Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Publication Date

2024

College

University College

Department

Honors Program

BURS Faculty Advisor

Heather Finch

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Abstract

Our project group focused on exploring some of the causes of the education-to-prison Pipeline to identify key areas of concern that we could reasonably tackle within the timeframe of a single semester. Through our research, we found that keeping students in the classroom by any means necessary was paramount to closing the pipeline, and we found that there were two actionable paths for us to follow to that end.

Our first focus was advocating for legislative policy change through our partnership with The Education Trust. We attended a Day on the Hill where we discussed the advantages of keeping students in the classroom and taking steps away from problematic disciplinary policies that are detrimental to youth development. Through our meetings, we made connections with representatives and senators, and this opened the door for us to take the next step in seeking education reform by writing a bill proposal that we submitted to these legislators to hopefully be introduced to the house floor during the 2025 legislative session.

Our second focus was a beautification effort tasked with improving the physical learning environment in schools to incentivize better student engagement with schooling overall. Students in uninspiring, prison-like environments are less likely to feel connected to their school and are more likely to act out and get removed from school. To counteract this, we partnered with Haynes Middle School to design a mural with the help of the students; who brainstormed and came up with a design that incorporated the things that made them feel connected to the school. During their spring break, we went into the school and painted the mural in their main hallway. This was predicated on studies that found school environment plays a large part in student mental health and behavior. We hope this mural will help the students feel more connected to their school, and hopefully have a positive impact on their behavior and mental health.

Our presentation will discuss the steps we took to achieve our goals in both our education policy reform and our school beautification efforts as well as the efficacy of our project as a whole throughout this semester.

Download

Share

COinS