“Draining the School-to-Prison Pipeline” is a monthly publication addressing issues of community school reintegration, sharing practical recommendations to support returning students, tracking relevant public policy and legislation, and addressing racial and other inequities in Pennsylvania’s educational system.
Alternative Education and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
In Pennsylvania, student behavior that violates a school’s code of conduct can result in a transfer to a disciplinary setting known as Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth, or AEDY (1). AEDY programs are intended to be a combination of academic instruction and intensive behavior modification counseling to assist students with their return back into a general education classroom (1). Placement in an AEDY program is considered an expulsion (defined as any school exclusion that lasts more than 10 consecutive days) (2). An expulsion can have a long-term impact on a student. Students who are expelled have a higher likelihood of experiencing negative life outcomes, including higher risk of engaging in criminal activity, anti-social behavior, and drug use (3).
Because AEDY programs have a strong focus on providing behavioral support, students attending them are only required to receive 20 hours of educational instruction a week (4). The presumption is that a student attending an AEDY program will be placed in that setting for no more than 45 days (4). Despite this, students are often kept at an AEDY school for a longer period (4). This can be harmful to students for many reasons but particularly because the longer students are away from their home school, the less connected they become with that community.
During the 2020/2021 school year — an academic year that was mostly virtual/hybrid in many school districts — there were 1086 AEDY placements in Pennsylvania; of that number, approximately 37% were of student who had a special education disability or was an English language learner (5). Based on PA data, that is almost double the representation of English language learners and special education students in the general education setting.
Youth advocates that oppose exclusionary discipline practices encourage schools to use more restorative approaches to student misconduct that keep students in their community school. Alternatives to expulsions can include: restorative justice programs, trauma-responsive school climates, and in-school counseling and behavioral health services, among others (6). Because school is so important for young people to learn, grow, and develop into functioning and contributing members of society, every effort should be made to keep students in their community school.
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References:
1) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (n.d.). Alternative education for disruptive youth (AEDY). Department of Education. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://www.education.pa.gov/K-
12/Alternative%20Education%20for%20Disruptive%20Youth/Pages/default.aspx
2) Education Law Center. (2021). Expulsions in Pennsylvania – elc-pa.org. ELC. Retrieved June 8, 2022, from https://www.elc-pa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/expulsions-in-pa-factsheet.pdf
3)Armstrong, D. (2022, June 2). Why suspending or expelling students often does more harm than good. The Conversation. Retrieved June 3, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/why-suspending-orexpelling-
students-often-does-more-harm-than-good-93279
4)AEDY fact sheet – elc-pa.org. Education Law Center. (2020, August). Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.elc-pa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/New-AEDY-Fact-Sheet.pdf
5) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (n.d.). 2020-2021 Summative Data. Department of Education. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://www.education.pa.gov/K-
12/Alternative%20Education%20for%20Disruptive%20Youth/Pages/2020-2021SummativeData.aspx
6) Peterson, R. L. (n.d.). Impact: Volume 18, Number 2: Ten alternatives to suspension. Impact | Volume 18, Number 2 | Ten Alternatives to Suspension | Institute on Community Integration Publications. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://publications.ici.umn.edu/impact/18-2/ten-alternatives-to-suspension