The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "School Safety." Contents include: (1) Students Demand Safe, Supportive Schools:…

National context: Schools across the United States have long grappled with the role and impact of school-based police officers, often referred to as school resource officers (SROs). Proponents for school-based policing believe that SROs contribute to school safety by preventing or addressing crime and violence in schools. Opponents of SROs in…

Anti-transgender school policies have proliferated in the United States from 2019 to 2024, impacting school climate for transgender and nonbinary learners. In this quantitative study, we examined differences in the experiences of school climate factors (e.g., safety, mattering, mental health outcomes, etc.) between male, female, and nonbinary high…

With the intent of improving music teacher education for people of trans and/or gender-expansive (TGX) experience, the purpose of this study is to convey the voices and experiences of three TGX music educators. These data are drawn from four semi-structured interviews with three participants totaling 268 min. Utilizing transgender theory and…

Young people have long been on the front lines of pushing for systemic change. The Prichard Committee Student Voice Team, consisting of 100 self-selected students from across Kentucky, works to improve schools and society. This article describes the Student Voice Team, an extension of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, an organization…

LGBTIQA+ youth in Australia have reported negative experiences in secondary schooling contexts (Hill et al., 2021) despite governing bodies prioritising inclusion and wellbeing for all students (Department of Education, 2022). The objective of this study was to undertake a scoping review of research on LGBTQIA+ inclusive policies and their impact…

Research on LGBTQ+ students and their sense of belonging in public schools is necessary; minoritized students deserve to feel safe, validated, and valued in a space where they belong. Using the 2017-2018 School Survey on Crime and Safety public-access data, we align variables to Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems framework. This study explored…

The practice of temporarily removing students from school as a form of punishment (i.e., suspensions) remains quite common. This study uses longitudinal data from a large, urban school district in California to assess whether the use of suspensions improves school safety in the following school year. Additional analyses by student race and…

This study examines the associations between county-level immigration arrests and academic achievement, absenteeism, and measures of school climate and safety for students in the California CORE districts. We found consistent evidence that Latinx and Latinx English learner students experienced declines in academic achievement, attendance, and…

Threat assessment has been proposed as a method for schools to respond to student threats of violence that does not rely on exclusionary discipline practices (e.g., suspension, transfer, expulsion, arrest). The present study compared disciplinary consequences for 657 students in 260 schools using the Comprehensive Student Threat Assessment…

Black girls' experiences with sexual harassment in schools remain critically understudied. To mediate this void, this study explored the role of educators and school policy as disrupting or perpetuating racialized sexual harassment toward them. Using a disability critical race theory (DisCrit) framework, we argue educator response and education…

Because the pandemic exacerbated chronic absenteeism in many parts of the country, the need to understand how schools can improve student attendance has never been greater. Accordingly, this study breaks new ground by examining high schools' contributions to attendance after accounting for individual students' prior absenteeism and other…

A sample of sexual- and gender-minority students (n = 65; 51.6% female; 55.8% White; M age = 16.94 years) reported more peer victimization, lower academic achievement, and poorer perceptions of school safety as compared to their heterosexual allied peers. Sexual- and gender-minority students demonstrating higher levels of sexual activity and…

Bullying victimisation is a reality in most schools around the world, with thousands of students being victimised on a daily basis. Given the prevalence of bullying victimisation at school, examination of what might prompt or prevent such behaviours is required. Therefore, this study examined the relationship of a number of individual and…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) youth face hostile and exclusionary learning environments. A qualitative phenomenographic method involving semistructured interviews of seven secondary school administrators was conducted to identify perceptions of experiences creating a safe and inclusive environment for students…