Juvenile Justice System Webinar: How Schools Can Reduce Disproportionate Minority Contact

It shouldn't be news that school disciplinary policies can drive youth involvement in the juvenile justice system -- and that it needn't be that way.
For example, a recent analysis of 30 years of federal data on middle school suspensions by the Southern Poverty Law Center showed that zero tolerance policies have led to overuse of suspension as a disciplinary tool (a shocking number of schools suspend over 50% of their students of a given race/ethnicity in a given year), and that suspensions dramatically impact youth of color, setting affected students on a path for school failure. 

But the schools can change this. Judge Steve Teske of Clayton Clayton County, GA, and Judge Brian Huff of Birmingham, AL have done great work working with their local schools to reduce school arrests and unnecessary involvement of youth in the juvenile justice system. In fact, you can download their most recent presentation on their work from the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance (CTJJA) -- follow the link and then look for the button that reads "Download PowerPoint presentations on reducing school arrests". You can also see this duo give a fantastic presentation on reducing school arrests at an forum hosted by the CTJJA. (Their presentation is 90 minutes long, but I assure you, they are worth watching.)
All of which is to say, you won't want to miss the webinar put on by NDTAC* on November 18, 2010, 11 am PST / 1 pm CST / 2pm EST, called "The Critical Role of Schools in Combating Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC): National Perspective and Local Solutions."  (Follow the link to register.)
Please note: you'll want to register ahead of time. NDTAC says you need to have certain software installed to participate, and strongly recommends that you sign on at least 20 minutes before the webinar is scheduled to start -- even if you've participated in an NDTAC webinar before -- to make sure you've got the right software. 
 
RELATED POST: In April, I posted about a new brief from NDTAC on the importance of literacy for youth in the juvenile justice system.  

*NDTAC = The National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk. Hat tip to Paul Savery for bringing this webinar to my attention.
Photo: Kerrythis.