DASA is the most recent of four laws that focus on student behavior and school environment. In 2000, Safe Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) ushered in a series of regulations. In Oc- tober 2008, the New York State Educa- tion Department (NYSED) cosigned, with eight child-serving state agencies, the Children’s Mental Health Plan in compliance with the Children’s Mental Health Act of 2006. And in July 2011, the Board of Regents adopted guidelines for school districts on how to incorpo- rate Social-Emotional Development and Learning (SEDL) into elementary and secondary programs in compliance with amended education law.

SAVE directed administrators to con- front disruptive behaviors that interfere with teachers’ teaching. DASA enforc- es the civil rights of students who are harassed, intimidated, and menaced (collectively depicted as “bullying”) for

their race, color, weight, national ori- gin, sex, ethnic group, religion, disabil- ity, sexual orientation, or gender iden- tity. SEDL harnesses the whole school’s social and emotional intelligence to enable student learning.

SAVE required schools to document incidents of “bullying”; however, such be- haviors often go undetected. The SEDL guidelines prompt schools to recognize that the tensions and traumas students present with daily not only interfere with their ability to learn, but when ignored, manifest in unhealthy ways. A DASA- SEDL partnership encourages teachers, administrators, and other caring adults to rethink traditional approaches to manag- ing student mischief and malice.

DASA and SEDL challenge New York State schools to accomplish increased gains in student learning, smoother classroom management, and emotionally

healthier school environments by teach- ing to children’s emotional intelligence.

What DASA Means for NewYork’s Schools

The legacy of school safety regulations requiring violent and disruptive incident reports put pressure on administrators to lower their numbers and one way was to isolate the most troubling students. The opportunity DASA presents invites schools and communities to reexamine the efficiency of disciplinary systems that schools have maintained after a decade of zero tolerance and evaluate new sys- tems aligned with current behavioral re- search.

The primary challenge for schools and districts is to find a new balance between rule enforcement and teaching deci- sion-making and self-regulation skills.