School dress codes: Not strict enough?
adjustment | exposure | modify | monitor | transition
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Do the Math
Do the Math
In the early 1990s, Long Beach Unified School District in California was in trouble. Students in its schools were violent. District-wide test scores were low. School officials thought about different ways to modify the schools. They wondered what kinds of adjustments would work best to fix their district. In 1994, they began a transition to school uniforms. Test scores improved. Violence decreased. Within a few years, school crime had dropped by 80%.
The uniform policy at Long Beach Unified got a lot of media exposure. President Bill Clinton praised school uniforms in his 1996 State of the Union Address. However, some who monitored school policies felt the uniform change received too much credit for the decrease in school crime in the 1990s.
Option 1:
Option 1:
In Long Beach, school crime fell by 80%. Which of the following means the same thing?
A. School crime fell by four-fifths.
B. School crime fell by three-quarters.
C. School crime fell by two-thirds.
D. School crime fell by half.
Option 2:
Option 2:
During the same time period, crime in the city of Long Beach decreased, as well. In 1994, the city reported approximately 6,500 violent crimes for the year. In 1999, the city recorded only around 3,200 violent crimes. By what percentage did violent crime decrease in the city of Long Beach from 1994 to 1999?
Discussion Question:
Discussion Question:
The media exposure of school uniforms in Long Beach sparked a debate. Some researchers pointed out that requiring uniforms was not the only adjustment made by the district. The uniforms were just one part of a larger transition. When the district modified the dress code, it also began to improve school security and closely monitor school attendance, among other changes. In addition, the city of Long Beach as a whole saw a decrease in crime in the late 1990s. Did the uniforms fix the schools? How could we find out?
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