In 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law. The law states that any school that receives Title I funds must inform parents if their child is assigned a teacher for four (4) or more consecutive weeks who has not met applicable state certification or licensure requirements at the grade level and subject area in…

Child exploitation and victimization occur in numerous ways and affect young people of all ages, races, backgrounds, socioeconomic situations, and geographic locations. It is a difficult but important subject for educators, who interact with students more directly and for more hours in a week than most other adults in students' lives. But armed…

This updated and expanded new edition continues the theme of the second edition that presents a framework by which the reader can gain a broader and deeper understanding of the issues involved with campus violence incidents. In order to understand the current state of campus violence, two sources of information must be considered--the factual and…

Gang affiliation is not something that students leave behind when they come to school. Gang members do not leave their behaviors, attitudes, and conflicts outside the school environment. Gangs, unchecked and unidentified in a school setting, often engage in threat and intimidation; physical and cyber bullying; fighting; recruiting; and criminal…

Campus security and safety is an important feature of postsecondary education. The Department of Education is committed to assisting schools in providing students nationwide a safe environment in which to learn and to keep students, parents and employees well informed about campus security. These goals were advanced by the Crime Awareness and…

This guide is designed for use by school, district, and state staff to improve the effectiveness of efforts to collect and use disciplinary incident data, including reporting accurate and timely incident data to the federal government. It provides recommendations on what types of data to collect, why it is critical to collect such data, and how to…

Your school has plans and protocols in place to respond to fires, severe weather, medical emergencies, fights and weapons possession. But what about school incidents like those listed above that involve bigotry and hate? Are plans in place to respond to a bias incident or hate crime? Too often these plans are created in the moment during the…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization requires State Education Agencies to establish a school choice policy for students attending a persistently dangerous school as defined by the state. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) stipulates that a school can be deemed unsafe as a whole entity or for an individual student who is the…

The purpose of this book is to examine violence on college campuses and prepare campus practitioners to both prevent and respond to violence. Since the first edition was published, major violence has redefined the landscape, most notably the experiences of 9/11 and the tragedy of the Virginia Tech massacre. On the positive side, however, great…

Suggestions for the development and improvement of school security programs by local education agencies are provided in this guidebook. Strategies are outlined for managing perimeter and grounds, buildings, visitors, weapons, bomb threats, security systems, and lighting. The recommendation is made for use of a checklist by a local committee to…

Because of continued concern about school violence, this policy brief examines the trends in school violence in the context of social violence, describes efforts to make schools safe, and reports efforts to curb violence in the four-state Appalachian region (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia). Perceptions of the extent of school…

Guides in this series summarize knowledge about how police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime and disorder problems. They are guides to prevention, not to investigating offenses of handling incidents. This guide focuses on rape of college students by acquaintances. It is estimated that almost 25% of college women have been victims of…

This book presents various approaches for preventing violence from invading U.S. schools. Chapter 1 reviews the primary sources of violence that increasingly challenge U.S. society. Chapter 2 explores the reality that violence is not limited to poor, urban neighborhoods and presents three examples of different schools at pivotal points and offers…

Increased violence in the schools necessitates the identification of potential gang development and formation of preventive safety policies. Included in this bulletin for principals are steps for gang activity identification, preventive strategies, appropriate responses to altercations, and guidelines for security and supervision of…

This report indicates that while school security systems should be tailored to the school system's specific needs and problems, most must take cognizance of the following concerns: (1) evaluation of current security arrangements; (2) degree of dependence upon local law enforcement bodies; (3) management of the school system; (4) analysis of school…