"Student safety is foundational to student learning. Gender-based injustice and discrimination against LGBTQ students are not just harmful to students' well-being; they also have long-lasting academic and societal impacts."
Making Schools Safe Learning Havens for LGBTQ Students
by Stephanie Garcia, Ph.D., & Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed.
LGBQT students face attacks and discrimination daily in schools - from outward aggression to implicit bias that makes their campus feel unwelcoming. In the United States, 60% of students feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation.
All students have the right to be safe in school and to have the support of educators to help them learn. Educators can create an anti-bias and safe learning environment through focused and strategic planning, professional development and adopting specific strategies. This article outlines four key areas for focus: reframing communication, analyzing school policies, confronting myths and stereotypes, and preventing and eliminating harassment and violence.
Discipline Strategies to Combat Faulty Assumptions that Target Black Male Youth
by
Daryl V. Williams, Ed.D.
No student group is more or less likely to misbehave. But Black male students are punished more often and more severely in our nation's schools. While only representing 8% of public school students, Black males account for 25% of students receiving out-of-school suspensions and 23% of students expelled
The use of exclusionary discipline like out-of-school suspension and expulsion results in reduced instruction time and negatively impacts students' academic performance, including entry into the school-to-prison pipeline.
Alterative, non-exclusionary discipline strategies have better results for students and the school community. Strategies include incorporating restorative justice programs, improving the school climate, ensuring there are enough mental health professionals and counselors for students, expanding family and community engagement, and reviewing academic and instructional practices.
Strategies for Increasing Girls' Participation in STEM
by
Paula Johnson, Ph.D., & Michelle Vega
The education environment girls experience shapes their interest and achievement in STEM. Stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering courses act as barriers to girls' progress in STEM coursework.
This article offers numerous strategies for promoting STEM equity in the classroom. They range from providing female role models and mentors to having hands-on tools and opportunities to explore the many different STEM career pathways available to students in the future.
One of the longest-serving leaders of a major philanthropy in the United States, William S. White passed away peacefully on October 9 at age 82. Leading the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, he built a reputation for seeking out solid, well-managed organizations and funding them to create infrastructure and sustainability in key sectors, including education. He embraced Charles Stewart Mott's belief that good things happen when people work in partnership with their communities.
The Intercultural Development Research Association is an independent private non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring educational opportunity for every child. IDRA strengthens and transforms public education by providing dynamic training; useful research, evaluation, and frameworks for action; timely policy analyses; and innovative materials and programs.
IDRA works hand-in-hand with hundreds of thousands of educators and families each year in communities and classrooms around the country. All our work rests on an unwavering commitment to creating self-renewing schools that value and promote the success of students of all backgrounds.
