During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities adjusted policy and protocols to manage the environment and mitigate the risk of virus transmission among the campus community. In the early semesters of the pandemic, these changes restricted student behavior that would have otherwise been encouraged, such as attending gatherings, and often resulted in…

Using the state of Georgia as a backdrop, this paper highlights the current state of the GFSA (Gun-Free Schools Act) in the United States of America, initially enacted in 1994, 30 years later. The progress of school-based ZTPs (Zero Tolerance Policies) in practice shows that progress remains slow a quarter of a century later. In response, this…

This study implements a quantitative assessment survey to explore how experiences of students who participated in a conduct hearing process during the 2020 fall academic semester align with the conduct process learning outcomes of a private liberal arts institution located in northeast Florida (Northeast University). Survey descriptive statistics…

The Office of Higher Education is required by the Minnesota Legislature to publish the Sexual Assault Data Report, which includes information regarding the outcomes of sexual assault incidents reported to postsecondary institutions. This report provides data for Minnesota colleges for the years 2015-2021. This report also includes discussion of…

The first post-pandemic year may well have been harder than the radically disrupted 18 months of rolling lockdowns and remote learning that preceded it. The jarring disruptions related to COVID-19 aren't the whole story, however. What has happened to students isn't just the impact of a protracted, once-in-a-generation adverse event, but the…

Racial disparities in suspensions have acquired greater significance given the substantial lost learning time, additional trauma and stress, and myriad racial inequalities exposed by COVID-19. This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping school discipline patterns and highlights salient policy and practice considerations with an…

Because the pandemic exacerbated chronic absenteeism in many parts of the country, the need to understand how schools can improve student attendance has never been greater. Accordingly, this study breaks new ground by examining high schools' contributions to attendance after accounting for individual students' prior absenteeism and other…

This publication provides an overview of the literature on school safety in the United States, with a focus on equity. Using the framework developed by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), this publication situates a comprehensive school safety approach as a balance of three key elements: physical safety, school climate, and student behavior,…