Violent and aggressive behaviors are social and health problems that have grown exponentially in Latin American countries. During the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation. In response to these problems, the Association for the Development of Comprehensive Education and Communities (Aseinc) has provided education and…

This brief summarizes themes from interviews with seven district- and school-level leaders who were asked to share experiences and lessons learned while implementing PBIS [Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports] in their rural school(s). The results offer a starting place for discussion on what is important to consider when implementing…

An account of a persistently failing New York City high school's rapid transformation. Urban Assembly School for Green Careers had a 39% graduation rate in 2013 and ranked in the bottom 1% of high schools citywide. As a transformation strategy, the school employed an innovative educational design known as Learning Cultures, which distributes…

Schoolwide positive behaviour support (SWPBS) programs have proven to be largely effective at reducing problem behaviour in schools. Full implementation of SWPBS has been associated with positive behavioural and academic outcomes. However, despite their effectiveness, implementation rates of SWPBS remain low. For SWPBS to be sustained, a number of…

School counselors are charged with creating comprehensive school counseling programs that recognize and affirm the wholeness and humanness of students, families, and their communities (Holcomb-McCoy, C., Mayes, R. D., Cheatham, C., Sharp, S., and Savitz-Romer, M. (2020). Antiracist school counseling: A call to action [webinar]. Center for…

Often intersecting with systemic inequity and injustice, young people's exposure to community violence has been linked to a myriad of developmental impacts. A growing literature demonstrates the potential of peace education programs to promote resilient and prosocial outcomes for these individuals. Still, more work can be done to understand…

Widespread efforts to curb exclusionary and discriminatory discipline in schools have led to a growing focus on restorative approaches, a set of practices aimed at building strong in-school relationships and attachments, rather than pushing students out of school. This brief reviews research illustrating the benefits of these practices for…

Dewey famously believed that we learn through experience, through which we build up habits. Education should be about developing good habits. Experience for Dewey, is not an individual possession but grows out of social interaction, which always takes place in a given culture. Dewey's views on culture are significant in relation to a current issue…

This brief describes a school's transformation from using ineffective and punitive disciplinary practices to implementing effective and proactive responses to behavior by installing the PBIS framework in a unique setting. Specifically, this demonstration highlights the work of the PBIS school leadership team at the American School for the Deaf…

Buy-in is an important component in the successful adoption, full implementation, and sustainability of any school-based initiative(e.g., Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005). In high schools, one key way to increase buy-in is to incorporate student voice. Since adolescents have a developmental need to play an active role in their…

The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) and the National Center for School Turnaround (2018) published the "Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement: An Implementation Framework" as a companion to the Center for School Turnaround's (2017) recent publication of "The Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement: A Systems…

This executive summary report discusses best practices and barriers to successful implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) at six case study schools in AISD. Researchers from the AISD Department of Research and Evaluation conducted focus groups and interviews with students and staff at two elementary schools, two middle schools, and…

Excellent schools strive to develop a comprehensive and integrative improvement process for students and their families that integrate best practices of positive school culture, climate, and social and emotional learning; character development skills, enhanced academic achievement strategies, and positive parent engagement. Character.org's…

Academic integrity is a critical issue in online courses, where students are removed from their instructors in time and space. This article presents a model describing the steps that academic leaders and administrators should follow to implement systems that support academic integrity in online courses. Rather than identifying vendors, which…

This longitudinal analysis of SEL in AISD seeks to answer the following question, do program outcomes improve more because of length of time in SEL or because of program implementation? This research brief summarizes key findings from the full report (published separately). [For the full report, see ED627084.]