This booklet summarizes three reports on drug-use and violence-prevention efforts and school-crime patterns in American schools. The reports are based on findings from the Study on School Violence and Prevention, which investigated the extent of problem behavior in schools. The results indicate that schools in general were safe, but certain…

This volume presents three reports on drug-use and violence-prevention efforts and school-crime patterns in American schools. The reports are based on findings from the Study on School Violence and Prevention, which investigated the extent of problem behavior in 886 schools across the U.S. The findings indicate that schools in general were safe,…

Understanding the primary causes of indoor air quality (IAQ) problems and how controllable factors--proper heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system design, allocation of adequate outdoor air, proper filtration, effective humidity control, and routine maintenance--can avert problems may help all building owners, operators, and…

In this presentation, made to the White House Conference on Character and Community, the author advocates creating a preventive intervention system for chronic violence; that scientific research supports this system; that it is cost-beneficial to do so; and that it is necessary in order to help the next generation become productive citizens. He…

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005, and triggered one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of the nation. New Orleans, in particular, and the schools that served the community's children, suffered severe storm damage and massive flooding. Central to the city's strategy of getting back…

The Days of Respect program is a collaboration of students, parents, and teachers working together to end verbal, emotional, sexual, and physical harassment and abuse in the school community by bringing people together to plan, train each other, and then to facilitate a multi-day school-wide Days of Respect. The program achieves its goals by…

Ways in which school facility planners, managers, and others can guard against the potential indoor air quality (IAQ) problems presented by paint are covered in this bulletin. It opens with an overview of paint formulations and the functional quality of different paints, paying special attention to the volatile organic compounds present in some…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a data collection system of the National Center for Education Statistics. It focuses on educational issues that are best addressed by contacting individual households rather than institutions. The primary purpose of the NHES is to conduct repeated measurements of the same phenomena at different…

This practicum paper describes the use of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation self-study criteria in the expansion and revision of a staff handbook for a Florida preschool. The existing staff handbook and staff training programs were found to provide inadequate information on school health and safety…

This document provides information on the most commonly asked science safety questions by science teachers primarily at the secondary school level. Topics include the legal responsibilities of a science teacher, a general safety checklist, proper labeling and storing of chemicals, purchasing of new chemicals and disposing of old chemicals, a…

This publication is part of the Department of Education's ongoing effort to provide information to emerging populations in their native language on how to create and maintain drug-free and safe schools across the nation. Throughout the publication are personal stories and artwork of elementary and secondary school students that promote the message…

To build safe and effective schools, it is important, according to this report, to understand and take seriously the dynamics of bullying behavior among school-aged children. The report examines the problem of bullying and its effects on students, discusses steps schools can take to prevent bullying, and provides suggestions for implementing a…

This paper discusses the importance of a school's having procedures in place to deal with possible biological terrorist threats. It begins with a discussion of biological terrorism. It then provides the symptoms of anthrax, treatment options for anthrax, and precautions to take when suspicious of an attack with a hazardous material. The paper goes…

Although most schools are safe, they all can be safer. Improving school safety requires the strategic investment of time and dollars--scarce resources for which there are competing demands. Fortunately, schools that strategically coordinate schoolwide efforts are more likely to improve academic performance as well as reduce behavior problems. This…

This booklet examines and evaluates several programs to educate juveniles about the dangers involved in carrying weapons and to provide nonviolent routes to developing self-esteem and personal responsibility. The booklet is based on the experience of the Vera Institute and its partners in planning and testing a weapons education program in…