At the University of Chicago, the third Monday in November began with an hour of violence. Around 12:30 a.m., an assailant fired a shot at a staff member who was walking on the campus. At 1:15 a group of men robbed two female students on a nearby street. Just before 1:30, Amadou Cisse, a doctoral student, was shot and killed while walking to his…

"Helpful Hints" offers a quick overview of school emergency preparedness topics that are frequently the subject of inquiries. The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) encourages schools to consider emergency management in the context of its four phases: mitigation and prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. The preparedness phase…

Discusses the use of walk-through metal detectors to improve school safety. (PKP)

Describes what happened at New York City's Public School 234 after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11. The prekindergarten through grade 5 elementary school of 655 students was located near ground zero. Emphasizes efforts to ensure students' immediate safety and security, provide rapid evacuation, and move to another…

Provides abstracts for nine ERIC documents and six journal articles from the ERIC database on the subject of making middle schools safe learning environments. (JPB)

Reviews information on recent college and university dormitory fire fatalities, and highlights five examples of building features reported to be major contributing factors in residence-hall fires. Explains how public awareness and expectations are affecting school dormitory safety. (GR)

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in the frequency of school resource officer behaviors exist and if any differences in behaviors were related to differences in the frequency of incidents of school violence. This study collected information about tasks that SROs complete and compared that information to the frequency of…

In recent years, bullying seems to have become more serious and more pervasive. Research indicates that 15% to 20% of all students are victimized by bullies at some point in their school careers. Clearly, bullying is a problem that schools must recognize and address. Bullying has three distinguishing characteristics: (1) it is intentional; (2) it…

This case study examines how the leadership of a principal in the worst elementary school in her district, located in what William J. Wilson describes as a socially dislocated African American community, worked to change the nature of an entire community by transforming how she and her faculty communicated with parents. Drawing on data gathered…

As a result of high profile shootings and critical incidents in schools on a national level, combined with the lack of a cohesive, standardized approach to safety and security in Idaho Schools, Superintendent Tom Luna requested an appropriation to address this issue and the Legislature allocated 5150.000 in FY 2008 for the Safe and Secure…

Problems associated with school violence include higher than average teacher turnover, increased student dropout rates, students changing schools, and principals/teachers retiring early. There are 19 strategies offered that might reduce school violence.

The decision that led to the 1992 opening of the University of Connecticut's new public safety complex was excellent timing. Three years after the complex opened, complete with a state-of-the-art Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), an emergency operations/training center and an indoor firing range, the quiet, nearly 4,000-acre UConn campus…