While students have a right to exercise free speech, schools have a responsibility to ensure safety and maintain the integrity of the learning environment. School and district administration must prepare for the potential of civil unrest both in the community and at school (e.g., walkouts, sit-ins, protests), and to prevent or mitigate the impact…

At a small rural middle school in the southern United States, two students murdered a teacher, four students, and injured 10 during a shooting spree. This case represents the lived experiences of a school principal, counselor, and community that survived the deadly rampage. The case highlights the challenges that school leaders may face such as…

This timely book presents a data-driven approach to preventing and responding to school violence. As school violence receives increasing attention across the nation, the application of scientific knowledge is critical. For maximum effectiveness, transdisciplinary teams should use school data, logic models, and theories of change to design,…

Courses: Undergraduate or graduate organizational/crisis communication or public relations courses. Objective: The goal for this single class activity is for students to apply discourse of renewal to an organizational crisis fueled through social media.

In response to the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, President Donald Trump established the Federal Commission on School Safety to review safety practices and make meaningful and actionable recommendations of best practices to keep students safe. The Commission conducted field visits,…

This article deals with an educational structure where students' personal narratives are used to deepen their understanding of what reactions to crises may imply. Through writing about experienced violence the students introduced into the learning environment stories that could be analyzed and serve as illustrations of ways of reacting to crises.…

This booklet explains the importance of teachers being trained to handle daily crises they face in their classrooms and to see crises as an opportunity for both students and teachers. It discusses the skills and attitudes teachers need in order to be effective crisis managers. After an introduction, three sections examine: "What Is a…

This article presents a case study designed for use in educational leadership courses to heighten awareness of what is required of tomorrow's principals when it comes to assuming ultimate responsibility for student safety. Since the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, in April 1999, many other incidents of students bringing…

This publication results from on ongoing collaboration between the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education. Its goals are to determine whether it could have been known that incidents of targeted violence at schools were being planned and whether anything could have been done to prevent them from occurring. Results from the Secret…

This self-help guide explores the many factors involved in implementing an effective program of protection for schools. It provides direction and answers to the many questions posed by crime and violence in schools by translating certain principles of security into applications for the campus setting. The guide explains the various protection…

More and more teachers report the increasing incidence of crises in children's lives, crises that interfere with the child's ability to learn. Noting that developmentally appropriate curricula must respond to the issues of immediate concern and interest to children, this source book assists teachers in facing difficult issues in the classroom and…