Title: Is the Raines High School Working Lunch
discipline consequence meeting the needs of our learners?
Needs Assessment: The population of Raines High School is 90%
at risk. Many students are on free or
reduced lunch. Many of them have failed
many classes before coming to us and their motivation seems to lack in areas
that involve school work. Students are
assigned a Working Lunch for various reasons.
Working Lunch was originally designed as a way for students to make up
the time missed from class if they were tardy.
The students would have to purchase a sack lunch, eat in the ISS room
during lunch quietly, and complete an assignment from their class. Students now receive Working Lunch for not
using their class time appropriately and also for classroom behavior
issues. Our excellent group of
Paraprofessionals collects the students 10-15 minutes prior to Working
Lunch. This in essence removes these
learners from our classrooms 10-15 minutes prior to the conclusion of
instruction. Some of the students who
are on the Working Lunch list however are the very students that need to be in
class and cannot afford to miss any extra time.
The research plan would consist of collecting data on the # of students
per day that attend Working Lunch, the names of students that are habitual
attendees, the grades of habitual attendees in 1st period and 4th period (right
before lunch), and discipline referrals for the habitual attendees. Based off of the data, a decision can be made
as to whether Working Lunch is meeting the needs of our learners or if new
consequences need to be determined in order to ensure that we are meeting the
needs of all our learners. All teachers
in the school will be involved in this study.
Full teacher buy in will be needed as we switch from one discipline
procedure to a new procedure. All
teachers will be asked to attend a meeting where all the data will be presented
to them on the current failures of our discipline procedure. In order to gain full buy in from our
teachers the data will need to be presented in regards to our student
population to frame the context of our decision to move forward with a new
discipline plan. Data that will
collected includes the following:
A log of all Working Lunch students from 2011-2012
A copy of discipline referrals that led to Working Lunch
attendance in 2011-2012
A copy of attendance for the 2011-2012 school year (looking
at tardies)
Grades for 2011-2012 Working Lunch attendees from 1st and
4th period
Time during the school day to meet with groups of students
to discuss a problem/solution process
Full cooperation of staff to enact new discipline procedure
during the 2012-2013 school year
A log of students who were consequenced under the new
discipline plan from 2012-2013
A copy of all discipline referrals that led to consequences
under new discipline plan in 2012-2013
A copy of attendance for the 2012-2013 school year (looking
at tardies)
Grades for 2012-2013 students consequenced under the new
discipline plan from 1st and 4th period
Student anecdotal data, to be collected throughout the
process
Objectives and
Vision: After the conclusion of
the study we are hoping to see an improvement in passing grades for periods 1
and 3 of our students that are habitual working lunch attendees. The percent failures of working lunch
attendees for 1st and 3rd period for the 2011-2012 school
year will be compared to the percent failures of working lunch attendees for 1st
and 3rd period for the 2012-2013 school year. We are hoping to see a gradual change over
the first year of 30 percent less of the students failing than the previous
year.
Review of
Literature and Action Research Strategy:
The following websites have been used to collect information
on their Lunch Detention procedures and success rate:
In the decision making process there were teachers,
administrators, lunch personnel, and para-professionals involved. After viewing the passing and failing data
for 1st and 3rd period habitual working lunch attendees
we came to the realization that pulling students from 3rd period
10-15 minutes early was actually harming them and their grades in 3rd
period. Also, the only luxury that
students were losing by attending working lunch was the social time. Students attending working lunch were still
able to get the same lunch that anyone not attending working lunch could
have. To curb 1st period
tardies students in working lunch were given only 1 option for lunch, a dry
chicken sandwich, but were given their choice of milk. Lunches would be pre-purchased in the morning
and would be delivered to the working lunch room. Students would not need to leave class from 3rd
period now 10-15 minutes early. 3rd
period teachers would now be responsible for delivering students to working
lunch.
Articulating the
Vision:
Student – Working lunch was sold to students as a natural
consequence. If you were tardy, you
would make the time up at working lunch.
If you were behind on lunch, we would provide you additional time to
complete assignments. If you were not
using instructional time appropriately, we would provide additional time to
make up lost time. The idea of 1 lunch
option being offered was not well received by students. However, they did not have to only have 1
choice if they handled their business and were not assigned working lunch.
Staff – Staff were presented the data regarding student
tardies, working lunch attendance #’s, and passing rates in 1st
period and 3rd period. The
staff understood that they would be responsible for transporting students to
working lunch on their lunch break.
There were some grumblings about this but 4 teachers decided to team up
and rotate days. Each teacher would be
responsible for transporting all 4 teachers students at least once per
week.
Parents – Parents like the idea of working lunch because
they are no longer responsible for having to arrange transportation afterschool
for detention or on weekends. The
consequence is immediate with working lunch.
There have been no parent complaints about the working lunch program.
Manage the
Organization: The
para-professionals that run working lunch keep a running list of who attends
each day and for what reason. This data
that is collected is sent to me at the end of each 6-week grading period as
well as at the end of each semester.
The counselor has gotten grades to me for students failing 1st
and 3rd period courses for the semester for the 2011-1012 school
year.
The staff are now responsible for delivering students to
working lunch during their lunch break each day.
The lunch personnel are responsible for making sack lunches
with dry chicken sandwiches for each student that attends working lunch that
would like to purchase a lunch. The
students are given 3 choices of milk, regular, chocolate, or strawberry.
When I was developing this plan the students learning and
safety were my priorities. Each student
has to be given a time for lunch each day.
Each student has to be given the option of their choice for milk. For some students this may be one of their
only meals for the day so to me this dealt with safety. Also, if students are consistently failing 1st
and 3rd period, we needed to find a way to remedy this problem. The plan that is being used helps to enhance
all student learning throughout the school.
There were no additional monies or materials that was needed
to fund this plan. For the plan to work
the plan needed the assistance from all teachers, para-professionals,
administrators, counselors, and lunch personnel.
Manage Operations: Based on the needs assessment the Action
Research Plan was designed. Our goal was
to curb morning tardies by changing our Working Lunch policy and ensuring that
student’s grades in 3rd period before working lunch increased. I undertook most of this task but assigned
duties to the counselor, para-professionals, and teachers. Consensus was built with the staff when the data
on tardies and students failing 1st and 3rd period was at
first presented to small group of decision makers then when it was presented to
the entire staff.
Respond to
Community Interests and Needs:
Raines High School is built upon ensuring that students are employable
for the future. Being present at work
and on time is a key to employability.
Our community needs students that are trustworthy and responsible. By curbing students tardies with our Working
Lunch program we are hoping that students in the future will transfer what they
have learned here into the future.
Many of our students are ED.
This program is still providing them with a meal at lunch because this
may be their last meal of the day. If
students are on free and reduced lunch their pay rate is still honored.
