Something is terribly wrong with our schools. How did a place that should be a sanctuary for kids becomes a source of fear and intimidation? What has happened? In Creating Emotionally Safe Schools, Jane Bluestein offers a plan to return schools to havens of nurturing and learning. She examines environmental, historical, developmental, psychological, sociological, interpersonal, instructional and administrative factors that contribute to the emotional climate of an educational institution. This is a comprehensive view of what makes a school feel the way it feels, and what we can do to make it feel safe for every child—and every adult—who walks through its doors. Emotional safety has many dimensions, such as: the impact of the family and early development, childhood stress and coping, the changing role of the school, acceptance and emotional support, respect and belonging, temperament and labels, gangs and violence, instructional strategies, learning styles and multiple intelligences, teacher training and support, and the inherent need for a sense of community. The message Jane Bluestein brings is positive: information, programs and solutions are available that can ultimately make our schools inviting, inspiring, and, yes—safe. Includes: Comprehensive list of references and resources Complete index

Creating Safe Schools for All Students draws on the latest research, law, and expert judgment to offer educators a comprehensive program for designing safe schools. This book addresses several theoretical perspectives through which readers can come to understand school safety. It also provides a set of standards that educators can use to evaluate their schools and then develop practical and systematic plans for ensuring orderly and caring learning environments. Attention is given to the distinction between preventing violence and promoting safety. For educators or educational administrators.

Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools brings together the collective wisdom of more than thirty experts from a variety of fields to show how school leaders can create communities that support the social, emotional, and academic needs of all students. It offers an essential guide for making sense of the myriad frameworks, resources, and tools available to create a continuous improvement system. Filled with recommendations gleaned from research and ongoing work in every US state and territory, this book is a critical resource for understanding and adopting evidence-based practices and making programmatic decisions to ensure the ideal conditions for learning, growth, and development. "Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools is an essential read for teachers, principals, district leaders, and organizations that work with schools to create challenging and supportive environments for all students." --Paul Cruz, superintendent, Austin Independent School District "Osher and colleagues not only connect the dots between big ideas--deeper learning, trauma, social and emotional learning, evidence-based programs, comprehensive community planning--but they model the continuous improvement approach in the way ideas are ordered across and within the chapters. This is a masterful volume: comprehensive, accessible, and way overdue." --Karen J. Pittman, cofounder, president and CEO, The Forum for Youth Investment "This book provides a very usable road map for creating safe, healthy, equitable, and caring schools. The editors and contributors successfully integrate research, practice, and policy to help educators develop and implement effective and sustainable models to nurture caring schools that all children and educators deserve." --Mark T. Greenberg, Bennett Chair of Prevention Research, Pennsylvania State University David Osher is vice president and an institute fellow at American Institutes for Research. Deborah Moroney is a managing director at American Institutes for Research and is director of the youth development and supportive learning environments practice area. Sandra Williamson is a vice president for policy, practice, and systems change at American Institutes for Research.

Creating Safe and Supportive Schools and Fostering Students’ Mental Health provides pre- and in-service educators with the tools they need to prevent, pre-empt, handle, and recover from threats to students’ mental health. School safety and fostering a supportive learning environment have always been issues fundamental to educators. Over the last decade, teachers and administrators have been called on more than ever to cope with bullying, suicide, and violence in their schools. Handling every stage of this diverse set of obstacles can be unwieldy for teachers and administrators alike. Framed with interviews from experts on each of the topics, and including practical and applicable examples, this volume draws together the work of top-tier school psychologists into a text designed to work with existing school structures and curricula to make schools safer. A comprehensive and multi-faceted resource, this book integrates leading research with the well-respected Framework for Safe and Successful Schools to help educators support school safety, crisis management, and students' mental health. Featuring interviews with: Dewey G. Cornell, Frank DeAngelis, Beth Doll, Kevin Dwyer, Katie Eklund, Maurice J. Elias, Michele Gay, Ross W. Greene, Rob Horner, Jane Lazarus, Richard Lieberman, Troy Loker, Melissa A. Louvar-Reeves, Terry Molony, Shamika Patton, Donna Poland, Scott Poland, Eric Rossen, Susan M. Swearer, Ken Trump, and Frank Zenere.

