Many campus law enforcement administrators reach a point where they need to request additional staff. Unless the department is awash in extra funding or is in the wake of a major incident that brought significant attention to current manpower, they're likely fighting an uphill battle for growth. The effectiveness of formulas that analyze the size…

Threat assessment has been widely recommended as a violence prevention approach for schools, but there are few reports of its implementation. Memphis City Schools adapted the Virginia threat assessment guidelines (Cornell & Sheras, 2006) for use by a centralized team serving 194 schools and a student population of 118,000. This article…

This paper examines zero tolerance discipline policies in Ontario's public school system legislated as the "Safe Schools Act (SSA)" 2001. The intent of our paper is to argue that the "SSA" set within a discourse of zero tolerance as the panacea to the problems of violence in schools has had a detrimental impact. Since the…

This article discusses one of the best defenses against a violent threat in schools -- practicing emergency and lockdown drills. In some buildings, classroom doors lack locks and exterior doors are old. Other buildings have public announcement systems that do not work well throughout a school building, or that lack speakers in restrooms. Still…

This article draws from and builds on the experience of schools in San Diego County following the forest fires that wrought havoc on the area last October. Three teachers (Dana Riggs, Marcelina Madueno and Miriam Atlas) provide a moving account of the personal experiences of their students, who lived through the fires. Their recollections…

This study investigated school characteristics that were predictive of high school dropout rates for Black and White students using a sample of 289 public high schools from the Virginia High School Safety Study. School structure (consistency and enforcement of school rules and discipline) and support (availability of caring adults) were tested for…

Schools remain one of the safest environments for children. However, in far too many schools, a lack of respect for the authority of teachers and other school employees, as well as for the rights of other students, is undermining the ability of schools to provide students with a quality education. Even in the best schools, employees often…

The Centre for the Economics of Education was asked to investigate the factors that influence a range of children's academic and non-academic outcomes, including their enjoyment of school, whether they take unauthorised absence from school and whether they feel they are bullied. The study also investigated whether schools can influence these…

To prevent and resolve common behavior problems in young children, early childhood teachers need a full understanding of what's behind the behaviors and strategies that really work. This complete professional development package gives pre- and in-service educators the practical help they've been waiting for. Taking a "big picture"…

Each year, AISD uses a survey to measure campus staff perceptions of their work environment. This district report shows longitudinal trends in campus climate from 2007-2008 through 2009-2010.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a form of Staphylococcus aureus, a common bacterium that has developed resistance to several forms of antibiotics. MRSA has been around for many years, mostly in health care settings but has moved into the community in recent years. Infections can be seen anywhere but are mostly seen in…

In this article, the author hopes that educators can begin a long-overdue public discussion about how they encourage and defend their students' civil liberties--while doing a lot more to enhance their safety. To start, they need to confront the problem that nearly all their students, like their children, believe that "ratting out" a friend or…

Community colleges, while safe, are not immune to violence. In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, community colleges are committed to making campuses safer. From training first responders to understanding and identifying potential threats, the author describes what schools are doing to eradicate their so-called [in] securities and improve…

This article outlines specific actions that school personnel can take to promote the healthy social and emotional development of students at their schools. These recommendations are conceptually grounded in risk and resiliency theory and in the recognition that environments as well as individuals hold risk and protective possibilities.

Schools and universities looking to be safer and prevent accidents should review their pedestrian-safety efforts. Over the last several years, a variety of research has assessed the effectiveness of pedestrian-safety programs. In one study, researchers found that marked crosswalks had no effect on reducing pedestrian accidents. Even more…