Department of Education Implements New Bullying Policies

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To address this gap in information, the U.S. Department of Education, Program and Policy Studies Service, initiated a study designed to answer the following study questions

To what extent do states’ bullying laws cover U.S. Department of Education-identified key legislative and policy components?

The first study question concerns the need for an informative and clearly focused analysis of state legislation to describe the purpose and structure of laws and their definitions, key provisions, similarities, and differences. To address this question, the study includes a systematic review and coding of components in laws governing K–12 education. The review identifies the types of provisions that are addressed in legislation and measures their expansiveness. The review of legislation is based on a framework conceptualized by the U.S. Department of Education (“the Department”) that was disseminated to school districts nationally and is presented in Exhibit 1 in Chapter 1 of the report (U.S. Department of Education, 2010a). The review covers legislation enacted through April of 2011, across the 50 U.S. states.

To what extent do states’ model bullying policies cover U.S. Department of Education-identified key legislative and policy components?

The second study question focuses on the nature and content of model policies and guidance Analysis of State Bullying Laws and Policies Executive Summary x documents that have been developed by state education agencies, or school boards associations, pursuant to legislation. These policies guide and support district efforts to develop and implement effective bullying policies. The study reviews and systematically codes model policy documents available for 41 states to determine the coverage and expansiveness of key components.

To what extent do school districts’ bullying policies cover U.S. Department of Education-identified school district policy subcomponents?

The third study question focuses on the structure and content of bullying policies developed at the local school district level that directly shape implementation within the school environment. The study involves a systematic review and coding of components in district policies for a small sample of urban and rural school districts that was selected to incorporate the geographic and community diversity of U.S. school districts. The analysis aims to determine the types of definitions and policy components that are present in local policy documents in addition to providing a measure of their expansiveness. The analysis also examines the relationship between state legislation and local policy development (e.g., the degree to which state legislation shapes local policy).

How are state laws translated into practice at the school level?

The final study question focuses on how bullying laws and their legislative requirements are implemented by school districts and schools. The question will be answered through a series of case studies conducted at 24 school sites across four states. The purpose of the case studies will be to highlight lessons from the field on how state legislation and model policies are shaping implementation of bullying programs and procedures, and to assess the ways that state and district policies facilitate or create challenges for effective implementation.

Key Findings

• Forty-six states have bullying laws and 45 of those laws direct school districts to adopt bullying policies. However, three of the 46 states prohibit bullying without defining the behavior that is prohibited.
• Thirty-six states include provisions in their education codes prohibiting cyberbullying or bullying using electronic media. Thirteen states specify that schools have jurisdiction over off-campus behavior if it creates a hostile school environment.
• Forty-one states have created model bullying policies, 12 of which were not mandated to do so under law. Three other states, including Hawaii, Montana, and Michigan, also developed model policies in the absence of state bullying legislation.
• Among the 20 school district bullying policies reviewed in this study, districts located in states with more expansive legislation produced the most expansive school district policies. However, several school districts in states with less expansive laws also substantially expanded the scope and content of their policies beyond the minimum legal expectations.

If you have a child with a disability and have questions about special education law, please contact Joseph C. Maya, Esq., at 203-221-3100, or at JMaya@mayalaw.com, to schedule a free consultation.

Source- https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/bullying/state-bullying-laws/state-bullying-laws.pdf