Every year, a few administrators mishandle school searches and create spectacles similar to the New Castle, Pennsylvania, incident involving six illegally strip-searched students. Principals using "cops-and-robber" techniques to unearth contraband may not realize the potential for infringing on students' constitutional privacy rights.…

Survey found 57 percent of high school seniors reported drinking in previous month, down from 72 percent in 1980. Although illicit drug use is also down, alcohol abuse among U.S. teens remains alarmingly high. Schools should back up iron-fisted reaction to drinking with comprehensive drug/alcohol program long on prevention and intervention.…

Recent incidents in the Baltimore and Piscatawny (New Jersey) school districts reveal a new ethical problem: how to treat school leaders' out-of-school relationships with private companies doing business with their districts. Contracting for instructional services could lead to collusion between administrators and contractors. Strict financial…

Some schools are replacing rule-bound discipline programs with instruction that helps students make ethical judgments and decisions. A recent review of 40 classroom-management studies finds teachers responsible for designing lessons that engage and motivate students, communicating procedural expectations, and using unobtrusive techniques to hold…