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Violence Against Teachers: Case Studies from the APA Task Force

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Violence Against Teachers: Case Studies from the APA

Task Force
a b c d
Linda A. Reddy , Dorothy Espelage , Susan D. McMahon , Eric M. Anderman , Kathleen
e f g h
Lynne Lane , Veda Evanell Brown , Cecil R. Reynolds , Abraham Jones & Jaclyn Kanrich
a

a
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University , Piscataway ,
New Jersey , USA
b
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois , Champaign , Illinois , USA
c
Department of Psychology, DePaul University , Chicago , Illinois , USA
d
Department of Educational Studies, The Ohio State University , Columbus , Ohio , USA
e
Department of Special Education, University of Kansas , Lawrence , Kansas , USA
f
National Alliance of Black School Educators , Washington, DC , USA
g
Texas A&M University, Emeritus , College Station , Texas , USA
h
National Education Association , Washington, DC , USA
Published online: 04 Dec 2013.

To cite this article: Linda A. Reddy , Dorothy Espelage , Susan D. McMahon , Eric M. Anderman , Kathleen Lynne Lane , Veda
Evanell Brown , Cecil R. Reynolds , Abraham Jones & Jaclyn Kanrich (2013) Violence Against Teachers: Case Studies from the
APA Task Force, International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 1:4, 231-245, DOI: 10.1080/21683603.2013.837019

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Copyright q International School Psychology Association
ISSN 2168-3603 print/ISSN 2168-3611 online
DOI: 10.1080/21683603.2013.837019

Violence Against Teachers: Case Studies

from the APA Task Force
Linda A. Reddy
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

Dorothy Espelage
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, USA

Susan D. McMahon
Downloaded by [Jaclyn Kanrich] at 13:24 06 December 2013

Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Eric M. Anderman
Department of Educational Studies, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Kathleen Lynne Lane

Department of Special Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

Veda Evanell Brown

National Alliance of Black School Educators, Washington, DC, USA

Cecil R. Reynolds
Texas A&M University, Emeritus, College Station, Texas, USA

Abraham Jones
National Education Association, Washington, DC, USA

Jaclyn Kanrich
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

Violence directed toward teachers has been understudied despite significant media and
empirical investigation on school violence, such as student-to-student victimization and
bullying. To date, there are relatively few published studies scattered across many countries. To
address this void, the American Psychological Association, in collaboration with the National
Education Association, created the first Violence Directed Against Teachers Task Force. Task
Force recommendations and results from the Task Force U.S. national survey on teacher
victimization are presented, together with teacher-reported case studies. The case studies are
used to illustrate the range of educators, reported incidents, resulting actions by educators and
schools, and stress faced by teachers. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Keywords: Teachers, teacher violence, victimization, school safety

Today’s educators are under tremendous pressure and stress

Submitted May 10, 2013; accepted July 29, 2013.
Correspondence should be addressed to Linda A. Reddy, Graduate
School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University,
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8085, USA. E-mail:
lreddy@rci.rutgers.edu
related to high demands for instructional accountability,
student academic outcomes, and increasingly diverse
learners in the classroom. Teacher stress has been
exacerbated by violence in schools, and specifically
 232 REDDY ET AL.
violence against teachers, which has become a significant,
multisystemic, national problem (Espelage et al., 2013).
Stress has been defined as “environmental events or chronic
conditions that objectively threaten the physical and/or
psychological health or well-being of individuals of a
particular age in a particular society” (Grant et al., 2003,
p. 449). Grant et al.’s (2003) theoretical model provides a
useful framework for examining teacher stress and
victimization. Applying the basic tenets of the model,
victimization is an environmental stressor that contributes to
negative psychological outcomes among teachers. Within
this model, moderators influence the relation between
victimization and psychological outcomes. Moderators
include individual characteristics and environmental con-
texts, such as gender, coping styles, administrative support,
school climate, teacher training, and classroom manage-
ment skills. Mediators such as cognitive attributions,
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coping, symptoms, and school processes explain the relation
between stressors and outcomes—that is, stressors trigger
changes in biological, social, or psychological processes
that account for the relation between stressors and outcomes
(Grant et al., 2006). This model also suggests that there is
specificity in the relations among stressors, moderators,
mediators, and psychopathology (McMahon, Grant, Compas,
Thurm, & Ey, 2003), and relations among stressors,
moderators, mediators, and psychopathology are reciprocal
and dynamic (Grant & McMahon, 2005; Grant, McMahon,
Carter, & Carleton, in press). This model allows for careful
examination of the complex processes that unfold when
teachers are victimized.
Teacher stress is not new. During the past 4 decades,
research has examined the relation of stress to educators’
work commitment, performance, support, and job burnout
(e.g., Cherniss, 1980; Klassen, 2010; Lambert, McCarthy,
O’Donnell, & Wang, 2009). However, changing and
uncertain state-level teacher evaluation practices (including
the increased use of value-added assessments) have placed
unique demands on teachers without a concomitant increase
in resources to manage these performance expectations
(Reddy, Kettler, & Kurz, 2013). Various factors related to
teacher stress have been examined, including perceptions of
demands, coping strategies, role conflict, role ambiguity,
resource restriction, constraints on autonomy, workload,
self-efficacy, and administrative and collegial support and
supervision (e.g., Dworkin, Haney, & Telschow, 1988;
Helms-Lorenz, Slof, Vermue, & Canrinus, 2012; Lambert,
McCarthy, O’Donnell, & Wang, 2009; Shernoff, Mehta,
Atkins, Torf & Spencer, 2011; Smylie, 1999). Collectively,
scholars have recognized that these and many other work-
related factors must be examined within a system context
that includes person-environment-interaction perspectives
(e.g., Cherniss, 1980; Dworkin et al., 1998; Gottfredson,
Gottfredson, Payne, & Gottfredson, 2005).
An important aspect of teacher stress that has received
surprisingly limited attention is educators’ perceived threats
or actual experience of violence in school systems. Whereas
there has been significant media and empirical investi-
gations on school violence, such as student-to-student
victimization and bullying (e.g., Espelage, 2012; Kondra-
suk, Greene, Waggoner, Edwards, & Nayak-Rhodes, 2005;
Türküm, 2011), violence directed toward teachers has been
understudied. Having more information about the preva-
lence of teacher victimization and the nature and range of
teacher victimization experiences is essential for under-
standing school dynamics, reducing teacher stress, devel-
oping appropriate strategies and interventions, as well as
promoting positive school and classroom climates, student
learning, and recruitment and retention of highly qualified
teachers into the education profession.
To address this void, the American Psychological
Association (APA), in collaboration with the National
Education Association, created the first Violence Directed
Against Teachers Task Force. This article is derived from
the work of the Task Force and has three objectives. First,
we offer a brief synthesis of the international and U.S.
research on violence directed toward teachers. Second, we
outline the recommendations from the APA Task Force and
summarize some key findings on the nature and extent of
teacher victimization in the United States based on the Task
Force’s survey of U.S. teachers. Finally, we present three
teacher-reported case examples from the Task Force
national survey to illustrate a sampling of teacher
victimization.
RESEARCH ON TEACHER VIOLENCE
Violence directed toward teachers has been documented as a
national and international concern. In the American 2009
Institute of Education Sciences School Principal Survey on
Crime and Safety, approximately 17% of school principals
reported that students were verbally abusive to their middle
and high school teachers (Dinkes, Kemp, & Baum, 2009).
The Indicators of School Crime and Safety Report (National
Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012) found that
during the 2009 through 2010 school year, 9% of schools
reported that student disrespect for teachers occurs on a
daily or weekly basis, and 5% of schools reported that
student verbal abuse toward teachers occurs at least once per
week (Robers, Kemp, Truman, & Snyder, 2013). The
Indicators of School Crime and Safety Report (NCES, 2008)
found that 7% of teachers (253,100) nationally surveyed in
2007 through 2008 were threatened or assaulted by students
in schools (Dinkes, Cataldi, Lin-Kelly, & Synder, 2007).
Approximately 7% of primary education teachers and 8% of
secondary education teachers were threatened with injury,
and approximately 6% of kindergarten through 12th grade
teachers (K – 12) were physically attacked in schools
(Dinkes et al., 2007). Similar results were reported by the
NCES in 2003 through 2004, where 12.7% of public school

