Seems like we’ve been writing a lot of articles about the stupidity of public school administrators lately, especially around the ideas of Zero Tolerance policies. Here’s another one for you - this time from Amherst Regional Middle School in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Eighth-grade student Joshua Wolfsun had a meeting with the interim principal Fran Ziperstein earlier in the school year about the school’s Zero Tolerance policy regarding disciplinary matters. Wolfsun was frustrated by the outcome of that meeting, so he and some of his classmates decided to find out what their peers thought.
The group of students spent several weeks conducting interviews with other students at lunch time and compiled their data. They wrote a report for the school paper, The Chestnut Street Journal, which included graphs, student comments and a number of recommendations for improving the situation.
The data that Wolfsun and the other students put together showed that 78% of the students polled do not believe that their voices and ideas were being heard by the school. It also found that 76% think that the disciplinary practices at the Middle School made it a worse place to attend every day, and 65% did not believe that the school’s vision statement portrayed an accurate reflection of the school atmosphere.
When the paper was published, school administration would not allow it to be distributed on campus.
The students who conducted the poll said that they were surprised when their adviser, teacher Justin Eck, told them that their methodology was flawed and biased.Wolfsun claims that The Chestnut Street Journal has published similar polls on other topics using the very same methods.
Obviously school administration is not happy with the results of this poll and is seeking to suppress the results. Too bad for them that once they do something like this, it hits the Internet, and the results come out with 10 times the publicity than they might have originally received.
View one of the graphs that was published in The Chestnut Street Journal, or read the entire edition (PDF).
Do you think the school administration and Principal Ziperstein were wrong to do this? Let them know:
E-mail Fran Ziperstein, Middle School Principal: zipersteinf@arps.org
Call the school office: (413) 362-1850
Call Jere Hochman, Superintendent: (413) 362-1823
4 comments ↓
[…] MARCH 21 :: NEW ZERO-TOLERANCE RELATED INCIDENT: Middle School in Amherst, Massachusetts censors school newspaper because of student poll results. Poll stemmed from discussion with principal about Zero Tolerance policies on discipline. Read more… […]
Yeah, it’s kind of like some idiot bureaucrat encounters a smoldering ember on the side of the road and rather than just stepping on it they throw a bucket of liquid that turns out to be gasoline. As I say so often these days, “Only in Amherst”!
This kind of thing is absolutely ridiculous. Students should be able to voice their opinions regarding the school’s atmosphere. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. The only thing the school should worry about is whether to listen to their complaints and make the school an easier place to learn or not. In an ideal world, the school would review the paper before publishing and possibly provide a way for the students to suggest ways to make the school better for the students. After all, they are the ones that are having to deal with the policies, and isn’t school supposed to prepare kids for the real world? Students should have a say in how things are run. Maybe not in their entirety, but in at least some aspects.
[…] show school administration in a less-than-favorable light. The poll was started after a discussiohttp://awfulmarketing.com/index.php/2008/03/21/discussion-about-zero-tolerance-policy-at-middle-scho…Image results for school […]
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