Our policy center is designed to help school leaders think about creating policies that center around school climate improvement.
This database contains information about the state laws and educational policies for school climate as well as bully prevention in each state. From this database, you can generate profiles of the state policies for school climate and bully prevention efforts in individual states, and view predetermined reports on state policies for these two issues.
This database builds on the 2007 school climate policy scan that the NSCC and the National School Climate Council conducted that focused on the following four questions:
To read a summary of our policy scan, please click here.
These databases are intended to support an understanding of what states have adopted in policy and practice in order to accomplish greater academic achievements, safer schools and positive youth development.
Maintenance of this database is a collective effort between NSCC and the National School Climate Council. Please contact Jessica Savage, (212) 707-8799 or [email protected] with questions or comments about the database. (Last updated in December 2012). Please let us know if there are changes to your state's school climate or bully prevention policies.
School climate research shows that safe, supportive, engaging and helpfully challenging schools are associated with and/or predictive of positive youth development, effective risk prevention efforts and increased academic achievement as well as teacher retention. These research findings underscores that school climate policy should be a part of educational policy and help to shape local school improvement efforts.
In theory, research should shape policy, which in turn dictates practice guidelines. In 2007 The National School Climate Council established that there was a gap between school climate research on the one hand and school climate policy, practice guidelines and applications as well as teacher education. State policies importantly shape and directly impact education experiences for students.
The National School Climate Center and the National School Climate Council are committed to narrowing this gap.
NSCC makes available the following policy-related services and resources:
Some of the organizations and departments that NSCC has consulted to include: Numerous State Departments of Education (such as Louisiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Minnesota, and South Dakota), school districts both large and small (such as Chicago and Westbrook, Connecticut), and national and local organizations (such as the Association for Alaska School Boards, Council of State Governments, New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, ASCD, Special Olympics, The Social-Emotional Learning Alliance for Massachusetts, New America, Alliance for Education and Futures Without Violence).
During the Institute, participants will learn about the school climate policy development process, as well as concrete guidelines they should consider for enhancing district-wide school climate policies. The Institute will help participants:
NSCC offers coaching and technical assistance in various packages, from less intensive Technical Assistance involving telephone calls answering general questions on a needed basis, to more intensive coaching in order to assist districts with their policy drafting and implementation process.
NSCC offers professional development trainings for educators regarding best practices for preventing discrimination, bullying, and harassment.
In addition, we have developed a number of resources and tools that can be used in conjunction with the above-listed services: