9-page PDF case study which, “looks at one program in Nebraska, Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) TeamMates, that has decided to address bullying at several schools through mentoring, using volunteers from the community to reach out to bullies and victims alike.”
Archive
Building effective peer mentoring programs in schools: An introductory guide
54-page PDF guide which, “provides a framework for designing a peer mentoring program, where older youth (typically high school students) mentor younger students (elementary or middle school) in a school setting. The guide incorporates the latest research on peer mentoring, and provides solutions to the common challenges faced in implementing a peer mentoring model.”
Creating schoolwide prevention and intervention strategies: Effective strategies…
55-page PDF document which is “intended to put the issue of schoolwide violence prevention in context for educators and outline an approach for choosing and creating effective prevention programs. The guide covers the following topics: 1. Why schoolwide prevention strategies are critical, 2. Characteristics of a safe school, 3. Four sources of vulnerability to school violence, 4. How to plan for strategies that meet school safety needs, 5. Five effective response strategies and 6. Useful Web and print resources.”
Preventing and countering school-based harassment: A resource guide for k-12 educators, rev. ed.
76-page PDF guide which “is the result of two conferences on racial harassment and numerous training-of-trainer administrator workshops conducted during the past eight years by the Equity Center (formerly the Center for National Origin, Race, and Sex Equity—CNORSE) where the intersection of the issues of racial and sexual harassment have been made clear by educators in the field. Although much national attention has been focused separately on the issues of racial harassment and sexual harassment, the reality is that when one form of harassment occurs, the opportunity exists for all types of harassment. Focusing only on one type of harassment can allow another type of harassment to go unchallenged. This guide addresses the more comprehensive issue of school-based harassment by capturing similarities in cause of, type of, and remedy for all forms of harassment while also addressing the unique and legal aspects of racial and sexual harassment, as appropriate. The hope is that the material will help school staff, families, students, and communities to create a safe and bias-free learning environment.”
Northeast Ohio Juvenile Corrections Officer (JCO) pilot curriculum
Pilot-project under the coordination of the Global Issues Resource Center at Cuyahoga Community College. “This 120 hour pilot curriculum attempts to address training deficiencies which often lead to high levels of [Juvenile Corrections Officer] staff turnover and increased operational costs … The challenges associated with the supervision, rehabilitation, and treatment of these [incarcerated] youth has compounded over the last two decades; placing juvenile corrections officers on the front lines. Juvenile detention facilities primarily house youth who have committed a violent or sexually oriented crime, suffer from persistent mental illness, are repeat offenders and have a history of substance abuse (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2004). This youth population has increased the challenges faced by juvenile detention personnel, thereby creating a demand for more professional, higher skilled detention employees … For the first time in Ohio, the Northeast Ohio Juvenile Detention Professional Development Project established a comprehensive curriculum for entry level staff that went beyond the current minimum standards to address growing risk factors … The Project’s Advisory Committee and partners believe that by investing in Ohio’s juvenile corrections officers, agencies can reduce staff turnover, increase employee morale, and improve relationships between staff members as well as between staff and incarcerated youth. It is the Committee’s hope that the pilot curriculum will facilitate the implementation of a formal certification process for staff and agencies utilizing the comprehensive training tool. The existence of a formal certification process will help provide the foundation for recognizing juvenile corrections as more than a job, but rather a profession characterized by motivated and dedicated staff.”
Values education, teacher professional learning and the United Nations
8-page PDF article which, “focuses on values education in teacher professional learning and in particular the innovative use of Model United Nations Conferences as a way of enhancing values-based approaches.”
Tips for developing peace education curriculum: Some lessons from Vietnam
4-page tips document, the abstract states, “Teachers and schools around Australia are being asked to take responsibility for ensuring safe schools and promoting citizenship among students. This is part of an international movement to use school-based education to promote a global culture of peace. The International Conflict Resolution Centre at the University of Melbourne recently co-developed a national peace education curriculum for primary schools in Vietnam with Vietnamese educators. This experience highlighted three important peace education tools that can also be used within an Australian context: The UNESCO “peace keys,” physical games and reflective material.”
