Physical assault against school personnel is a serious problem, although not highly publicized. This workplace violence can result in debilitating injury to school employees along with major monetary costs. This article looks at legal issues that address physical assault against school personnel as well as the roles professional associations have…

It is commonly understood that policy makers make curriculum policy and teachers implement it. Some teachers, however, have been in on the ground floor of curriculum policy development. Driven by events in their life histories and teaching contexts, these teachers develop and teach original course material in their own classrooms. Over time they…

Despite the importance of special educators in the current era of educational reform, there is no overarching portrait of special educators' roles, especially in rural schools where the provision of services is especially challenging. Using latent class analysis and data from a national sample of rural school districts, we identified four…

Background: Seattle Public Schools has implemented policies and programs to increase safety, family involvement, and student achievement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. This case study examines students' perceptions of bullying and harassment in the school environment, and teacher intervention when…

This article reviews Canadian administrative law regarding homophobic bullying and school board decision making. Depending on the provincial legislation, school boards either have a mandatory or a discretionary duty to provide queer students with a safe learning environment. However, Canadian case law has arguably limited that discretion. Recent…

In 2006, the Anchorage School District implemented a school wellness policy to address the problem of obesity among its elementary-aged students. We assessed whether the addition of this policy is effective in protecting or preventing students from becoming overweight/obese over time. The methods involved following two cohorts of students for 5…

In January, 2014, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education (ED) issued a joint "Dear Colleague Letter" to K-12 schools. The topic discussed in their joint letter is whether administrators are punishing minority children more harshly than white children for…

Water consumption is important for students' cognition, dental health, and physical health. The availability and promotion of free water during the school day has been shown to increase water consumption and may prevent school children from being overweight. This brief highlights areas where local school wellness policies (i.e., wellness…

Recess provides students with a needed break from their structured school day. It can improve children's physical, social, and emotional well-being, and enhance learning. Recess helps children meet the goal of 60 minutes of physical activity (PA) each day, as recommended by the US Department of Health and Human Services. National…

Good nutrition is vital to optimal health. The school environment plays a fundamental role in shaping lifelong healthy behaviors and can have a powerful influence on students' eating habits. A supportive school nutrition environment includes multiple elements: access to healthy and appealing foods and beverages available to students in school…

School districts have taken a variety of steps to encourage PE and PA among their students. The sections of this brief highlight areas where policy opportunities exist, as well as areas where policies are well-established relative to PE and PA. This brief summarizes the range of policy actions taken by public school districts, including reports…

Food and beverage marketing often appears throughout schools in the form of posters, vending machine fronts, in-school television advertisements, school newspapers, textbook covers, sports equipment, and scoreboards. Many foods marketed in schools are of poor nutritional quality. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Institute of…

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 and, more recently, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 required all school districts participating in the federal Child Nutrition Programs (e.g., National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program, Afterschool Snack Program) to adopt and implement a local…

Local school wellness policies (i.e., wellness policies) provide an opportunity to create and support a healthy school environment, promote student health, and reduce childhood obesity. Because they are required for all school districts participating in the federal Child Nutrition Programs including the National School Lunch Program and the School…

This document is intended to serve as a practical guide for implementing a teacher-student data link (TSDL) that supports a range of uses at the local, regional, and state levels. The guide addresses the considerations for linking teacher and student data from multiple perspectives, including governance, policies, data components, business rules,…