Rules for Engagement
The Rules for Engagement blog explored the nonacademic issues that bear on students’ learning. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: social-emotional learning, student well-being, and school climate.
College & Workforce Readiness
Trauma-Informed Practices Will Help Tackle Chronic Absenteeism in Oregon
A new law in Oregon includes grant funding for schools to pilot "trauma-informed" solutions to chronic absenteeism.
School Climate & Safety
School Climate: Ed. Dept. Provides Free Surveys, Resources to Schools
The surveys can be administered to middle and high school students, staff, parents, and guardians, providing real-time data about their perceptions of the school environment.
Student Well-Being & Movement
New Resources Developed to Help Mentors Encourage Growth Mindsets
A new toolkit, piloted by City Year mentors, includes 12 lessons on how mentors can encourage growth mindset in those they work with.
Equity & Diversity
Federal Suit: N.C. Law Restricting School Restroom Access Violates Title IX
North Carolina's new law, which bans local LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances and restricts restroom use by transgender students in public schools, violates Title IX and the U.S. Constitution, a group of civil rights organizations argued in a federal lawsuit.
Equity & Diversity
Data Lacking About How LGBT Students Are Treated at School, Researchers Say
Expanded federal data collection about LGBT students would help illuminate school climate problems and inform efforts to find solutions, researchers say in a paper released by the Equity Project and Indiana University.
Equity & Diversity
N.C. Legislature Passes Restrictions on Transgender Student Restroom Access
Those restrictions are a part of a larger bill that was passed and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory in a one-day special session Wednesday, making North Carolina the first to pass state-level restrictions on restrooms and locker rooms transgender students use in public schools.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Farm-to-School Participation Is Up: Fast Facts About Serving Local Foods
More schools are participating in farm-to-school programs and serving local foods, but some barriers remain.
School Climate & Safety
Salt Lake City District to Outline Limits for School Police as Part of Settlement
The settlement follows a federal lawsuit by the ACLU over a 2010 "gang sweep" at a high school in which students of color were "rounded up, questioned, searched, and forced to be photographed holding signs describing alleged gang affiliation."
Student Well-Being & Movement
Non-Cognitive Skills: Is It Enough for Measurements to Be Valid and Reliable?
Even well-tested measures of students' non-cognitive and social-emotional skills create unknowns and potential problems when used in high-stakes accountability, a researcher writes.
School Climate & Safety
Charters Suspend Blacks, Students With Disabilities More Than Peers
Charter schools suspend students of color and students with disabilities at higher rates than their peers, a trend that mirrors disparate discipline rates in traditional public schools, a new analysis of federal data finds.
School Climate & Safety
Nurturing Growth Mindsets: Six Tips From Carol Dweck
Encouraging students' growth mindset is about more than just praising raw effort. Read some tips from Carol Dweck and watch her full remarks.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Tap Ed Tech to Improve Social-Emotional Learning, Report Urges
Technology can help promote development of character traits and such skills as communication and cultural awareness, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum and the Boston Consulting Group.
School Climate & Safety
Baltimore School Officer Charged With Assault for Slapping Teen in Video
The officer was charged with second-degree assault, second-degree child abuse by a custodian and misconduct in office after an online video showed him slapping a teen outside of a Baltimore school. Another officer seen in the video also faces charges.
School Climate & Safety
After Video, Baltimore Schools to Review Training, Screening of School Police
The pledge follows public reaction to an online video that shows a school police officer slapping, kicking, and swearing at a teen boy outside of a Baltimore school.