Artifact M.

3 (Activity 2A)
Activity: Review Board discipline policy
Total Time: 14 hours
Artifact: Document on strengths & weaknesses, assessment of compliance with federal and state
laws, reflective statement
Description: I reviewed the discipline policy that is given to each student (and teacher) in the
school. I then analyzed it and made up a list with strengths and weaknesses of the policies.
After that, I met with teachers, students, and the principal of the high school, all on separate
occasions, to gather opinions on discipline. After these discussions, I wrote a reflective
statement on discipline in the school. Finally, I assessed compliance with board policies and
state and federal laws, and then wrote a document showing that assessment.
Reflection: Overall, there are some weaknesses in the Board discipline policy that need to be
addressed, but its generally pretty decent. Another of my aims for this program is to revise the
student handbook, so I will look for improving discipline as part of that. Additional concerns are
how discipline is being handled by the principal compared to how teachers and students feel that
it should be handled. In order to improve this, the principal has to have a change of attitude, or
we need to develop a team that handles discipline with the principals oversight. This second
line of action is more likely, and I will be advocating for it in discussion with the principal. As a
final thought, compliance with the board policy is not what it should be. We need to change
policies to reflect community and school values, and then we need to enforce those policies fully.
This requires strong leadership at the top and a commitment from teachers for improvement.