Climatic hazards are a key feature of life. It is vital that teachers are knowledgeable about these phenomena in order to develop their students' understanding of them. This study used a mixed methods approach to examine the accuracy and depth of preservice primary teachers' (n = 430) knowledge of tropical cyclones. The findings suggest that…

Background: Relatively few studies have examined prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depressive episode (MDE) in disaster-affected adolescents. Fewer still have administered diagnostic measures or studied samples exposed to tornadoes, a common type of disaster. Further, methodologic problems limit the…

April 27, 2011, will be remembered by many as a catastrophic day and event in Alabama, and specifically by K-12 educational leaders. Natural disasters like tornadoes have a significant impact on leaders, on their decision making and, obviously, on the survival of many of their victims. The possibility and threat of a major crisis caused by natural…

While learning about the types of weather events that occur in the local area, students in grades 4-6 were asked to consider how structures can be built to withstand extreme weather conditions. Teams of students designed, constructed, and tested buildings to withstand hurricanes and designed the tests they would use to evaluate their structures.…

The impact of drought on rural communities in Australia has been the subject of considerable research. Less well understood are the impacts of drought on rural small businesses and the mechanisms they use to adapt or cope through extended dry periods. In this study, strategies these businesses draw upon to manage this adversity are identified and…

This multiple-case qualitative study was conducted to examine the perceptions of community members, students, and staff regarding school crisis management following a 2006 tornado and 2010 bus accident in a small rural school district in Missouri. Online surveys were collected from 66 participants, and 10 follow-up interviews were completed with…

"Education Week" Staff Writer Michelle R. Davis sat down with Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, on January 9, 2006, in the secretary's office at the U.S. Department of Education. This article contains excerpts from that interview. Secretary Spellings notes that being a parent of school-age children has given her an unusual…

Today, many people, with no personal experience of living through a tropical storm, reside in coastal regions in harms way. This population needs to be educated about storm risks. One good venue for this is the public school system. Science educators have concluded it is important to establish a knowledge base about the ways students think and…

This document is a compilation of 33 pieces of writing presenting Ohio adult basic and literacy education (ABLE) students' perspectives of community and personal history. The items included in the compilation were written by ABLE students across Ohio in celebration of Ohio History Day. The compilation is organized in five sections as follows: (1)…