Two faces of education in ethnic conflict, The: Towards a peacebuilding education for children
54-page PDF study which, “should be considered as a first attempt to explore a set of highly complex and controversial issues. Its potential contribution is twofold: a focused and critical examination of the peacebuilding and peace-destroying role of education; and the placement of children on the mainstream peacebuilding and reconstruction agenda in a way that goes beyond their necessary but narrow inclusion as child soldiers … The project began with the observation that formal education is often viewed as a neutral or technical process of information dissemination set within a given societal context. It found that this starting point inhibited consideration of the role of education in the creation of a “constructed†– rather than “given†– societal context. The broadening of the analytical focus reveals that implicitly and explicitly, intentionally and unintentionally, education inevitably has a societal impact – for good or for ill.”
Fall interreligious festivity feast: Autumn — thankfulness at harvest time
7-page PDF lesson plan to introduce children to, “different traditions’ fall festivity foods and use math skills to create their own menu.”
Respecting each other: From the Tanenbaum curriculum interreligious understanding guidebook
5-page PDF lesson plan which helps students understand and develop their own concept of respect for others.
Immigration & me: Lesson & activity excerpted from the Tanenbaum curriculum passages to immigration
3-page PDF lesson plan in which students (grade 2-6) interview family members to investigate their immigration story and discover where family traditions came from.
Fitting in: Lesson and activity excerpted from the Tanenbaum curriculum passages to immigration
6-page pdf lesson plan which explores the ideas of home, belonging and fitting in, for grades 1-6. Activities include, “The Sharing Circle,” “I am, we are poems” and “Unity and diversity circles.”
Summary – The Positive impact of social & emotional learning kindergarten to eighth grade students
12-page PDF report which, “summarizes results from three large-scale reviews of research on the impact of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on elementary and middle-school students — that is, programs that seek to promote various aocial and emotional skills. Collectively the three reviews included 317 studies and involved 324,303 children. SEL programs yielded multiple benefits in each review and were effective in both school and after-school settings and for students with and without behavioral and emotional problems. They were also effective across the K-8 grade range and for racially and ethnically diverse students from urban, rural, and suburban settings. SEL programs improved students’ social-emotional skills, attitudes about self and others, connection to school, positive social behavior, and academic performance; they also reduced students’ conduct problems and emotional distress. Comparing results from these reviews to findings obtained in reviews of interventions by other research teams suggests that SEL programs are among the most successful youth-development programs offered to school-age youth. Furthermore, school staff (e.g., teachers, student support staff) carried out SEL programs effectively, indicating that they can be incorporated into routine educational practice. In addition, SEL programming improved students’ academic performance by 11 to 17 percentile points across the three reviews, indicating that they offer students a practical educational benefit. Given these positive findings, we recommend that federal, state, and local policies and practices encourage the broad implementation of well-designed, evidence-based SEL programs during and after school.”
Positive impact of social and emotional learning kindergarten to eighth grade students, The
51-page PDF technical report which, “summarizes results from three large-scale reviews of research on the impact of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on elementary and middle-school students — that is, programs that seek to promote various aocial and emotional skills. Collectively the three reviews included 317 studies and involved 324,303 children. SEL programs yielded multiple benefits in each review and were effective in both school and after-school settings and for students with and without behavioral and emotional problems. They were also effective across the K-8 grade range and for racially and ethnically diverse students from urban, rural, and suburban settings. SEL programs improved students’ social-emotional skills, attitudes about self and others, connection to school, positive social behavior, and academic performance; they also reduced students’ conduct problems and emotional distress. Comparing results from these reviews to findings obtained in reviews of interventions by other research teams suggests that SEL programs are among the most successful youth-development programs offered to school-age youth. Furthermore, school staff (e.g., teachers, student support staff) carried out SEL programs effectively, indicating that they can be incorporated into routine educational practice. In addition, SEL programming improved students’ academic performance by 11 to 17 percentile points across the three reviews, indicating that they offer students a practical educational benefit. Given these positive findings, we recommend that federal, state, and local policies and practices encourage the broad implementation of well-designed, evidence-based SEL programs during and after school.”
Youth & conflict: A toolkit for intervention
35-page PDF toolkit which is, “part of a series that explores how development assistance can address key risk factors associated with conflict. One area that is receiving increasing attention is the relationship between young people and violence … This document: 1) examines key issues related to youth participation in violence; 2) discusses lessons learned in developing programs for at-risk youth; 3) presents a range of program options; 4) includes illustrative monitoring and evaluation tools; and 5) identifies relevant USAID mechanisms and partners. Together, the elements of this toolkit are designed to help raise awareness about the linkages between young people, development aid, and conflict; and to help officers integrate a conflict perspective into their development programming.”