teachers and 3.3% of private school teachers rated verbal
abuse of teachers as occurring daily. In addition, 20.9% of
public school teachers and 6.5% of private school teachers
rated student disrespect for teachers as occurring daily. The
NCES reported that 1.3 million nonfatal crimes (including
473,000 violent crimes) were committed against America’s
teachers from 1997 through 2001 (Kondrasuk et al., 2005).
According to NCES 2003 data, teachers are three times
more likely to be victims of violence, as there were 21
incidents per 1,000 teachers versus 7 incidents per 1,000
students (Kondrasuk et al., 2005). The U.S. Department
of Education cited that from 1995 –1999, approximately
20% of public school teachers reported being verbally
abused, 8% reported being physically threatened, and 2%
reported being physically attacked in schools (e.g.,
Kondrasuk et al., 2005; U.S. Department of Education,
2000).
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To further build on these reports, we conducted a
comprehensive literature search on studies that included
empirical findings related to teacher victimization in schools
worldwide. Several methods were used to assure a complete
review. First, a computerized search was conducted using
the key words teacher stress, violence, school, teacher
victimization, teacher wellbeing, teacher effectiveness,
survey, school climate, delinquency, and school disorder
with two databases (i.e., ERIC and PsycINFOw) and a
search engine (i.e., Googlee Scholar) from 1988 to 2013.
Second, the initial pool was reduced by systematically
reviewing the title, abstract, and method section of each
article so that only studies meeting our inclusion criteria
were incorporated. Studies published in non-peer reviewed
journals were omitted to focus our review on only those
investigations critiqued by independent reviewers and thus
hopefully reflecting rigorous scientific methodologies.
Third, reference sections of retrieved studies were examined
for possible additional studies for inclusion. Finally, a hand
search was conducted of major journals (i.e., British Journal
of Educational Psychology, Journal of Educational
Psychology, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Journal of
Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Professional
Psychology: Research and Practice). The title, abstract, and
method section of each potential article were reviewed for
possible inclusion. The search resulted in a total of 21 U.S.
and International studies1 from 20 journals. (See Table 1 and
Table 2 for a complete list of journals.) Nine studies were
conducted in the United States, and 12 studies were
conducted in nine countries outside of the United States
(i.e., Belgium, Canada, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands,
Slovakia, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey). Overall teacher
victimization information was collected through closed-
ended questionnaires, surveys (mailed or online), single
items or scales, and semi-structured interviews. Most
1. Studies included in the review are denoted with an asterisk in the
reference list.
VIOLENCE AGAINST TEACHERS 233
investigations reported low return rates, with the exceptions
of Chen and Astor (2009), Gregory, Cornell, and Fan (2012),
and Gregory et al. (2010).
Among the nine studies conducted in the United States,
a total of 14,316 teachers reported usable information (see
Table 1). The teacher samples were predominately White
women (approximate age range from middle to upper 30s)
who had 10 or more years of teaching experience. The
sample included public and private schools located in urban,
suburban, and rural areas. Data were obtained from teachers
working at elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as
vocational schools and 4-year colleges. Approximately 50%
held bachelor’s or master’s degrees. Comparable teacher
characteristics were reported in the 12 international studies
(see Table 2). A total of 11,021 teachers reported usable
information and two studies included student informants
only (Chen & Astor, 2009; Khoury-Kassabri, Astor, &
Benbenishty, 2009). Teacher participants were primarily
White women (approximate age range from the middle 20s
to upper 30s) who had 10 or more years of teaching
experience. There was a range of demographics among
international studies, which included public and vocational
schools of both primary and secondary levels located in
urban, suburban, and rural areas. Students included those
from low, middle, and high socioeconomic statuses.
Participants were proficient in English, Spanish, French,
or Hebrew, from diverse cultural backgrounds, and tended
to be from the countries in which the studies were
conducted.
Across the 21 U.S. and international studies, student
verbal aggression was the most common form of violence
reported by teachers directed toward them. Special
education teachers reported experiencing more physical
and nonphysical violence compared to general education
teachers (Tiesman, Konda, Hendricks, Mercer, & Amandus,
2013). Other types of violence noted are perceived threats,
assault, bullying, and harassment. Perpetrators of aggression
toward teachers included supervisors, co-workers, parents
of students, and extended relatives of students (Fox &
Stallworth, 2010; Gerberich et al., 2011; Ozdemir, 2012).
Students reported acting aggressively toward their teachers
as a result of a teacher’s unreasonable requirements, a
teacher’s unfair treatment, and disagreements with teachers.
Other reasons included being punished, feeling upset,
standing up for friends, and being provoked by teachers
(Chen & Astor, 2009). Teachers believed that they were
assaulted by students because of their physical appearance,
gender, religion, being a member of a minority group, work
outcomes, or disciplinary action (Mooij, 2011). In addition,
research has shown that some of the most common
circumstances associated with physical assaults include
disciplining a student, working with special education
students, and breaking up a fight (Tiesman et al., 2013).
Findings generally suggested that teachers’ perceived
victimization in schools was found to be related to fear,
 Downloaded by [Jaclyn Kanrich] at 13:24 06 December 2013

