The authors assert that the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) model and its companion documents provide school counselors with a comprehensive framework for intervening to prevent violence. This article is a brief overview of the model, the competencies, and the standards, which are used as theoretical lenses for addressing gun violence…

Although metal detectors, guards, and law enforcement officers are intended to protect students and maintain a safe educational environment, the actual effectiveness of such measures is unclear, especially when it comes to protecting Black students. Charles Bell interviewed Black students from urban and suburban schools across Michigan and learned…

Devastating school shootings have spawned a cottage industry of untested responses to school violence. Some involve target hardening, or making schools less vulnerable to violent attacks. School administrators and community members can be quick to gravitate towards target hardening measures for preventing school violence. However, crime prevention…

The growing visibility of violence in schools has caused multiple demands to know their condition in our societies. Given this, the conceptual, analytical and methodological challenges faced between those engaged in their empirical research are evident. However, many of those who face these challenges do not analyze the parallel processes that are…

Although most teachers are familiar with growth mindsets, many conflate it with other terms or concepts or have difficulties understanding how to best foster growth mindsets in their students. Shelby Clark and Madora Soutter describe how growth mindsets are related to, yet distinct from, intellectual risk-taking and share strategies for fostering…

A positive school climate is important for students' social and emotional wellness and ability to learn. For example, students with positive relationships with their teachers and who feel safe at school tend to show higher academic performance (Korpershoek et al., 2020). The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship of school…

In-class participation is a common component of many university students' course grade, yet there has been some debate over whether it is fair to grade participation, given that some students are " naturally" introverted. In this paper, we problematize the central assumption that the arguments against grading participation rest upon:…

Student journalists from the Canine Courier at El Dorado Springs (Missouri) High School shared their thoughts and suggestions about what teachers need to know so that all students feel safe, welcome, and successful. Journalism teacher Amber Francis and assistant superintendent Theresa Christian facilitated their contributions. The contributions…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are related to many positive outcomes, including academic performance, degree attainment, and life satisfaction, and are often taught through social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. Furthermore, a positive school climate is important for students' social and emotional wellness and ability to learn. For…

A safe school environment is crucial to the healthy academic and social development of students, and the safety of a school environment affects a range of factors, from staff retention to parent satisfaction. Perhaps most important, student perceptions of safety affect their academic achievement. When students feel safe, they are better able to…

Concerns for student safety are a commonly cited reason for the presence of police in schools. But as the nation grapples with the appropriate roles and responsibilities of police more broadly, the time is right to shine a light on what we know about the effects of police in schools. This brief summarizes the research related to this question.…

Most of the available information on studying under the challenging conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic emphasizes a variety of aspects on how to digitalize the whole teaching process. Thus, several useful and potentially game-changing strategies have been reported recently. In contrast to the digitalization of teaching, in this…

In the spring of 2017, the AISD Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) administered the Substance Use and Safety Survey (SSUSS) to track middle and high school students' self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to substance use and perceptions of school safety. Results from this survey are used to inform and assist with…

The pattern is familiar and frequent. The day following one of the chilling reports about a school shooting, Kristina Dooley's conversations with clients about college usually change at Estrela Consulting in Hudson, Ohio. The worries of the students and their parents bubble up. Rick Funk says his staff see a similar phenomenon among prospective…

How students feel about their schools--their perception of the safety, inclusiveness, rigor, and level of collaboration in the learning environment--is an increasingly important part of conversations about school quality and improvement. For these reasons, measures of school climate have become central to school accountability systems across the…