When the Long Beach (Calif.) Unified School District required its K8 students to begin wearing uniforms in 1994, it wasn't clear whether the new policy would become just the latest clothing fad or something more lasting. Eleven years later, the district is sticking to its fashion statement and even expanding its uniform requirements to high school.
In the time since Long Beach began its policy, it has been joined by thousands of other schools, from Baltimore to Denver to Boston, and a host of districts in between. According to researchers, 23 percent of all elementary schools had adopted uniforms by the end of 2002, and a growing number of middle and high schools have followed suit.
Along the way, presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have endorsed the practice--the former in his State of the Union addresses and the latter through tax breaks. The U.S. Department of Education offers an online manual to guide districts in establishing uniform policies. And many an educator says that introducing uniforms has fulfilled the promise of safer, better behaved, and higher achieving schools, even though recent studies question whether the credit should go to a dress code.
Backers Cite Decrease in Crime
"There's more time students are involved in the instructional process and less concern over what their classmates are wearing," says Jed Deets, superintendent of schools for the Cahokia (Ill.) Unit School District 187, not far from St. Louis, Mo. "I think students will tell you that it makes their day so much easier when they can get up and put on one of their blue, black or khaki slacks and one of their district shirts."
For the fourth year in a row, all 5,000 of Cahokia's K-12 students are coming to school in those pants and an assortment of colored polo shirts embroidered with the district insignia. Those, says Deets, have become the colors of success, and he points to the student body's two-grade-level improvement on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills since the uniform policy went into effect.
"Uniforms are a very sensible way to go, particularly in communities like ours, where families are economically challenged everyday," adds Wilfredo Laboy, the superintendent of the Lawrence, Mass., public schools, where the K-8 students have worn blue-and-white since 1998.
" I think my parents would raise a huge protest if we drew back the policy." -JED DEETS, SUPERINTENDENT, CAHOKIA (ILL.) UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT
"It's wonderful to be able to buy two pairs of pants, three shirts, and send your child to school for the rest of the year. There's a practical economic advantage of not having to compete with DKNY, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger."
Laboy also says students benefit from an increased sense of belonging to the school community and a greater seriousness of purpose. "There is a certain preparation that takes place as you go to this place called school, and I think uniforms set that tone," he says.
When Aycock (N.C.) Middle School joined the uniformed ranks this past fall, Principal William Price saw an almost immediate 50 percent reduction in suspension referrals and arrest reports and an even greater decline in less serious offenses. "For the first few days, we had no one sitting in detention," Price recalls.
Price says he's witnessed a change not just in student attitudes. "If you ask the teachers, they'll say their perception of the child has changed," he explains. "If students are wearing baggy pants and earrings, some teachers can't get past that."
In Long Beach, meanwhile, the third-largest district in California with almost 95,000 students, the uniform policy started with a bang, as crime in K-8 schools dropped by 22 percent and attendance increased to a record 95 percent in its first years. Over the past three years, the district has reported higher student test scores in reading and math.
Should Uniforms Get Credit For Improvements?
These success stories are developing against a backdrop of research suggesting the impact of a school uniform may be more a matter of perception than reality. "The research says it doesn't hurt, and it doesn't help," notes University of Missouri sociologist David Brunsma, whose studies of large educational databases show that uniforms do not improve academic achievement, or for that matter, student behavior or self-image.
