Safe, secure, resilient, and accessible education system infrastructure, both physical and digital, is an essential factor for success. Yet, the digital infrastructure in the nation's K-12 schools is increasingly under threat from malicious cyber actors. This fact sheet: (1) describes the most common types of cyber threats currently facing school…

Despite the elevation of the opioid crisis in the U.S. to the level of a nationwide public health emergency in 2017, the number of opioid-involved overdose deaths has continued to rise. The impact of the opioid epidemic extends well beyond the tragedy of fatal overdose. Nonfatal overdose can result in brain injury and permanent disability, and…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bullying among youths includes any unwanted aggressive behavior involving an imbalance of power that is repeated multiple times or is likely to be repeated. Hate speech, also called bias-based speech, is a type of discriminatory harassment that can occur as verbal or written slurs,…

Although schools and school districts have experience planning for biological hazards (such as contaminated food) and types of infectious diseases (seasonal flu, Staphylococcus aureus, meningitis, etc.), pandemics often present unique challenges and greatly impact efforts to ensure continuity of teaching and learning, as well as safety. The…

This document lists resources for planning teams on engaging students in prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts and emergency operations plan development.

Drug overdose is the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50, a crisis that is driven by an increasingly potent supply of illicit opioids. College-aged adults are more likely than any other age group to engage in opioid misuse. Naloxone, the antidote for an opioid overdose, can save the life of an opioid overdose victim if it is…

School shootings are at an all-time high. That's according to the National Center for Education Statistics, which has been keeping track of the numbers for about 20 years. What are schools to do? Is there a "profile" of the typical school shooter that could help us identify those who might commit a shooting in the future? Is there some…

As the research base for school crisis intervention and prevention expands, the need for well-developed tools to assess school readiness in the event of a crisis increases. This paper describes how the Comprehensive Crisis Plan Checklist (CCPC) was updated to reflect advances in crisis management and crisis planning. An extensive literature search…

The fundamental need for safety in schools requires research-based and trauma-informed strategies for implementing crisis management plans (CMPs). Beyond the immediate harm, longer-term potential outcomes of crises are psychological trauma and damage to the reputation for safety of the school, leading to staff attrition. An effective CMP involves…

Emergency preparedness in schools is a process designed to protect students and staff from harm, minimize disruption, ensure the continuity of education for students, and develop and maintain a culture of safety. Utilizing their expertise in assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation, school nurses provide valuable insights for the four…

We report a design case in the context of self-defense training, that was designed by participants of a coach development course for violence prevention coaches for emergency services. The game was designed to foster skill development with regards to the defense against knife attacks in the context of self-defense. Following pedagogical principles…

The author, director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, shares results of a study he led exploring how principals in U.S. high schools are responding to five specific societal challenges; he highlights what principals said about the challenge of gun violence in their schools. More school leaders reported their school being…

The coronavirus is a pandemic, meaning that it affects the whole world, and as such it has made everyone into disaster responders. Pandemics typically last 12-18 months (Crimando, 2020a), so SARS CoV-1, and the disease that it causes, COVID-19, will probably continue to affect society in general and education in particular well into 2021. The…

School preparedness is strengthened by prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery activities (also known as the five preparedness mission areas). This fact sheet describes what mitigation is, how mitigation is connected to the other preparedness missions, what mitigation efforts planning teams may want to consider, and how…

A safe school environment is crucial to the healthy academic and social development of students, and the safety of a school environment affects a range of factors, from staff retention to parent satisfaction. Perhaps most important, student perceptions of safety affect their academic achievement. When students feel safe, they are better able to…