the surrounding educational community, and include those populations historically excluded from educational decision making.