Federal Resources

This booklet from the Department of Education helps parents, regardless of their level of technological expertise, use the on-line world as an important educational tool.

This guide has been developed to give higher education institutions a useful resource in the field of emergency management.

This guide is a companion piece to the Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities (above). It emphasizes a valuable part of emergency management planning—ongoing vulnerability assessment—and is intended to assist schools with the selection and implementation of an effective vulnerability assessment tool.

The Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students’ Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center held a webinar on December 14, 2011, “Using Data to Identify Programmatic Interventions.”  It covered the need to  use school climate data to identify needs, selecting evidence based programs to address these needs, and implementing these programs effectively within a school or district.

The Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center, supported by the Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students, delves into the importance of fostering healthy student-to-student relationships in the webinar, “Enhancing Peer to Peer Relationships to Strengthen School Climate.” This resource is meant to help administrators, teachers, support staff and student support personnel in creating a nurturing learning environment. 

Developed by the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, which is funded by the Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students and the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Compendium of School Discipline State Laws and Regulations provides information on school discipline laws and regulations for each of the 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. Users can search by state or category and can also download the full Compendium in PDF format. 

The U.S. Department of Education (ED)'s Office of Safe and Healthy Students' (OSHS) Center for School Preparedness provides support, resources, grants, and training to support emergency management efforts for local educational agencies and institutions of higher education.

This website, Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS), provides information that can help school leaders plan for any emergency, including natural disasters, violent incidents and terrorist acts.

The Office of Safe and Healthy Students developed a fact sheet to inform schools about human trafficking, how it can affect schools, potential signs, how to help, and additional resources. 

Human Trafficking in America’s Schools was developed to help school officials understand how human trafficking affects schools, recognize the indicators of possible human trafficking, and develop policies, protocols, and partnerships to address and prevent the exploitation of children. Available online and in PDF (PDF, 18 pages) format, the guide also offers links to resources and publications, trainings, and services for victims.

Taking action now can save lives, prevent injury, and minimize property damage in the moments of a crisis. Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities is designed to help navigate the process of reviewing and revising school and district plans. The guide is intended to give schools, districts, and communities the critical concepts and components of good crisis planning, stimulate thinking about the crisis preparedness process, and provide examples of promising practices.

The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) administers, coordinates, and recommends policy for improving quality and excellence of programs and activities related to youth safety and drug prevention.

A principal vehicle by which OSDFS communicates with the field, and provides information on research-based activities, best practices, and other information related to effective drug abuse and violence prevention strategies.

This article (PDF, 3 pages) discusses the effect of alcohol on academic performance, retention, and college graduation. It also describes evidence-based strategies college and universities can use to address high-risk drinking and shares what some institutions are doing to prevent risky alcohol use and promote healthy decision making. 

This free mobile application, developed by the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center, allows school and school district personnel to walk around school grounds and examine their safety, security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness.

These fact sheets, developed by the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center, explain how cyber incidents can affect schools, school districts, and institutions of higher education, and the steps they can take to respond:

• Cyber Safety Considerations for K-12 Schools and Districts
• Cybersecurity Considerations for K-12 Schools and Districts 
• Cybersecurity Considerations for Institutions of Higher Education

The Technical Assistance on Transition and the Rehabilitation Act (TATRA) Project offers Parent Information and Training Programs funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) a variety of services to help them achieve their goals. Individualized services for each center are identified in technical assistance plans on an annual basis.