The author, director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, shares results of a study he led exploring how principals in U.S. high schools are responding to five specific societal challenges; he highlights what principals said about the challenge of gun violence in their schools. More school leaders reported their school being…

Some violence prevention programs do not work because they are poorly targeted, provide materials without implementation strategies, apply neighborhood methods to school settings, and project unrealistic notions about the social forces underlying violence. Schools cannot eliminate all conflict but should go beyond violence prevention to create a…

Schools can reduce special-education and remedial instruction costs by helping students succeed in early grades. This article profiles several prevention and early intervention programs, including Success for All, Reading Recovery, Prevention of Learning Disabilities, the Carolina Abecedarian Project, Comer's School Development Program, and…

Describes the Values Clarification Project and the Berkeley Health Curriculum Project, two educational programs being used by southwest Iowa schools in order to reduce drug abuse. (JG)

Although after-school programs offer many activities--from cooking classes to computer technology, homework assistance, and sports--they also provide an effective environment for health education and wellness instruction, especially pregnancy prevention. Exemplary programs for middle- and high-schoolers in Palm Beach County, Florida, are…

Student mobility is a common phenomenon that disproportionately affects students in high-poverty schools. Research shows that students who move repeatedly are likely to fall behind in reading and other academic areas. This article reviews proactive strategies that high-poverty districts and schools are using to reduce the harmful effects of…

A personalized education, according to Ted Sizer, means that students are known by adult professionals in the school. Administrators at a California high school with 2,000 students and very large classes initiated an adopt-a-kid program by matching adult volunteers on campus with low-achieving students. This program, along with a successful block…

Drug Strategies' updated guide evaluates the 50 most popular U.S. prevention programs. Project ALERT scored high in overall quality, administrative ease, and rehearsal and role plays. Key components include age appropriateness, identification of social pressures, instruction in refusal skills, interactivity, normative education, family…

Describes a suburban Pennsylvania school district's efforts to develop a coordinated educational campaign about sexual harassment. Administrators awakened a cautious school board; applied for and received a Goals 2000 grant; trained staff; enlightened students, using age-appropriate materials; and motivated the community to participate. (MLH)

The key to violence prevention lies in shaping children's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors before violence becomes an automatic manifestation of their anger. The Johnson Institute's Respect and Protect program promotes respect for everyone and a systemwide ethos (violence as unacceptable), targets enabling behaviors, distinguishes between…

After a violent incident just outside an Austin (Texas) middle school, the principal and her staff decided that the problem of gangs could not be resolved by merely banning gang colors and signing. Special clubs, community volunteers, and a no-failure policy helped make students less vulnerable to gang membership. (MLH)

When students help teach one another, active learning, listening, and a spirit of cooperation flourish. A reciprocal tutoring program in three New York City high schools allows all students to be tutors and learn through teaching and has all tutors experience the tutee/apprentice role. This experimental program had better achievement results than…

Summarizes conclusions from a review on the effects of programs intended to prevent early school failure. Examines the effects of birth-to-three programs, preschool, kindergarten, grade retention, class size and instructional aides, nongraded primary programs, one-to-one tutoring, and others. Research on prevention and early intervention indicates…

Schools desiring to set, enforce, and realize high academic standards must join with allies who set high expectations for preventing and addressing health impediments to learning. Health and learning outcomes (and inequities) are driven by powerful, remediable social environments, not by individual "lifestyle" choices. "Access"…