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 This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: social-emotional learning, student well-being, and school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.
School Climate & Safety
Report: Baltimore School Officer Filmed Slapping Teen Has Troubled History
The officer was previously fired from his job as a sheriff's deputy after a wrongful Taser attack, and a court once granted his girlfriend a protective order against him, the Baltimore Sun reports.
School Climate & Safety
This Principal Has a Creative Way of Encouraging Positive Student Behavior
Reno Principal Denise Hausauer wears a bell so students can hear her coming down the halls. "I want to catch them doing something good," she says.
School Climate & Safety
Baltimore School Cops, Chief Put on Leave After Teen Kicked, Slapped on Video
A cell phone video shows a Baltimore City Schools police officer slapping, kicking, and swearing at a student. Civil rights groups say it's part of a larger national pattern of school police brutality against students of color.
Equity & Diversity
S.D. Governor Vetoes Bill on Transgender Student Restroom, Locker Room Use
The bill would have required transgender students to use school facilities that match their biological sex at birth, even if it differed from their gender identity.
School Climate & Safety
Los Angeles School Police Return Last of Weapons Issued by Defense Department
School police have faced extra scrutiny from civil rights groups for acquiring weapons from the U.S. Department of Defense's 1033 surplus program.
Equity & Diversity
National Groups, Celebrities Tell S.D. Governor to Veto Transgender Student Bill
Gov. Dennis Daugaard has until March 1 to decide if he will sign the bill, which would create the first state-level restrictions on which restrooms and locker rooms transgender students use at school. Celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox have urged him to veto it.
School Climate & Safety
Building Social-Emotional Skills May Be Key to Classroom Management, Study Says
Parsing through studies of 54 interventions at the primary school level, researchers from the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, examined four different methods for improving classroom management.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Two New Initiatives Take Aim at Chronic Absenteeism
The two new initiatives are part of the "Every Student, Every Day" campaign begun under President Barack Obama last year to bolster attendance.
Equity & Diversity
High School Holds Anti-Gang Assembly, Invites Only Black Students
Only black freshmen were invited to the program, which was part of court-ordered desegregation efforts, the Arkansas school district said. The ACLU of Arkansas said it unfairly singled out students by race.
School Climate & Safety
College Applications Shouldn't Ask About School Discipline Records, Group Says
Questions about school discipline on college applications compound the effects of discriminatory discipline policies and practices at the K-12 level, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said.
Equity & Diversity
S.D. Bill That Limits Transgender Student Bathroom Use Bound for Governor's Desk
If Gov. Dennis Daugaard signs the bill, South Dakota will be the first to create state-level restrictions on how schools treat transgender students, which could put its schools at odds with the U.S. Department of Education's interpretation of civil rights laws.
States
Virginia House Votes Down Bill That Aimed to Limit School Arrests
The bill would have prohibited school-based disorderly conduct arrests for students 14 and younger.
School Climate & Safety
Two Dead After Shooting at Arizona High School
Two students died in a shooting at a high school in Glendale, Ariz., Friday morning.
Equity & Diversity
Transgender Students' Bathroom Use Would Be Restricted by South Dakota Bill
The bill could make the state the first to create state-level restrictions on how schools treat transgender students and put it at odds with the U.S. Department of Education's interpretation of civil rights laws.