This article serves as the first in a series addressing comprehensive suicide prevention programming in the school context. Suicide is currently the second leading cause of death for 10- to 24-year-olds in the United States. As schools are a place where the majority of youth spend a significant amount of time, it follows that they are a natural…

In 2013, VA became the first state to mandate the use of threat assessment teams in its K-12 public schools. We provide an account of the development and adaptation of threat assessment as a school safety practice and research on the Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines in VA schools. We describe the state law and the question of whether…

Students in Vermont with incomplete or undocumented immunization status are provisionally admitted to schools and historically had a calendar year to resolve their immunization status. The process of resolving these students' immunization status was challenging for school nurses. We conducted a school-based quality improvement effort to increase…

Research has shown that an idle summer is not just boring; it can cost a student as much as two to three months of educational progress. Summer is critical to each child's development, both mind and body. Any meaningful attempts to get at America's equity divide and the consequent gap in opportunities for kids must include summer education as a…

Background: Farm-to-School programs (FTSPs) connect schools with locally grown food. This article examines whether FTSPs are more common in public elementary schools (ESs) in states with a formal, FTSP law or with a related, locally grown procurement law. Methods: A pooled, cross-sectional analysis linked nationally representative samples of 1872…

In 1997, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to pass legislation establishing an education and support program for family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care providers. This article describes the Minnesota Family, Friend and Neighbor Grant Program and findings from an evaluation of the programs and a curriculum scan of materials used in…

As numerous studies from 1906 on have confirmed, children lose ground in learning if they lack opportunities for building skills over the summer. Nonetheless, summer learning loss comes up but rarely in the national discussion of education reform. By the end of summer, students perform on average one month behind where they left off in the spring.…

This article presents case studies from three districts implementing green cleaning. In 2008, Missouri passed legislation requiring state education officials to convene a committee of stakeholders with the purpose of developing green cleaning guidelines and specifications for schools. The guide, published by the Department of Elementary and…

The launch of independent Ed.D. programs in 2007 at campuses of the California State University (CSU) is significant for its large program size and timing amidst national debate on Ed.D. programs. These applied programs for practitioners require a traditional dissertation based on rigorous research that address problems of practice. This…

Frames theory has been widely used to explain the dynamics of group processes and decision-making. Some researchers have applied frames theory to policy adoption and implementation. Following from this, my research applies frames analysis to a regulatory program in coastal Louisiana. The data derive from a pre-Hurricane Katrina study of the…

Although widely available, little is known about the effectiveness of youth cessation treatments delivered in real-world settings. The authors recruited a nonprobability sample of 41 community-based group-format programs that treated at least 15 youth per year and included evidence-based treatment components. Data collection included longitudinal…

The article illustrates how social change for individuals with disabilities can be made through the legislative process. The author recounts a four-year process that concluded with the passage of legislation for a preschool program for handicapped children supported by an appropriation of one million dollars. (Author/CL)

This article focuses on the recent flurry of legislation in states to address bullying among school children. The primary purpose is to describe, compare, and contrast current state laws about bullying. Specifically, a description is provided of legislators' definitions of bullying and legislative findings about the nature and seriousness of…

Revenues from oil/gas royalties on University of Texas (Austin) and Texas A&M go into a fund which is used to hire faculty and develop programs, particularly in the sciences. However, Texas legislators are considering a bill that would spread the oil money to other campuses in the Texas university system. (JN)

Notes reasons why, despite ample legislative provision, gifted programs are developing slowly in New Jersey. Also provided is the position statement on gifted and talented education of the New Jersey Education Association. (SJL)