New Brief Airs Policies for Full Inclusion of LGBT Students
Contact:
William J. Mathis, (802) 383-0058, wmathis@sover.net
URL for this press release: http://tinyurl.com/lrtm2sv
BOULDER, CO (May 23, 2013) –The ninth in a series of short briefs summarizing current relevant findings in education policy research discusses the continuing need to ensure schools are safe for all students and examines the particular challenges faced by those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT).
The paper is written by Dr. William Mathis, managing director of the National Education Policy Center, housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education.
Mathis notes that LGBT youth “are disproportionately at risk of an unsafe and unhealthy school environment.” A 2011 survey found more than 4 out of 5 LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, more than 1 in 3 reported physical harassment, and nearly 1 in 5 reported being physically assaulted – yet nearly two-thirds of these students never reported the incidents to school authorities, in some cases because they feared that would exacerbate the harassment they experienced. Consequences range from much higher rates of school absence and greater risk for dropping out to higher rates of homelessness and suicide for LGBT youth.
The lives of LGBT students have actually improved substantially over the last decade and a half, coinciding with changes in public opinion to become more supportive of LGBT persons as well as increasingly supportive school policies. Nonetheless, “the problems facing these youths in the nation’s schools are still substantial,” Mathis writes.
Schools have an obligation to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for all students, including LGBT students. This is a well-established legal principle that is rooted in both the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes guaranteeing equal access to education. Improved state level legislation would further advance society’s basic goal of confirming that schools “provide healthy learning environments for all students.”
The policy brief concludes with a summary of steps schools and educators can take in pursuit of the goal of fully including LGBT students, incorporating professional development, crafting and carrying out school disciplinary policies, and reaching out to LGBT educators as resources in helping to bring about changes in school climate. The brief also points to model legislation, published previously by NEPC, to further effect a more inclusive public education system.
The brief is part of Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking, a multipart brief that takes up a number of important policy issues and identifies policies supported by research. Each section focuses on a different issue, and its recommendations to policymakers are based on the latest scholarship.
The brief is made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.
Find William Mathis’s brief on the NEPC website at:
http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/options
The mission of the National Education Policy Center is to produce and disseminate high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions. We are guided by the belief that the democratic governance of public education is strengthened when policies are based on sound evidence. For more information on the NEPC, please visit http://nepc.colorado.edu/.
This brief is also found on the GLC website at http://www.greatlakescenter.org/