A hands-on resource for practitioners, this book provides step-by-step guidance for developing a comprehensive school safety plan. Moving from needs assessment to implementation and evaluation, chapters describe research-based strategies that are readily applicable in K-12 settings. Special features include reproducible checklists and other planning tools. Described are proven ways to: create a low-crime environment, identify and support high-risk students, reduce bullying and harassment, improve the schoolwide disciplinary system, and draw on community resources for change.

This practitioner-focused guide to creating identity-safe classrooms presents four categories of core instructional practices: Child-centered teaching ; Classroom relationships ; Caring environments ; Cultivating diversity. The book presents a set of strategies that can be implemented immediately by teachers. It includes a wealth of vignettes taken from identity-safe classrooms as well as reflective exercises that can be completed by individual teachers or teacher teams.

Draws from a wide research base documenting best practices for identity safety, including inclusive classroom practices, positive teacher-student relations, diverse and challenging tasks, and the use of student diversity as a resource Includes interactive activities and tools for professional development, linking strategies to theory Offers guiding principles to help leaders stay true to the core values of equity and identify safety, equipping leaders with the adaptive expertise needed to confront evolving challenges Covers professional growth models for teachers, counselors, campus supervisors, and other school staff Tackles the difficult issue of equitable data collection; shares principles, systems, and best practices for assessment that take bias, stakeholder voice, and universal design into account.

"When it comes to student and staff safety, there are no excuses. The authors have created a handbook that is comprehensive, explicit, and relevant to educational environments." —Darlene R. Jones, Principal Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, MO "Brunner and Lewis have done an outstanding job creating a series of commonsense reminders that will guide school leaders in creating and enhancing safety in their school and community." —Ronald Stephens, Executive Director National School Safety Center Make a difference in school safety and security with these practical, realistic strategies! This timely resource for new, veteran, and aspiring school administrators offers cost-effective techniques for creating a safe environment for students, staff, and the community. The authors use their experience in education and law enforcement to show how administrators can combine the need for a secure campus with the desire to maintain an open, welcoming environment. Succinct and user-friendly, this handbook offers practical, realistic methods for designing general and event-specific safety plans, forming safety committees, and creating security checklists and visitor screening procedures. Sections on staff training include methods for handling harassment and bullying as well as recommendations for: Helping prevent or minimize a potential crisis Facilitating a stronger, more informed response when needed Aiding in school recovery and a return to normalcy For easy reference, readers will find strategies organized by categories and concluding with a top ten list of security recommendations.

Welcome to Identity Safe Classrooms! In identity safe classrooms, students facing negative stereotypes or viewed as different are "seen," accepted, and valued for who and what they are. Their identity is embraced as an asset not a barrier for school success. Identity safety is a research-based set of practices that counter the harmful effects of stereotype threat and allow our students to reach their full capacity for learning, foster positive relationships, and better appreciate the full spectrum of human differences. The second of a two-volume set, Identity Safe Classrooms, Grades 6-12, is a call for educators to come together and realize a vision of schools as transformative places of opportunity and equity for all students. Inside you’ll find: Design principles for promoting belonging and a welcoming classroom environment Compelling evidence from identity safety research on ways to mitigate stereotype threat along with counter-narratives that challenge societal biases about gender, race, and other differences Pragmatic strategies for student-centered teaching, including trauma-informed practices, that hold high expectations and validate each student’s background as a resource for learning Vignettes with concrete examples and try-it-out activities and prompts for self-reflection Devour Identity Safe Classrooms, adopt its practices, and soon enough you’ll inspire in all of your students a greater sense of empathy and agency in their educational experiences. "Dr. Becki Cohn-Vargas along with Alexandrea Creer Kahn and Amy Epstein show us the intersections between adolescent identity development, racial identity development, and social-emotional development so we know how to use the diversity in classrooms as our strength." -Zaretta Hammond, Author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain "Identity Safe Classrooms should be in the hands of every educator who walks into a school. It′s clear and accessible, grounded in research, thought-provoking and engaging, and actionable, and fills a crucial gap in our resources for creating just and liberated schools." -Elena Aguilar, Author of The Art of Coaching "The authors have done an excellent job showing how an identity safe classroom integrates the growth mindset in a secondary school. When students feel accepted and valued, when they feel safe learning from mistakes and encouraged to continually grow as learners, they can reach their highest potential." -Carol Dweck, Stanford University

"Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools is a practical, accessible guide to building learning environments that ensure safety, develop regulation skills, and grow caring relationships for all students, including those who have experienced trauma"--