Persistent racial disparities in students' disciplinary outcomes have been one of the most concerning educational policy and equity topics for decades. Despite the hypervisibility of Black students in school discipline conversations, research and practice evade a focus on anti-Black racism. In this essay, we draw from Black Critical Theory…

Behavior threat assessment and management (BTAM) is a process for identifying students who pose a threat of violence. When BTAM results in a removal from school (e.g., suspension, expulsion, hospitalization), teams need to plan for the student's potential return. This article describes best practices for reintegrating a student into school…

Using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), this report presents findings both on crime and violence in U.S. public schools and on the practices and programs schools have used to promote school safety. SSOCS is managed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of…

The practice of seclusion generally refers to procedures that isolate a student from others, while restraint refers to the physical holding or mechanical restriction of a student's movement. While these practices are typically utilized as tools for addressing imminent safety concerns, the use of restraint or seclusion on students who are…

In 2015, the United States Congress replaced the "No Child Left Behind Elementary and Secondary Act" with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (P.L. 114-95), which identifies health and physical education as key components of a well-rounded education (Cooper, Greenberg, Castelli, Barton, Martin & Morrow, 2016). This followed a…

This report describes principals' reports of the frequency with which cyberbullying occurred among U.S. students in 2010 and 2016. Additionally, this report examines schools with more frequent reports of cyberbullying and compares groups of schools with varying racial/ethnic compositions and rules prohibiting cell phone use during school hours.…

The author presents the concept of natality for consideration in terms of pastoral care and educational purpose. The discussion identifies significant threats to the future for pastoral care in schools, including the Global Educational Reform Movement and the increasing emphasis on teachers taking charge of discipline in the classroom, at the…

Suspensions and expulsions have long been employed in schools to discipline students for disruptive behavior and maintain a safe school environment. However, a growing body of research suggests that these types of disciplinary interventions negatively impact student achievement and increase both students' risk of dropping out and their likelihood…

Using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), this report presents findings both on crime and violence in U.S. public schools and on the practices and programs schools have used to promote school safety. SSOCS collects data from public school principals about violent and nonviolent crimes in their schools. The survey also collects…

Racial disparities in teacher-issued office discipline referrals are less discussed than the well-documented suspension gaps. Discipline referrals, like suspension, can lead to lost instructional time. Although individuals are sent out of the classroom for a range of reasons, Black students, as a group, are at greater risk of being sent out than…

A review of student discipline and suspension data disaggregated by race highlights how school leader biases influence disciplinary decisions. Yet, the majority of principal preparation programs have failed to develop structures and norms that result in critical conversations pertaining to race and racial inequities. This article is written from a…

The 2021 Tribal Education Status Report presents information and data related to students, teachers, funding, and other indicators regarding American Indian students attending New Mexico's public school districts for the 2020-2021 academic year. This report was prepared by the New Mexico Public Education Department (NM PED) and the PED's Indian…

Data-based decision making is enhanced by identifying a precise problem statement or question to explore. When looking at a problem, the nearer we get to the precise problem (e.g., where and when it is occurring, who is involved, and why the problem is continuing in context and location) the more quickly we can build an action plan to effectively…

This report provides nationally representative data on public school safety and discipline for the 2013-14 school year. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) previously collected data on this topic in the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), which was last conducted in the 2009-10 school year (Neiman 2011). This report presents…

This paper is concerned with the rise of 'the boot camp' as a means of addressing "the problem of troubled youth" in contemporary industrialised nations such as Australia and the UK. Drawing on a corpus of publicly available material including press releases and policy documents, media reports, and programme websites, the paper explores…