School principals are fundamentally important to school improvement. Due in part to this importance, the roles and responsibilities of school principals are constantly evolving. To explore leader sensemaking about this phenomenon I conducted 30 interviews with 10 public school principals in the US state of New Jersey during the 2018-2019 school…

Following high-profile school shootings, policymakers and educators seek ways to prevent such shootings, but there has been little research on school-level responses in the immediate aftermath of such events. This study examines how school-level security measures and practices changed after the 1999 Columbine shooting using a nationally…

The 2020 Texas Educators' Needs Assessment Regarding School Safety and Victims Services included responses from educators across the state of Texas regarding school safety. This needs assessment generated data that provided researchers with the unique opportunity to analyze the school safety issues in Texas (Fuller et al, 2020). The purpose of the…

Crisis communication systems (CCS) in educational settings have been challenged by mass casualty events including shootings, natural disasters, and health outbreaks in the United States. The U.S. federal government and the U.S. Department of Education have created safety and security instructions to manage these complex and diverse security…

School safety and security has become a topical issue internationally that concerns both educational research and policy. However, whereas several studies have focused on technical safety, less attention has been given to comprehensive safety and security management (SSM) and policies enhancing schools' safety culture. In order to provide new…

The current study explored the perceptions of charter school principals about the charter principal role, the support needed by charter principals, and the preparation of charter school principals. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews using the Nvivo 12 software suite was used to analyze participant responses and reveal themes for…

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…

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…

School leaders are under constant pressure to ensure that schools are safe and to demonstrate that student safety and discipline are priorities. In many districts, schools rely on local law enforcement, school police, or security personnel to assist with promoting and maintaining safe schools. To encourage school leaders to think critically about…

Although research has explored the effects of protective factors on fostering resiliency within "individuals," the same level of inquiry has not emerged investigating the causes of why high-risk "organizations" are resilient to serious violent delinquency. One type of organization that seems particularly appropriate for…

In fall 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado accused Colorado school officials of committing felonies and violating students' privacy rights. The controversy stemmed from allegations that a high school assistant principal read and transcribed text messages from a cell phone that school officials had taken away from a…

Problems associated with school violence include higher than average teacher turnover, increased student dropout rates, students changing schools, and principals/teachers retiring early. There are 19 strategies offered that might reduce school violence.

The 2015 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 51st in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…

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…