234
TABLE 1
Characteristics of U.S. Studies (N ¼ 9)

Study Journal Location Sample Method Results

Dworkin, Haney, & Journal of Houston, Texas N ¼ 291 teachers from urban Measure on stress, victimization, and fear of Teachers who have experience as victims of
Telschow (1988) Organizational public schools violence violence reported significantly higher
Behavior levels of stress than non-victims
Fox & Stallworth Human Relations N ¼ 779 teachers and Surveys assessing experience of violence and Results indicated that 64.8% of respondents
(2010) principals in an urban social support, including the Michigan reported being targets of pervasive
public school system Organizational Assessment Scale, Job- bullying, primarily by supervisors.
Related Affective Well-Being Scale, Experience of violence was associated
Physical Symptom Inventory, Oldenburg with increased negative emotion, burnout,
Burnout Inventory, and the Workplace and physical symptoms, as well as
Bullying Checklist decreased job satisfaction and attachment
Gerberich et al. Journal of Minnesota N ¼ 5,038 licensed educators Comprehensive survey including Results showed that 95% of physical assaults
(2011) Occupational and (Grades K–12); 33% demographic and work-related and nonphysical violence against
Environmental return rate information and information on work- educators were perpetuated by students.
Medicine related physical and nonphysical violent Most commonly reported symptoms and
events feelings from violent experiences
included frustration, anger, fear, anxiety,
stress, sadness, fatigue, difficulty
sleeping, and irritability
Gottfredson, Gottfredson, Journal of Research in N ¼ 254 public, secondary, Scales on teacher and student victimization, Higher residential crowding was linked with
Payne, & Gottfredson Crime and and non-alternative student delinquency, school climate, and more teacher victimization. Schools with
(2005) Delinquency elementary, middle, and exogenous structural variables greater perceived fairness and rule clarity
high schools in urban, had lower rates of student delinquency
suburban, and rural areas and victimization, and schools with more
positive psychosocial climates had lower
rates of teacher victimization
Gregory, Cornell, & American Journal N ¼ 7,318 ninth-grade Online surveys assessed teacher and student Results indicated that the most common
Fan (2012) of Education students; 2,780 ninth- perceptions of school climate. The survey threatening experience was verbal.
grade teachers from 280 included the Help Seeking Scale and Schools where teachers perceived greater
schools Experience of Rules Scale. The teacher structure and support had lower rates of
survey also included the Teacher teacher-reported victimization
Victimization Scale
Gregory, et al. (2010) Journal of N ¼ over 7,300 ninth-grade Online surveys assessing teacher and student Structure and support (school climate) are
Educational students; 2,900 teachers perceptions of school climate associated with less bullying and
Psychology from 290 high schools victimization in this study. Both structure
and support contribute to school safety for
adolescents
 Downloaded by [Jaclyn Kanrich] at 13:24 06 December 2013

Kondrasuk, Greene, Education Portland, Oregon N ¼ 139 administrators from Questionnaires addressing topics of school The majority of respondents to the survey
Waggoner, Edwards, & public and private schools; violence (86%) indicated feeling “very safe” in
Nayak-Rhodes (2005) 17% return rate their schools, and 80% of schools had a
“zero tolerance” policy against school
violence. Perceived causes of violence
against employees included substance
abuse, gang involvement, access to
weapons, school location, and ineffective
school discipline
Shernoff, Mehta, Atkins, School Mental Health Midwest City N ¼ 14 teachers from high- Semi-structured interviews were conducted Teachers reported limited resources as the
Torf, & Spencer poverty urban with teachers most prominent source of stress. Teachers
(2011) neighborhoods (Grades also indicated high-school level
K–8) disorganization due to lack of
administrative support. In addition to
these factors, frequent community
violence and safety issues contributed to
teacher physical and emotional problems,
problematic personal relationships, and
impacted work performance
Tiesman, Konda, Journal of Safety Pennsylvania N ¼ 2,514 teachers, school Survey on school variables and experience of The majority of those who reported
Hendricks, Mercer, & Research staff, and administrators; violence in school experiencing physical and nonphysical
Amandus (2013) 39% return rate violence noted students as the
perpetrators. Special education teachers
had the highest prevalence rates for
physical assaults and nonphysical
violence

