Middle/High School

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middle high school

Middle/High School, usually representing grades 6 through 12, is the phase of children’s education and development defined by adolescence, including a desire for increasing independence. 

In addition to providing an academic curricula, effective middle schools focus on social/emotional development, life skills and engagement. Effective high schools provide support to enhance cognitive skills, engagement and the promotion of leadership. A special focus of high schools is also to prepare students for their postsecondary transition—either to post-secondary education, career and technical training, or directly entering the world of work.  

 

Featured Resources

Provides some tips for creating resolutions that prioritize your mental well-being.

Presents a definition of school-based law enforcement and summarizes some of the relevant research about its effects on students and schools

Provides a simple roadmap for incorporating social and emotional learning across the curriculum with equity in mind

Helps state leaders understand their role, as well as the urgency, in addressing student mental health needs with specific recommendations and state examples

Provides a roadmap for how to properly address challenges schools encounter with communicating to their communities what their SEL programs actually teach, designing social-emotional learning strategies that are tailored to the specific needs of their communities, and evaluating the effectiveness of those strategies

Lists external and individual resources to support schools in advancing racial justice and creating more equitable systems.

Presents an overview of sextortion, actions steps, red flags, statistics, and current approaches for reporting, victim support, and prevention education

Presents six CI4E process stages and guided pathways to ensure equity is centered within every component of continuous improvement efforts for education teams, schools, and school systems.

Informs the reader of indicators of sexual abuse in children in an effort to bring awareness to this crisis.

Presents facts and tips to help the reader identify child sex abuse.

Provides evidence on the impact of high schools on the experiences and trajectories of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students, many of whom are members of historically marginalized communities.

Details what K-12 schools need to know for protecting students and staff members from a variety of threats and emergencies, including school shootings and infectious disease outbreaks.

Podcast
On this episode of “In Session,” we talk to Dr. Elene Peters, clinical psychologist and Mental Health Service Professionals grant recipient, about the mental health program at John V Lindsay Wildcat Academy Charter School in New York City. Dr. Peters is joined by Mental Health Counselor Jessica Levin and Mental Health Intern Nicole Bogutsky. This conversation is guided by Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunnif.
Guiding Principles for Creating Safe, Inclusive, Supportive, and Fair School Climates

Identifies five guiding principles and suggests actions schools and school districts can take to create inclusive, safe, supportive, and fair learning environments. 

U.S. Department of Education Issues Dear Colleague Letter Calling for End to Corporal Punishment in Schools and Guiding Principles on School Discipline

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona wrote to Governors, Chief State School Officers, and School District and School Leaders and urged them to end corporal punishment in schools—the practice of paddling, spanking, or otherwise imposing physical punishment on students. 

/resources/state-report-implementation-gun-free-schools-act-gfsa-us-states-and-other-jurisdictions-2

Presents data and reports on the implementation of the Gun-Free Schools Act (GFSA) across U.S. states and other jurisdictions with the goal of strengthening the quality of GFSA data submissions. Features the development of a formal quality review process, including developing a set of business rules to detect issues related to data completeness and accuracy. 

Logo for the U.S. Department of Education

States that the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education have withdrawn statements of policy and guidance regarding the Nondiscriminatory Administration of School Discipline, dated January 8, 2014, and related documents dated 2014, including the Guiding Principles. (Note: Previously posted School Discipline Guidance Package related materials posted on the former SSDCoP website are being revisited; the website will be updated on an ongoing basis.)

Logo of Trauma-Sensitive Schools Training Package

Offers school and district administrators and staff a framework and roadmap for adopting a trauma-sensitive approach school- or districtwide. The Training Package includes a variety of resources for educating school staff about trauma and trauma-sensitive practices and for providing school leaders with a step-by-step process for implementing a universal, trauma-informed approach using package materials. 

Cover photo of The Power of the Adolescent Brain

Reviews adolescent brain development and how it affects learning, health, and behavior. It features Dr. Frances Jensen of the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Drawing on clinical experience and research, and inspired by her personal experience parenting two teenage boys, Dr. Jensen shares what is known about adolescent brain development, functioning and capacity.

Protecting America's Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence

Dives deep into nine years of school tragedies, and it advocates for schools to establish comprehensive targeted violence prevention programs. Provides prevention measures to identify students of concern and assess their potential risk for engaging in violence or other harmful activities.

U.S. Department of Education logo on webpage

Announces a series of Parent Education Webinars for military-connected parents and professionals who work in support of military-connected children. Provides support from the Navy Child and Youth Services, Air Force Child and Youth Education Services and other donors.

Teachers having a conversation with students

Provides best practices and includes resources school leaders and teachers can utilize as they work to achieve a positive school climate, lower disciplinary issues and enhance school safety.

Out of School Off Track: The Overuse of Suspensions in American Middle and High Schools cover image

Provides an analysis of data from districts on the number of students suspended just once during the school year and the number suspended more than once via the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) data collection.  

Cover page of ICAC/iKeepSafe Incident Response Tool for Schools resource

Teaches how to help prevent and address technology related incidents by building a cooperative relationship with schools. This free resource helps schools with the steps of incident management, such as fact-finding, documentation, reporting and engaging the appropriate school officials and other stakeholders. Through collaboration with law enforcement and the use of this tool, schools can plan and prepare an effective and appropriate response to all types of technology related incidents, including cyberbullying, sexting, hacking, and threats of violence.                            

Student writing calculations on a board

Resource for teaching and learning to use real-life Census Bureau data through school visits and other modes of outreach. The program is broken out into five core subjects: math, geography, sociology, English and history. Each of these subjects are clearly designated for K-12 grade-level appropriateness.

American Institutes for Research

U.S. Department of Education

The contents of the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments Web site were assembled under contracts from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools to the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Contract Number  91990021A0020.

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