This research is a follow up to a similar study published by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania in 2003 in which researchers examined alternative education policies and practices among Pennsylvania school districts. The current study extended the previous research to include information on the perceptions of administrators and teachers on the…

This report summarizes results of Austin Independent School District's 2006-2007 student climate survey, given to students in grades 3 through 11.

This study investigated safety in Texas secondary school science laboratory, classroom, and field settings. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) drew a random representative sample consisting of 199 secondary public schools in Texas. Eighty-one teachers completed Incident/Accident Reports. The reports were optional, anonymous, and open-ended; thus,…

After six months of grueling campaigning, the author anxiously began his tenure as mayor of Meriden, Connecticut, a diverse community of about 58,000 residents that is approximately 20 miles north of New Haven and 20 miles south of the state capitol, Hartford. As a former special education teacher and a current vice principal, it was no surprise…

Despite all its efforts to crack down on the bomb scares that disrupted classes again and again in 2003, North Carolina's Orange County district fell victim to yet another false alarm this school year, 2004. For some schools, bomb threats have become more routine than fire drills, with each incident ringing up multi-thousand-dollar tabs for…

This report summarizes results of the 2006-2007 Austin Independent School District parent survey.

For decades, educators have wrestled with how to handle the increasingly diverse religions of an increasingly diverse student body. Sometimes, the line between church and state--what schools can and cannot do under the Constitution--can feel confusing and slippery. Today, religion has become a subject one high school teachers describes as even…

The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in schools have been under-documented. For this reason, a third national survey was conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). As in previous surveys, LGBT youth were asked about biased language in their schools, feelings of comfort and safety in…

This analysis describes and analyzes disproportionality among Indiana's minority students. Specifically, it shows that: (1) Indiana's two largest minority groups are overrepresented in all four locale designations, with the greatest disproportionality occurring in suburban schools for both out-of-school suspension and expulsion; (2)…

Background: Research on pupils' bullying (1991) and violence (1993) motivated the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to initiate a national campaign on school safety. The government campaign was undertaken from 1995 to 2000. Aim: To test for differences in secondary pupils' bullying and violence before and after the campaign while…

Violent and potentially violent incidents in schools in the United States continue to make the headlines, with school-related violent deaths in the United States in the first half of the 2003-04 school year exceeding the deaths for the entire 2002-03 academic year (Vail 2004). In this article, the authors look at the ultimate form of classroom…

"Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups" examines the educational progress and challenges of students in the United States by race/ethnicity. This report shows that over time, the numbers of students of each race/ethnicity who have completed high school and continued their education in college have increased.…

In spring 1994, the author was hired to be the assistant principal at McLoughlin Middle School in Medford, Oregon. Disciplinary referrals in the 804-student school were on the rise. Teachers were frustrated, students were anxious, and parents were concerned. Casting about for a solution, she heard about a two-day workshop on schoolwide discipline…

"MCPS School Safety and Security at a Glance" provides, in a single document, information about the reporting of incidents related to school safety and security, including school climate, local school safety program descriptions, and serious incidents in all Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. The information is presented for…

Any strategic plan to address the predicted shortage of teachers will have to include the promotion of the teaching profession as an attractive career. This will, however, depend largely on how successfully the campaign takes into account the favourable and less favourable opinions and perceptions of learners about the education system as a whole…