235
 Downloaded by [Jaclyn Kanrich] at 13:24 06 December 2013

TABLE 2

236
Characteristics of International Studies (N ¼ 12)

Study Journal Location Sample Method Results

Alonso, Lopex- Perceptual and Galicia, Spain N ¼ 616 primary and Self-report teacher Data suggests verbal aggression is the most
Castedo, & Motor Skills secondary teachers questionnaire common form of violence used. Self-
Juste (2009) reports indicated teacher desire for more
effective response to violence
Cemaloglu Social Behavior Turkey N ¼ 385 elementary school Negative Acts Questionnaire Almost 50% of teachers expressed exposure
(2007) and Personality teachers to bullying within the previous 6 months.
There was no significant difference on
exposure to bullying based on gender,
marital status, or age
Chen & Astor Journal of School Taiwan N ¼ 14,022 students in Structured self-report Data showed that 30.1% of students reported
(2009) Violence Grades 4–12; 98% questionnaire on violent being involving in at least one aggressive
return rate behavior in schools act against their teachers in the last year,
the majority of which were purposely
opposing teachers to cause psychological
harm. The majority of students indicated
engaging in violent behavior as a result
from teachers’ unreasonable requirements
Dzuka & Dalbert European Slovakia N ¼ 364 teachers from rural Self-report questionnaires on Teachers who experienced more violence
(2007) Psychologist and urban areas; 108 experience of violence and also more often experienced negative
teachers from vocational subjective wellbeing affect, less often experienced positive
schools affect, and had less life satisfaction
Galand, Lecocq, & British Journal Belgium N ¼ 487 teachers in Questionnaire on school Experiences of school violence, including
Philippot (2007) of Educational secondary schools leadership, relationships student misbehavior, perceived violence,
Psychology (Grades 7 –12) with colleagues, verbal and verbal victimization, were strongly
victimization, students’ related to teacher reports of anxious,
misbehavior, perceived depressive, or somatic symptoms. As a
violence, and impact of result of this violence, 14% of teachers
experiences reported intent to leave teaching
Khoury-Kassabri, Journal of Israel N ¼ 16,604 students in Survey based on victimization Students with a positive perception of school
Astor, & Interpersonal Grades 7–11 and assessed students’ use policy, student –teacher relationships,
Benbenishty Violence of violence toward peers student participation in decision-making,
(2009) and staff and effective interventions by principal
and homeroom teacher on dealing with
violence reported less violence
perpetration in school. Results showed
that school-level variables explained the
majority of the variance in reports of
student violence toward peers and
teachers.
 Downloaded by [Jaclyn Kanrich] at 13:24 06 December 2013

Mooij (2011) Teachers and Netherlands N ¼ 5,148 teachers; 80,770 Questionnaire about social Results demonstrated that verbal violence is
Teaching: Theory students; 1,749 support safety in schools and the most common type of violence against
and Practice staff; and 629 members experiences of violent teachers and students. Teachers reported
of school management in behavior more incidents in which they were victims
secondary schools of verbal and mild physical violence,
compared to students. In addition,
whereas teachers reported low
percentages as perpetrators of violence,
students reported percentages as offenders
that were similar to percentages as victims
Ozdemir (2012) Journal of Kirikkale, Turkey N ¼ 902 teachers (Grades Instrument, survey, and semi- Emotional violence (intimidation & property
Instructional 6–12); 38.7% return rate structured interviews on destruction) was the most common type of
Psychology experience of violence violence reported against teachers
Steffgen & Ewen International Journal Luxembourg N ¼ 399 secondary school Questionnaire on school The highest percentage of teachers reported
(2007) on Violence and teachers; 48.5% return culture, professional being the victim of verbal attacks. Results
Schools rate strain, and violent indicated that class-oriented strain, time
behavior against teachers pressure, and quality of school
environment significantly contributed to
prediction of victimization
Türküm (2011) Children and Youth Turkey N ¼ 360 teachers from low, Two-part questionnaire: Results indicated that teachers faced violent
Services Review middle, and high demographics and behaviors from students more pervasively
socioeconomic statuses experiences of school than from other teachers or
violence administrators. Regarding social support
preferences, teachers do not prefer to
share experiences with school
administrators or counselors
Wilson, Douglas, & Journal of British Columbia, Canada N ¼ 731 public school tea-
Lyon (2011) Interpersonal chers from Grades K–12
Violence
Self-report survey on Data showed that 80% of
experience of participants had experienced
violence and impact school-related violence at
of violence one point in their careers,
with personal insults most
often reported. Experiences
of violence predicted teacher
functioning, as well as
emotional or psychological
and physical effects. Those
who had experienced
violence were more likely to
report fear at school than
those who reported never
experiencing violence
Zeira, Astor, & School Psychology Israel N ¼ 15,000 students in National survey; self-report Results indicated that verbal attacks are the
Benbenishty International Grades 4–11; 1,521 questionnaire on school most frequent type of student violence
(2004) teachers in primary, violence against teachers. Despite high rates of
