Protecting America S Students At School

Making a difference in school safety for America's students in public schools is a challenge. It is necessary to address the basic fundamental of acquiring a safety attitude before entering into the complexities of attaining a decent education. The foundation for developing and implementing safety practices is documented by an educator with 47 years of experience in America's public schools; serving the final 11 years as Director of Safe and Secure Schools. Dr. Clarence Johnson paints a picture of the guidelines that must be in place in a safe and secure school environment. You can read and follow his guidelines in Protecting America's Students at School.

Dr. Clarence Johnson has been a career educator for the past 47 years. In his book, Protecting America's Students at School, he offers a plan for educators, parents, and community leaders to implement as a main focus on safety during the initial stages of goal setting. Dr. Johnson's background as a successful Director of Safe and Secure Schools in Aldine Independent School District, a large urban Texas school district, for 11 years gives trustworthiness to his recommendations on school safety. The organization and framework of his book, Protecting America's Students at School, is based on his career started as a mathematics middle school classroom teacher in 1965 and lasted for ten years; a high school counselor for two years; a middle school assistant principal for one year; a high school assistant principal for 9 years; a high school principal for 14 years; a director of safe and secure schools for 11 years; a researcher in mathematics achievement of African American students for four years as a doctoral student; and concluding with a dissertation on success of African American students on high-stakes tests in mathematics; leading to a PhD in educational leadership. As Safe and Secure Schools Director for 11 years, he provided leadership that elevated his school district of 60,000 students and 8,000 employees to the #1 rating in fire safety practices in Harris County, Houston, Texas. The fire marshal rated all county schools in his school district with "no violations" during the official fire safety inspections for two consecutive years at the end of his tenure. Johnson believes, "The best and highest rating in safety is only possible when hard work is applied correctly and in a timely manner." You can read about his dedication, safety practices, and recommendations in Protecting America's Students at School.

Written by a well-known intellectual freedom advocate, this book is a one-stop source for school librarians on intellectual freedom and privacy issues that blends principles with best practices. In order to sort out fact from fiction and become effective, critically thinking adults in a global society, children need access to diverse points of view from authoritative sources in their school libraries. This book provides school librarians with easy-to-read guidance on specific aspects of intellectual freedom and privacy, explaining how the core values of the library profession translate into everyday practice. The readings supply current information and targeted, practical advice on a broad range of topics, including privacy and confidentiality in the context of a school library; working with homeless students, English language learners, and other special needs students; challenges to school library materials; filtering issues; and advocacy for intellectual freedom. Each of the nine chapters begins with an introductory essay examining the topic and concludes with a "key ideas" summary; a list of annotated resources to lead the reader to more information on the individual column topics; and discussion questions. The volume's appendices include the text of the ALA Library Bill of Rights and the Code of Ethics as well as an annotated list of pro-First Amendment and privacy protecting organizations with contact information.

School counselors often struggle to feel confident in delivering effective assistance to students due to a variety of reasons that currently do not have enough research or information developed. This leads to a struggle for counselors to adequately address tough and relevant issues. With these issues remaining unaddressed, or addressed less effectively, there is a concern that school counselors cannot mitigate these issues due to not being adequately informed. This can lead to a lifetime of consequences for students. Strengthening School Counselor Advocacy and Practice for Important Populations and Difficult Topics presents emerging research that seek to answer the tough and often unaddressed questions, target present-day issues of student populations, and prepare school counselors to feel confident and competent in their counseling and advocacy practice. These chapters, using the newest information available, will address these concerns and provide the best counseling work possible for underserved populations. While covering research on counseling for students with chronic illnesses, mixed-statuses, family issues, minority students, LGBTQ+ youth, and more, this book is ideal for school counselors, counseling educators, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in school counseling and meeting the needs of diverse and important populations of students.

The United States' failure to educate its students leaves them unprepared to compete and threatens the country's ability to thrive in a global economy and maintain its leadership role. This report notes that while the United States invests more in K-12 public education than many other developed countries, its students are ill prepared to compete with their global peers. According to the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment that measures the performance of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science every three years, U.S. students rank fourteenth in reading, twenty-fifth in math, and seventeenth in science compared to students in other industrialized countries. The lack of preparedness poses threats on five national security fronts: economic growth and competitiveness, physical safety, intellectual property, U.S. global awareness, and U.S. unity and cohesion, says the report. Too many young people are not employable in an increasingly high-skilled and global economy, and too many are not qualified to join the military because they are physically unfit, have criminal records, or have an inadequate level of education. The report proposes three overarching policy recommendations: implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security; make structural changes to provide students with good choices; and, launch a "national security readiness audit" to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness.