Please find below new updates, research, and resources for strengthening school climate, eliminating discipline disparities, and supporting social and emotional learning in schools. The full collections are available here and here.

The following posts may also be accessed by clicking the corresponding image. Picture above is from the Restorative Schools Vision Project.

“In this new documentary from Coleman Advocates (http://colemanadvocates.org), director Kevin Epps (kevepps.com) takes a look at the negative effects of harsh zero-tolerance policies in schools and one community’s inspiring response. Highlighting Coleman’s landmark student-led Solutions Not Suspensions campaign in San Francisco and examining how young people are directly affected by school discipline policies, the film serves as an informative and inspiring education tool.”

Solutions Not Suspensions: A Community-Driven Campaign to End the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Webinar // Addressing Implicit Bias in Suspensions

“Disproportionate Discipline: Addressing Implicit Racial Bias in Suspensions focuses on how unconscious biases affect everyone and how they can factor into school decisions about student discipline. This webinar covers tools and strategies that are effective for combating disciplinary practices that disparately affect students of color. This is the 4th webinar in our Fix School Discipline series.”

You can see all past webinars at the Fix School Discipline Youtube channel or click here to read summaries at FixSchoolDiscipline.org.

From What Kids Can Do: This Is My Place: Middle Schoolers On Social and Emotional Learning
http://www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/2012/12_this_is_my_place/

“What most helps young people thrive in a challenging academic environment? Answers from students bear out what research has found: social and emotional factors constitute a crucial underpinning for learning.   In recent WKCD interviews at School of the Future in New York City, middle schoolers gave their own examples of how everyday interactions between students, peers, and adults affected how they learned in the classroom.

Their descriptions reflected some key unspoken questions that adolescents bring with them into a school environment:

• Will I able to do the work here? Will I be smart enough?
• Will I be safe here? Will I be teased or made to feel bad somehow?
• Will I get to help decide what happens to me here?”…

Additional resources may be found at the Educator Resources tab above.