junior, and high schools victimization, many teachers do not
consider school violence a major problem

237
 238 REDDY ET AL.
physical and emotional symptoms, impaired personal
relationships, work performance, and burnout (e.g., Dzuka
& Dalbert, 2007; Fox & Stallworth, 2010; Kondrasuk et al.,
2005; Shernoff et al., 2011; C. M. Wilson, Douglas, & Lyon,
2011). In particular, teacher reports of anxiety, depressive,
and somatic symptoms were associated with lower
professional functioning, lower efficacy in the classroom,
and lower emotional or physical well-being (e.g., Dzuka &
Dalbert, 2007; Galand, Lecocq, & Philippot, 2007; C. M.
Wilson et al., 2011). Further, findings suggested some
teachers may not report victimization experiences, under-
scoring the need for increased administrative recognition of
teacher violence and targeted supports for teachers at-risk
for violence or those who have experienced violence (e.g.,
Cemaloglu, 2007; Dzuka & Dalbert, 2007; Türküm, 2011;
Zeira, Astor, & Benbenishty, 2004).
In addition to individual factors related to violence, the
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findings point to environmental risk factors including
disorganized school structures, negative school climates,
lack of administrative and collegial social supports, high
residential crowding, time pressure, class-oriented strain,
and the quality of the school environment. On the other
hand, lower rates of teacher-directed violence were
associated with balanced school organizational structures
and support systems, clear school disciplinary policies and
rules, and positive school relationships (e.g., Dworkin et al.,
1988; Gottfredson et al., 2005; Gregory et al., 2012;
Steffgen & Ewen, 2007). Therefore, research suggests that
teachers who were least prepared, more psychologically
vulnerable, and worked in high risk environments were
most likely to experience some level of work-related
violence. In future research, these types of individual and
environmental risk factors should be examined as
moderators of the relations between victimization stressors
and teachers’ psychological, social, and professional
outcomes.
Collectively, educators’ perceived threats of violence,
as well as lack of support services, classroom behavioral
management and stress management training may impact
their psychological and professional well-being and
performance. Similarly, several researchers found teachers
consistently reported a lack of support services and
training for preventing and managing school violence (e.
g., Alonso, Lopez-Castedo, & Juste, 2009; Daniels,
Bradley, & Hays, 2007; Kondrasuk et al., 2005). In sum,
the research highlights many problematic issues within
schools that are associated with higher rates of teacher-
directed violence. There is a need to work toward
comprehensive systemic school changes that include
administrator awareness of staff safety issues and policies
that support and train school personnel and reduce
violence and stress. The APA Task Force was assembled
to begin to examine these issues in the United States and
make recommendations for moving the research agenda
forward.
APA TASK FORCE SUMMARY
Recommendations
Despite the available data, there remains a dearth of
information specific to violence directed against teachers,
and such systematic collection and documentation efforts
are sorely needed. The APA Task Force report included
recommendations for such research and data acquisition
(Espelage et al., 2013):
. Establish a descriptive national registry of incidents of
violence against teachers that includes demographic
information but not teacher or student names.
. Conduct additional research to understand the
magnitude of and possible causes of violence toward
other adults in the schools setting (e.g., educational
support staff).
. Conduct treatment-outcome efficacy studies to ident-
ify best practices for primary, secondary, and tertiary
preventions.
In addition to a series of recommendations for the study of
violence directed against teachers, the Task Force
summarized its work by noting that psychologists can play
a significant role in improving conditions related to school
violence through their expertise in research and curriculum
development, prevention science, race relations, multi-
cultural competencies, and stress management. However,
there must be a research agenda that focuses on an accurate
assessment of the types of violence teachers experience.
Next, research should evaluate the individual, classroom,
school, community, institutional, and cultural factors that
are predictive of the prevalence of teacher violence.
It follows that prevention and intervention strategies must
be implemented at multiple levels. It is imperative that
violence directed toward teachers be considered as a
gendered violence, given that 75% of U.S. teachers are
women.
Careful operational definitions of violence and aggres-
sion against teachers will need to be established and agreed
upon so that research outcomes can be compared across
research teams as well as sites if these data are to be used to
maximize our ability to develop best practice approaches.
Measures of fidelity of the prevention programs as carried
out at the schools should be mandatory for all such studies,
and data on fidelity of implementation collected by third
parties who are independent of the implementation of the
prevention efforts should likewise be de rigueur in such
studies. Without information on the extent to which
prevention programs are implemented as intended, it is
not possible to draw accurate conclusions regarding
intervention outcomes (Lane, Kalberg, & Menzies, 2012).
Teacher training programs were also recommended to
play a major role in reducing the likelihood of violence

