The purpose of the study was to analyze the historical patterns in the relationship between specific types of disabilities and frequency of drug abuse or weapon offenses in public schools in the United States using the U.S. Department of Education Open Data Platform's (n.d.) data sets from 2011-2012 through 2020-2021. The problem is that students…

As a result of extensive media coverage, the tragedies at Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are etched into the collective memory of American society. Shortly after the events at Sandy Hook, the National Rifle Association (NRA) presented a program to address student safety by arming…

Shooting incidents at kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools in the United States have sparked calls to increase security or adopt altogether new approaches to school safety. These approaches include allowing teachers or staff to carry firearms in some schools. To learn what teachers across the United States think about school safety…

Research has been conducted for several decades on the framing of stories in the media. This study furthers that field by analyzing the way newspaper articles report on the deaths of unarmed people of color at the hands of law enforcement and security personnel between 1999 and 2017 to determine if local and national print media frame these…

Texas community colleges are facing new challenges every day from outside forces. One of the latest forces is the Texas state legislature. The state legislature has allowed the carrying of conceal weapons on community college campuses with the passing of Senate Bill 11 (Handgun Laws, 2018). Historically, community colleges have been safe places…

In July 2014, the State of Idaho Legislature, after several failed attempts in earlier years, successfully passed Idaho Senate Bill 1254 which allowed for the possession of weapons on Idaho public college campuses by individuals with enhanced concealed carry permits. The Idaho State of Board of Education and the boards of trustees from each of the…

Teachers experience learner challenging behaviour in primary schools worldwide. In South Africa, learner behaviour is undermining teaching and learning and compromising safety in some primary schools. To understand teachers' experiences of learner challenging behaviour, a qualitative data-collection approach was applied. Data from 15 teachers from…

Sometimes school and district personnel must involve law enforcement in disciplinary actions, which may include reporting specific offenses or directing school resource officers to address certain infractions. This data point examines when state statute or regulation requires schools to involve law enforcement agencies and personnel and for which…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between student behavior (drug, liquor, or weapons violations) and community characteristics (poverty and population) on crime that occurs across 90 four-year historically Black college and university (HBCU) campuses. The gap in the literature shows little to no research to…

The safety of students and staff is one of the most important responsibilities of a superintendent. This mixed-method study examined school security and emergency management protocols in Nebraska public schools. This study used qualitative perceptual data to compare the importance school superintendents place on safety and security emergency…

For several years, I taught a general education course on the Manhattan Project for students majoring in the arts and humanities who needed a physical science credit as a condition of their graduation requirements. As might be imagined, the challenge in teaching this course was to find a balance between quantitative and qualitative content. A…

Using a data set that captures the introduction and enactment of "campus carry" bills between 2004 and 2016, we examined how the state policy adoption and diffusion framework explains the policy process related to allowing concealed weapons on the campuses of U.S. colleges and universities. Panel data logistic regression analyses…

The National Center for Education Statistics collects data on crime, violence, and safety in U.S. public schools through the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS). This Data Point report uses data from the 2017-18 SSOCS to examine the formal policies schools have in place to outline officers' roles and responsibilities and whether these…

Mass shootings in schools raise important questions about how best to keep individuals safe and increase survivability in such situations. One of the most common techniques used is lockdown drills, which train individuals to build time and space between them and the threat. Despite their use in 95% of public K-12 schools nationwide, their efficacy…

This study determined the perceptions of school administrators who work at rural schools in Illinois classified as distant and remote on whether they need to be allowed to carry concealed weapons in order to protect themselves and their students by responding against armed intruders with deadly force. An existential conceptual/theoretical…