Changing school cultures is a complex process. This article describes collaboration between students and teachers in developing a resource manual to improve student conduct and reduce violence in schools. The development of the manual and its final contents are described. (MKA)

Interview discusses the formation of a school-based, interagency, mental health team in the Anne Arundel County Public School System in Maryland. Highlights the work of the school counselor within the group, who has assumed a leadership role within the school building for forming collaborative relationships with families and community agencies.…

To avoid California schools' experience with Occupational Safety and Health Administration fines, principals should comply with safety regulations, establish quick-response procedures, take care of chemicals, prepare site personnel for state OSHA visits, inform safety personnel about procedures for appealing citations, keep good records, and work…

The goal of the Synthesized Professional Supervision Model is the creation of academically healthy schools. This model for supervision of the whole school community includes supervisor reflection on professional interaction, supervisee professional development, paradigms influencing practice, and phases of professional supervision. (SK)

School psychologists are often asked to respond to student violence based on incomplete information about the nature and scope of these problems. Compares the methods and findings of three national surveys of students to understand what methodological characteristics have the most salient impact on their findings. Results suggest that student…

Offers a retrospective look into the insight of people who were close to the Columbine tragedy and discusses what interventions have since been instituted at Columbine High School. Writes that school counselors have had to reconceptualize their comprehensive developmental guidance and counseling programs to include the mental health needs of…

Provides a theoretical foundation for understanding how college students use crime information. Describes and reports results of a test of the Safety Belief Model on undergraduate students (n=645) that predicts the likelihood of students following certain relatively simple and common safety precautions. Includes recommendations for safety…

Discusses the importance of creating safe school environments for gay and lesbian students. Anti-gay bias has been called the last acceptable form of discrimination in the United States, and many U.S. public schools are complicit in cultivating this intolerance. Describes one public and one private high school's efforts to make safe environments…

Presents evidence that allowing time for recess or playground activities can yield immediate and long-term benefits for children. Maintains that breaks between cognitive tasks support learning and that play adds to educational quality. Concludes that administrators, teachers, and parents should collaborate to create an environment that promotes…

Points out the need to educate undergraduate chemical engineering students on chemical process safety and introduces the content of a chemical process safety course offered at the University of Iowa. Presents laboratory experiments demonstrating flammability limits, flash points, electrostatic, runaway reactions, explosions, and relief design.…

Discusses studies that find small secondary schools are safer than large schools; offers three reasons for these findings: students are visible, there is a professional community of teachers, and small schools have a clear sense of purpose. Supports reasons with examples from several small secondary schools. (PKP)

Describes an epidemiology of school injuries in Utah's public schools, analyzing 1990-97 school injury data from a standardized Student Injury Report form. Results find that 85 percent of the state's 44,565 school injuries were evaluated at a medical facility. High risk students were males and students in 4th-6th grades. Contributing factors…

Presents a strategy that can be used by public school officials to reduce the number of weapons coming into schools. Addresses creating policies to protect children from bullies, educating students about the school's weapons policy, initiating weapons-screening procedures, applying consistent sanctions, and acting on tips about students carrying…

Argues that school policies of "zero tolerance" of threatening speech may violate a student's First Amendment right to freedom of expression if speech is less than a "true threat." Suggests a two-step analysis to determine if student speech is a "true threat." (PKP)

Questions the effectiveness of the widespread use of zero-tolerance policies enacted by school boards to punish students who violate weapon and drug rules. Suggests that enforcement of zero-tolerance policies has not been equitable. Reviews proposal for alternative to zero tolerance. (PKP)