directed toward teachers. Teacher educators must consider
the importance of providing preservice teachers with the
knowledge, classroom management skills, and confidence
to establish engaging classroom environments (Lane et al.,
2012). Concurrently, preparation programs need to
reinforce the behaviors and skills of novice teachers to
respond both with warmth and with confidence in their
abilities to intervene effectively.
Task Force National Survey Study
The APA Task Force on Violence Directed Against
Teachers, in cooperation with the National Education
Association, conducted a national, anonymous, Web-based
survey that examined the overall rate of victimization
among teachers, as well as the rates of victimization by
offense type, perpetrator, and teachers’ gender, race/
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ethnicity, and community setting (McMahon et al., in
press). In addition, some open-ended questions were
included to provide more descriptive information regarding
teachers’ experiences with victimization. Participants
included 2,998 K –12 teachers from 48 states in the United
States. On average, teachers were 46.5 (SD ¼ 11.2) years
old, were women (83.5%), and taught for 16.9 (SD ¼ 10.5)
years. The majority of teachers were Caucasian (81.2%),
followed by African American (9.3%), Latino (4.4%), and
“other/multiracial” (5.1%). The majority of teachers worked
in a traditional public school setting (94.1%), and the
remainder of teachers worked in a public magnet or charter
school (5.1%) or private school (0.8%). Also, 22.5% of
teachers worked in high schools and the remainder of
teachers worked in Grades K –8. Participating teachers
worked in urban (44.5%), suburban (36.8%), and rural
(18.7%) settings (McMahon et al., in press).
Participants were asked, “Have any of the following
happened to you personally this year or last year at your
school? If yes, please check all the individuals that may
have been involved.” Eleven forms of victimization were
then listed: obscene remarks, obscene gestures, verbal
threats, intimidation, cyber/Internet violence, theft of
personal property, damage to personal property, objects
thrown, physical attack not resulting in a visit to a physician,
physical attack resulting in a visit to a physician, and
weapon pulled. McMahon and colleagues (in press) found
that 80% of teachers reported at least one victimization, and
of these teachers, 94% reported being victimized by
students. Nearly three-fourths of all teachers experienced at
least one harassment offense, followed by over one-half
experiencing property offenses, and 44% reporting physical
attacks. Next, logistic regression analyses were conducted
for each offense to determine how demographic character-
istics contributed to the likelihood that teachers were
victimized. Findings suggest that teacher and community
characteristics are associated with higher likelihood of
victimization—namely, men and teachers in urban settings,
VIOLENCE AGAINST TEACHERS 239
whereas African American teachers were less likely to
report victimization. These quantitative data illustrate the
high rates of teacher-directed victimization in our national
sample.
Teacher-reported case studies. The following case
examples are drawn from the national survey to provide an
illustration of the range of teachers, types of teacher
victimizations, and range of actions taken that may occur in
the United States. All case identifying information has been
changed.
TEACHER VICTIMIZATION CASE EXAMPLES
The Case of Dana
Dana is a 38-year-old White woman who has been teaching
for 13 years. She is currently teaching sixth grade in a
private middle school located in a suburban community in
Florida. Dana is a general education teacher who has a
master’s degree and a certificate in biology for K –12 and a
certificate in Special Education for first through ninth grade.
Dana was married for 11 years, but was recently divorced 3
months ago. Dana is obese and has a 6-year-old daughter
with her ex-husband.
History of victimization. Dana has experienced several
forms of victimization over numerous occasions during her
teaching career. For example, students and parents have
intimidated and verbally threatened her. She has received
obscene remarks, gestures, and inappropriate e-mails and
text messages from students, parents, and colleagues. Dana
reported that students have thrown objects at her, stolen
from her, and damaged her personal property. She also
indicated a colleague (teacher) stole her personal property
(e.g., food, pens, and classroom preparation materials).
Most upsetting incident and impact. Dana reported
two recent incidents that occurred approximately 1 month
apart in the Fall of 2009, one involving a parent and one
involving a colleague. She reported, “A parent sent several
threatening e-mails and Facebookw messages to me. She
accused me of terrible things and told me that all the other
students were not returning to our school unless I quit my
job.” Dana also described another incident, where “a former
teacher is posting unprofessional things about me online and
telling staff that she and another teacher were trying to get
me fired.” Dana was extremely distraught over these
messages. The colleague’s verbal attacks continued
throughout the school year. Because these messages are
ongoing, the emotions Dana felt continued to affect her
wellbeing. When Dana first read the threats online from the
parent, she initially began to “cry and then became very
anxious.” The parent was the mother of one of Dana’s
 240 REDDY ET AL.
favorite students, and the colleague was a senior female
teacher in her school whom Dana barely knew. However,
Dana knew both the student and the parent well, and was
subsequently disappointed and upset the mother did not
speak to her in person to resolve her issues with Dana more
appropriately.
When Dana was asked why she thought the parent-
incident happened, she stated, “The mother was having an
emotional break-down and was terrified for her son. Any
indication that he was not the perfect child caused her to
attack others.” Dana added she believed the parent verbally
attacked her through the Internet because she is “attention
seeking, impulsive, and generally unhappy” with some of
Dana’s decisions.
When Dana was asked why she thought the colleague-
incident occurred, she reported, “She thinks her way of
teaching is the only way that is correct. She dislikes my
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teaching philosophy and personal style.” Overall, Dana felt
bullied and disrespected by her colleague. She stated that
her colleague knows she “won’t fight back.”
Dana felt quite overwhelmed by both incidents. She
described feeling sad and extremely angry, as well as sorry
for the mother. Dana did develop a strong desire to “get
even” with the parent and colleague. Dana also began
blaming herself (i.e., believed that she “let this happen and
could have handled it better”).
Action taken after incident. Dana spoke privately to
another teacher at a different school about both incidents,
and then followed up with her principal. Unfortunately,
Dana reported that “the administration was not at all
supportive” in dealing with these incidents. She tried to
ignore the situations, but her emotions worsened. Dana
began losing sleep, eating more, and grew increasingly
irritable. When Dana was asked how these online attacks
affected her view of her current teaching position, she
reported, “You can’t trust administrators. It is always about
favoritism, politics, and money. It has shown me that
I should not take parent criticism personally, although
I always seem to do that. It has made me continue to look for
a new position, with the intention of leaving teaching if
possible.” As of now, Dana is still looking for a different
profession.
The Case of Jason
Jason is a 29-year-old multiracial man who has been
teaching for 5 years. He is currently teaching ninth grade in
a public high school located in a suburban community.
Jason is a general education teacher who has a master’s
degree and certification in General Science, Chemistry, and
Environmental Science. Jason is a gay man who lives with
his partner of 8 years. He has not disclosed his sexual
orientation to his students; however, he was “out” with some
of his colleagues at work.
History of violence. Jason has described receiving
verbal and nonverbal threats from students, intimidation,
damage to his personal property at work, personal items
stolen, and inappropriate e-mails. Also, Jason has had small
objects (papers and pencils) thrown at him during class.
Most upsetting incident and impact. When Jason was
asked to describe the most upsetting incident that happened
to him as a teacher, he reported that in May 2010, he
received “three messages on my home phone threatening
that students were going to jump me and a note left at school
that said ‘you should die, faggot’!” Jason recognized the
male student’s voice on his home answering machine and
assumed the note was left by the same student. When Jason
was asked why he thought these threats were made,
he stated, “[T]his male student had a chair pulled from under
him by a female student and I had her removed for hurting
him. I think he was embarrassed.” Jason also reported being
concerned that this student was “out to get him” because he
was particularly “homophobic.” After receiving these
threats, Jason felt furious and a little violated. Jason became
much more cautious both in and out of school, and described
losing sleep because he was always “sleeping with one eye
open.” He was concerned for himself and his partner. He
regrets that he disclosed his sexual orientation to one
particular colleague.
Action taken after incident. Initially, Jason did not
report the incident to anyone at school. Eventually, he told a
close colleague (a teacher) at work who encouraged Jason to
talk with the principal. Jason had never discussed his
personal life with the principal before. To Jason’s surprise,
the principal was very supportive and upset by the phone
calls and note. The principal also disclosed to Jason
privately that he had a gay adult child. Because it was
difficult to accurately identify who left the phone messages
and note, Jason took no further action. However, the school
principal did discuss diversity and privacy issues at the
following faculty meeting. When Jason was asked how this
incident impacted his current view of teaching, he reported,
“I am now more cautious about boy and girl interactions in
class and stop them early if I can.” Jason has tried not to let
the threats influence his teaching strategies, but it has
changed the way he thinks and feels about work.
The Case of Janelle
Janelle is a 52-year-old White woman with 27 years of
teaching experience. Janelle is currently teaching 9th-
through 12th-grade classes in a public high school located in
a quiet, rural town. She has taught middle school during her
career as well. She has a master’s degree in education, and
has many roles in the high school where she teaches. She
holds Grades K –12 certifications in General Education,
Health, Physical Education, Special Education Severe/

