Education and Literacy;LGBTQI
"The mistreatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students is worse today than many might realize, with unacceptable complicity by school personnel that continues to exacerbate the problem," according to Stuart Biegel, co-author of a groundbreaking new report released today. The report, Safe at School: Addressing the School Environment and LGBT Safety through Policy and Legislation, presents a series of recommendations and model legislation to make public schools safer for LGBT students.
The new report is authored by Biegel and Sheila James Kuehl and is a collaboration between the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Education and the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, with financial support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.
Safe at School documents the persistence of hostile and unsafe school environments that can result in lower educational outcomes and higher rates of depression and suicide for LGBT students. Citing an extensive body of research, it also takes note of the growing legal exposure that schools face when they do not act to change these hostile environments. The authors note and respond to the lack of resources and institutional support that school administrators, teachers, and educational support professionals sometimes face in their attempts to make schools more welcoming to LGBT students.
The report contains a series of policy recommendations to ensure schools are welcoming and safe for LGBT students. These recommendations cover areas such as school climate, curriculum, and the particular role of school sports in defining a school's culture.
Safe at School also contains model legislation, offering a range of options for state legislatures to adopt, including general prohibitions against bullying, harassment and intimidation in schools, as well as sections that address teacher education and professional development. "The addition of a Model State Code to the analysis and recommendations in the report will encourage state legislatures to adopt a comprehensive and tested set of statutes to help remedy the problems of discrimination in our schools," said co-author Sheila Kuehl, a former State Senator from California.
The authors explain that the overarching purpose of all their recommendations is to make schools safe and improve the quality of life for everyone within our education system. "In this area, educators are not required to change their personal values or religious beliefs," said co-author Biegel. "However, all students must be treated with equal dignity and equal respect by school officials, both under the law and as a matter of morality and common decency."
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States
Children and Youth, Education and Literacy
Recently, testimony from three public hearings in Massachusetts suggested that excessive disciplinary action for non-violent offenses, such as tardiness and truancy, exacerbates the dropout crisis. Testimony indicated that students already behind in school are often forced to miss additional days through suspensions, which leads to a loss of credits and an inability to catch up. Some parents, educators, education stakeholders, and coalitions, including the Massachusetts Graduation and Dropout Prevention and Recovery Commission, have called for a closer look at school discipline policies and practice. Many observers have come to believe that fully understanding the role of discipline is an essential step in tackling the problem of why some Massachusetts students are not staying in school. It is within this context that the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy embarked upon its examination of school discipline in Massachusetts.
Act Out, Get Out? Considering the Impact of School Discipline Practices in Massachusetts reviews why discipline policies are necessary, laws governing these policies, and national research on the effects of disciplinary removal. The brief then describes overall trends in the disciplinary removal (suspensions and expulsions) of Massachusetts public school students over time (school year 2005-2006 through 2008-2009) and findings from a more in-depth analysis of discipline data from the 2007-2008 school year. Key findings from data about the 2007-2008 school year include: 1. For the most serious infractions, those involving illegal substances, violence and criminal activities the most common reason for disciplinary removal is violence; 2. Out-of-school suspension is the most frequently used form of disciplinary removal; 3. The number of disciplinary removals peaks at 9th grade and declines in 10th through 12th grade; 4. Particular segments (low-income, special education, male, black, Hispanic) of the student population are removed at disproportionately high rates.
This policy brief highlights essential questions that need to be answered in order to fully understand how discipline policies are being carried out and to tease out the relationship between disciplinary removal, the achievement gap, and dropping out of public schools in Massachusetts. The final section of the brief puts forth considerations for policymakers and K-12 school and district leaders. The brief suggests there is a need for more detailed and complete record keeping of school discipline data as well as for more schools and districts to implement school-wide preventative approaches and alternative education programs for students who have been removed. The brief also questions the extent to which of out-of-school suspensions are used for non-violent, non-criminal offenses, particularly those for Pre-Kindergarten and Elementary School aged students.
The brief was the subject of discussion at a public event on May 26, 2010.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Northeastern)-Massachusetts
Children and Youth, Education and Literacy, Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans
Using data from GLSEN's fifth National School Climate Survey, this report documents the school experiences of 295 transgender middle and high school students and finds that these students face extremely high levels of victimization, even more so than their non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual peers.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
Education and Literacy, Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans, Race and Ethnicity
The report documents the school experiences of over 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) U.S. middle and high school students of color who were African American or Black, Latino/a, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American, and multiracial.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
New Teacher Center worked collaboratively with nine state coalitions - including governors, state education agencies, teacher associations, stakeholder groups and practitioners - to implement the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) survey statewide in nine states from the spring of 2012 to the spring of 2103. The TELL survey is a full-population survey of school-based licensed educators designed to report the perceptions about the presence of teaching and learning conditions that research has shown increase student learning and teacher retention.
The conditions assessed in the TELL survey include:
- Time
- Facilities and Resources
- Professional Development
- School Leadership
- Teacher Leadership
- Instructional Practices and Support
- Managing Student Conduct
- Community Support and Involvement
- New Teacher Support (for teachers in their first three years in the profession)
This report compares the results of the TELL survey at the state level across the country, providing an additional contextual lens for interpreting the results from each participating state to better understand their own findings.
December 1969
Geographic Focus: North America-United States;North America-United States (Western)-Colorado;North America-United States (Southern)-Tennessee;North America-United States (Midwestern)-Ohio;North America-United States (Southern)-North Carolina;North America-United States (Southern)-Maryland;North America-United States (Southern)-Kentucky;North America-United States (Northeastern)-Vermont;North America-United States (Northeastern)-Massachusetts;North America-United States (Northeastern)-Delaware
Education and Literacy;Parenting and Families
School choice is increasingly the new normal in urban education. But in cities with multiple public school options, how can civic leaders create a choice system that works for all families, whether they choose a charter or district public school?
To answer this question, CRPE researchers surveyed 4,000 parents in eight cities (Baltimore, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.) with high degrees of school choice. The researchers also conducted interviews with government officials, choice advocates, and community leaders in four cities, and looked at how many different agencies oversee schools in 35 cities.
The study found that:
- In the eight cities surveyed, the majority of parents are actively choosing a school for their children.
- Parents face significant barriers to choosing schools, including inadequate information, transportation, and lack of quality options.
- Challenges facing families are not confined to the charter or district sector.
- Responsibility for schools often falls to multiple parties, including school districts, charter school authorizers, and state agencies, weakening accountability and making it difficult for leaders to address the challenges facing parents.
The report finds that a more transparent, accountable, and fair system will require action from all parties, including school districts, charter authorizers, charter operators, and states. State and city leaders may need to change laws to ensure that districts and charter authorizers oversee schools responsibly and that families do not face large barriers to choice. In some cases, formal governance changes may be necessary to address the challenges to making school choice work for all families.
December 1969
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
Education and Literacy;Housing and Homelessness;Poverty
Reviews research on how housing stability, affordability, quality, and location affect low-income children's safety, physical and mental health, and frequency of school changes, which in turn affect attendance, behavior, test scores, and graduation rates.
December 1969
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
Education and Literacy;Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Summarizes discussions among education entrepreneurs, funders, policy makers, and experts at a May 2009 summit on innovations in ideas, processes, and products for reform. Includes a case study review of a successful turnaround of a failing school.
December 1969
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
