From voices in the field, Dress Rehearsals for Gun Violence: Confronting Trauma and Anxiety in America’s Schools considers how damaging fear and anxiety are for those who are in our schools every day in the United States and living with both the ever present threat of a school shooting and the continuous preparations for one. This book examines those impacted directly including not just students and teachers, but preservice teachers considering teaching as a profession, college professors, support staff, and librarians. This follow up book to A Relentless Threat: Scholars Respond to Teens on Weaponized School Violence, goes in depth into the human cost of violence by exploring the fear of potential violence in our schools and what may be done to lessen that trauma and anxiety. This book includes discussion on the very real impact of false alarms, the trauma and anxiety experienced by teachers, the risks and benefits of armed shooter training, the unique challenges of non-classroom spaces, using young adult literature as a tool for processing emotions with students, and the importance of teaching critical reading skills for evaluating how school shootings are portrayed in the media.

Tackling the difficult and charged topic of weaponized school violence, A Relentless Threat: Scholars Respond to Teens on Weaponized School Violence examines some of the root causes that lead teen shooters to make the decision to kill their teachers and peers. This research and commentary on gun violence in U.S. schools positions the reader to understand its historical and political context and to reflect on its social and emotional causes. The book explores potential solutions to this uniquely American phenomenon through a variety of scholarly lenses. With a focus on research and pragmatic solutions, these academics respond directly to individual teen voices in an effort to recognize those stakeholders most often dismissed. This book includes discussion on U.S. firearms policy, ostracism, bullying, social media, capitalizing on shooter events, and programs in schools to prevent violence. A Relentless Threat: Scholars Respond to Teens on Weaponized School Violence establishes the groundwork for the second book by the editors (Dress Rehearsals for Gun Violence: Confronting Trauma and Anxiety in America’s Schools) by examining how we got to this point and what actions may be taken to stop future rampage shootings in schools.

School principals must continue to learn and grow in their positions, as societal demands and accountability measures keep changing. Principals have become inundated with increased responsibilities often without the benefit of continued learning opportunities. Too often, district personnel are not equipped to provide the learning needed in order to support school administrators. Learning Opportunities for Principals: Methods for Meeting the Needs of Today’s Administrators is a compilation of best practices to support principal learning to include “how to” design and implement learning prospects that will not only help school administrators, but also district personnel. Learning opportunities include communities of practice, mentoring programs, coaching, and the like. Many districts have programs in place, but they do not attain the desired results because of the program design and readiness of staff. Each chapter will explain how to design an effective program and will also outline the district’s responsibility in the learning. With effective programs, principals’ burnout will be decreased, which minimizes turnover in leadership. All of which will impact student achievement results.

In the wake of a divisive presidential election charged with debates over immigration and identity politics, Americans continue to grapple with questions of race and ethnicity. This collection of nonpartisan and thoroughly researched reports focuses on provocative issues including gentrification, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the resurgence of white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and the "Alt-Right." Because it’s CQ Researcher, the policy reports are expertly researched and written, showing all sides of the debate. Chapters follow a set template, exploring three issue questions, then offering background, an overview of the current situation, and a look ahead. All issues include a chronology, bibliography, "yes/no" debate box, photos, charts, and figures.