Profound/Multi-Handicapped, Special Education Resource
Room, and Special Education Direct Service/Self-Con-
tained Room. Janelle has been married to her husband for 30
years, and has one daughter and one son.
History of victimization. Janelle reported several
incidents of victimization from her students, both in middle
and high schools. For example, she has had her personal
property damaged on several occasions, received obscene
remarks and gestures, verbally threatened (e.g., “I will get
you,” and “Watch your back”), and objects (i.e., pencils,
markers, paper, and a small book) thrown at her in class.
In addition, she has had three separate incidents in which
she was physically attacked by students. She sought
physician care for one incident.
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Most upsetting incident and impact. For the most
upsetting incident, Janelle reported “Being jumped upon
and beaten during class by an explosive female student . . .
on another occasion, a male student made disgusting
sexually explicit remarks towards me in front of my class.”
When the female student attacked her, she was left with
severe bruising on her arms and stomach, as well as one
black eye. She was so stunned by the assault that she could
not even attempt to get the student off her. Janelle reported
feeling that she was “shaking inside” and her “heart was
beating excessively.” She was attacked in March 2010, and
continues to suffer some distress from the incident 1 year
later. Prior to the assault by the female student, Janelle had
thought of the school as a safe and quiet place despite
previous incidents, and was quite surprised by the severity
of the attack. Janelle knew the student very well.
When Janelle was asked why she thought this incident
happened, she stated, “The female student has anger issues
and has been moved from several schools.” Janelle believed
the student physically attacked her because she learned
violent and aggressive behaviors at home, lacks self-control,
comes from a “bad neighborhood,” needs attention, lacks
self-esteem, is impulsive, and does not like school. Janelle
also reported that the student was unhappy with Janelle’s
grading and became angry when she received bad grades
(i.e., Ds) in class. Janelle felt the student wanted to “get
revenge” against her. After the attack, Janelle was
extremely furious and frightened for her life. Her colleagues
and husband indicated she was not herself for some time
(i.e., more quiet and withdrawn) at work and at home.
When the male student made the “sexually explicit
remarks” to her, she felt ashamed, embarrassed, and disgusted.
This incident occurred in class on two occasions and lasted for
several minutes, disrupting the flow of her class during
September 2008. Janelle believed the male student made these
remarks to her because “he had apparently been successful at
bullying others and that is how he deals with his own failures.”
VIOLENCE AGAINST TEACHERS 241
Action taken after incident. On the day of the assault by
the female student, Janelle informed her principal and told a
colleague. Surprisingly, Janelle’s colleague asked her a
series of questions about what she did to provoke the incident
and she felt that the colleague was not very supportive. She
left work and went to her primary care physician. She also
reported the incident to her union representative. The union
representative was supportive, but pushed her to press legal
charges. Janelle reluctantly filed charges with the school
police against the student and her parents. Janelle reported
that the school police officer filed the paperwork and no
additional action was taken. Janelle reported:
I realize that I cannot count on the school police officer ever
again. My principal was more supportive than the school
police officer. I ended up filing a report at the police
department and complaining about the school police officer.
I will call the police directly next time.
Although Janelle felt she handled the situation well overall,
the assault affected her current view of teaching. She stated,
“I feel that the female student should never have been
placed in our school. I don’t know what became of the
student. The student is no longer enrolled.” Janelle indicated
she is more cautious as a teacher, and her trust is
compromised with most students.
Integration of Case Examples
In sum, these case examples illustrate the surrounding
individual and environmental context of the victimization
experiences reported by three particular teachers. They also
highlight victimization as a stressor, suggest potential
moderators and mediators, and reveal the significant impact
these stressors have on teachers’ personal and professional
lives (e.g., Janelle’s compromised trust of students). One
theme that emerged across the three case studies is
educators’ suggested external locus of control of violence
in schools. In these examples, organizational structure and
administrative and collegial supports are emerging as
important predictors and buffering factors to reduce violence
against teachers. However, much work is needed to better
equip administrators and educators on their interpersonal
approaches to students, parents, and other school personnel.
In addition, occurrences of violence against teachers have
the potential to dramatically affect the teacher workforce.
DISCUSSION
In looking at the multiple demands placed on today’s
educators, which include increasingly high expectations for
student performance, diverse student learning abilities, few
school resources, and violence perpetrated by students,
parents, and colleagues, it is not surprising they are
 242 REDDY ET AL.
experiencing high rates of stress. In this article, we explored
an important facet of teacher stress—perceived threats or
actual experiences of violence in the school setting. By
better understanding the extent and context of teacher
victimization as well as the factors that are associated with
victimization, the research and teaching communities can
move forward in finding solutions to prevent and address
this type of stress.
Violence against teachers is a larger problem than many
individuals realize. Whereas the media regularly covers
stories about violence perpetrated against students (e.g., the
cases of Columbine High School and Sandy Hook
Elementary School), the focus is often on the effects of
these and other violent acts on the students and not on the
teachers. As we have reviewed in this article, the prevalence
of violence perpetrated against educators is great. Violence
against teachers is broad in scope, with the most common
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form of violence consisting of verbal assaults (Dinkes et al.,
2009), followed by threats and physical attacks (e.g., Dinkes
et al., 2007), each of which is illustrated in the provided
illustrations. The case examples we described are consistent
with the range of violent incidents identified in the few
extant survey-based studies (C. M. Wilson et al., 2011), and
offer poignant depiction of the impact of violence against
teachers. It is particularly disheartening given the multiple
demands placed on today’s school teachers who are charged
with one of the most honorable—and challenging—tasks:
educating all of our children, including those with
significant emotional and behavioral disorders.
The stress that is associated with violence against teachers
also is significant, and serves as an additional impetus for the
involvement of the psychological community in research on
the prevalence and prevention of such acts. Teachers are
charged with the formidable task of meeting exceptionally
high standards of academic excellence for all students;
distilling the core qualities of citizenship, character, and
social competencies; and serving an increasingly diverse
group of students in inclusive settings. Yet, schools are often
not well equipped to provide teachers with the necessary
supports that they need to cope with violence that is
perpetrated against them amidst all these commitments.
Recall the case of “Janelle,” who reported the incident that
she experienced to several individuals (including a colleague
and a union representative), but was merely asked about how
she provoked the situation (by the colleague), and was
encouraged to press charges (by the union); little support was
provided for her to be able to make sense of the incident and
process this difficult experience.
The APA Task Force made several recommendations
based on the limited current extant research. First and
foremost, the Task Force argued for the need for a national
registry of occurrences of violence against educators. Such a
registry would not need to include identifying information
of either victims or perpetrators. A registry that contains
information about both victims and perpetrators (including
demographics), the context of the incident (environmental
and individual), and the nature of the incident and outcomes
is needed. This registry would be helpful in terms of
promoting systematic and consistent measurement and
assessment of stressors, moderators, mediators, outcomes,
and reciprocal and dynamic processes associated with
teacher victimization. The goal would be to study these
phenomena descriptively, gaining essential information to
inform intervention efforts (Shavelson & Towne, 2002).
Indeed, there is a need to acquire the information necessary
to (a) prevent violence against teachers and (b) respond
more efficiently and effectively when such incidences do
occur. The cost of even one such incident—emotionally,
physically, and fiscally—is too much. As such, evidence-
based interventions in these arenas are critical.
Once data are systematically collected indicating the
prevalence and nature of these incidents, educators and
policymakers will be in better positions to improve
prevention efforts. First, systematic data would be available
to present to legislators and policymakers, so that funds could
potentially be made available for infusion into future
research efforts. Second, although prevention strategies
specifically aimed at educators are minimal, the development
of such efforts could be made cost-effective if they can be
guided by specific data on the prevalence and nature of the
problem on a national level. For example, there is little
research available indicating the relation between violence
and homophobia; if cases such as “Jason’s” are found to be
prevalent through the establishment of a national registry, then
prevention and educational efforts aimed at homophobia-
induced violence could be developed and implemented.
The Task Force also advocates research on the
magnitude of violence perpetrated against other adults
who work in school settings. In addition to teachers,
personnel in schools include administrative staff, clerical
staff, custodial staff, cafeteria staff, hall monitors, social
workers, school psychologists, coaches, and numerous other
individuals. Whereas research on violence against teachers
is minimal, research on violence against other school
personnel is nearly nonexistent. The same stressors that
teachers are faced with as a result of verbal and physical
aggression also may be equally stressful for these other
important school personnel.
CONCLUSION
Much additional research is needed on teacher victimization
and the potential impact it has on school systems, school
personnel, student learning, and the future of education.
Violence against teachers is prolific, varied, and has lasting
effects on many individuals. Thus, a national call for
research, policy, and practice is urgently needed (Espelage
et al., 2013). To date, only 21 studies have been published
on teacher violence. Investigations have primarily used self-

report measures (e.g., Kondrasuk et al., 2005; Zeira et al.,
2004) and, in some cases, a single item or question (e.g.,
Dzuka & Dalbert, 2007; C. M. Wilson et al., 2011) or small
set of items (Gregory et al., 2012) to capture the predictors of
this multifaceted problem. Collectively, the generalizability
of the 21 studies are limited due to the low return rates and
sample-specific settings (i.e., specific provinces, counties,
states, or regions of a country). Whereas examinations of U.S.
and international findings are informative, it is important to
note the structure and context of schooling varies
considerably both across and within countries, thus
precluding definitive conclusions being drawn across studies.
Despite these inherent limitations, findings from extant
literature point to alarming rates of violence against teachers,
and immediate attention is warranted. As noted by Daniels,
Bradley, and Hays (2007) and Zeira et al. (2004), there is a
need for school administrators at all levels to increase their
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knowledge and awareness regarding teachers’ exposure to
violence and potential impact on their professional
functioning. Likewise, it is important that school personnel
recognize that teachers can be victims, perpetrators, and
witnesses of school violence (Mooij, 2011). As illustrated in
the three case examples, the type of teacher and kind of
teacher victimization that occurs come in many forms.
Teachers reported experiencing violence from students,
parents, and colleagues, suggesting that students are not the
only individuals that need to be included in violence directed
toward teacher prevention efforts. Further, violence is not
limited to the school hours; teachers report being targeted at
home and through the Internet. As the Internet and social
media grow in popularity and are being used to perpetuate
aggression and violence among students (Espelage, Rao, &
Craven, in press), it is not surprising that teachers are being
targeted through technology.
Future research should focus on the effectiveness of
violence policies and prevention strategies as they relate to
teacher victimization in schools. Currently there is
extensive literature on intervention programs for preventing
and intervening with school violence and general work
place violence, with an emphasis on positive behavior
interventions and supports (e.g., Lane, Menzies, Oakes, &
Kalberg, 2012; S. J. Wilson, Lipsey, & Derzon, 2003).
However, to our knowledge there is no research focused on
systematic prevention strategies and approaches for teacher
victimization specifically for school personnel and students.
Research is also needed on the possible mediators and
moderators associated with negative teacher – student and
teacher – school personnel interactions that lead to teacher
victimization. Also, research on environmental and
psychological factors that identify educators at risk for
violence is warranted, as is research on how school
psychologists and school personnel can help teachers to
cope with the aftermath of violent events. A better
understanding of the system, classroom, and individual
level factors contributing to the likelihood of teacher
VIOLENCE AGAINST TEACHERS 243
violence and victimization is warranted to design effective
prevention and intervention programming and policies to
enhance our educational system for all.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Linda A. Reddy, PhD, is an Associate Professor of School
Psychology at Rutgers University. Her research interests include
classroom assessment, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
assessment and intervention, and test development and validation.
She is currently the principle investigator of two school
improvement grants focused on evaluation, targeted professional
development and improved student learning and behavior. She is a
Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the
President-Elect of APA Division 16 (School Psychology).
Dorothy Espelage, PhD, is a Professor at University of Illinois,
Champaign. She has conducted research on bullying, homophobic
teasing, sexual harassment, and dating violence for two decades.
She has over 120 research publications. She is PI on two CDC-
funded Second Step randomized clinical trial to prevent violence in
50 middle schools. National Science Foundation funds her work to
develop better observational methods to assess bullying among
adolescents. NIJ and NIH are funding her longitudinal and social
network studies of these behaviors.
Susan D. McMahon, PhD, is a Professor of Clinical and
Community Psychology at DePaul University. Her research
interests include school-based prevention, intervention, and
evaluation, violence and aggression among teachers and youth,
and the interplay between individual and contextual factors among
urban, at-risk youth. She is currently Department Chairperson and
a Fellow of the American Psychological Association Division 27.
Eric M. Anderman, PhD, is Chair of the Department of Educational
Studies and Professor of Educational Psychology at The Ohio State
University. His area of research is academic motivation, with a
particular focus on academic cheating, and HIV and pregnancy
prevention. Dr. Anderman, who is a Fellow of both the American
Psychological Association and the American Educational Research
Association, received the American Psychological Association’s
Early Career Achievement Award in Educational Psychology in
1999. His research on cheating and motivation have been featured
by numerous media outlets, including Dateline NBC, MSNBC,
CBS News, The New Yorker, CNN, The Huffington Post, and
numerous other outlets. His research has been funded by the
National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education,
and the Spencer Foundation. He has published over 90 books,
articles and chapters on academic motivation.
Kathleen Lynne Lane, PhD, is a Professor at the University of
Kansas in the Department of Special Education. Her research focus
is on designing, implementing, and evaluating comprehensive,
integrated, three-tiered (CI3T) models of prevention with an
emphasis on systematic screenings for behavior challenges.
Veda Evanell Brown, PhD, National Alliance of Black School
Educators, Washington, DC, USA.
Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD, Texas A&M University, Emeritus,
Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology and Neuro-
science.
Abraham Jones, EdD, National Education Association, Washing-
ton, DC, USA.
Jaclyn Kanrich, BA, is a graduate student in the school psychology
program at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional
 244 REDDY ET AL.
Psychology at Rutgers University. She has assisted on several
research projects that have addressed working with children with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, consulting with teachers,
and translating research to practice.
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