SchoolMessenger Supports Education Week's 2013 Quality Counts Report and Webinar, Exploring School Climate, Discipline and Safety

LOS GATOS, Calif., Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- SchoolMessenger, the leading provider of communication solutions for education, today announced that it will support Education Week's online distribution of the 2013 Quality Counts report, Code of Conduct: Safety, Discipline, and School Climate. Findings of this year's report will be shared during a webinar on Tuesday, January 15 at 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST, for which underwriting is provided by Talk About It®, SchoolMessenger's anonymous communication service which provides a confidential way for kids to 'speak up' using text or online messaging.

This 17^th annual edition of the Quality Counts report examines the impact of a school's social and disciplinary environment on students' ability to learn and on the teachers and administrators tasked with guiding them. Education Week journalists take an in-depth look at a range of school-climate factors – including strong peer relationships, a sense of safety and security, and school disciplinary policies and practices – that help to lay the groundwork for academic success.

"We are very proud to support Education Week's efforts to share its annual Quality Counts report and webinar with policymakers, school leaders and the public," said Carter B. Myers, SchoolMessenger's vice president of Anonymous Communications Solutions, who will participate in the webinar. "We believe strongly that students play an important role in affecting the safety and well-being of their school climate and we have worked hard for more than a decade to provide them with a voice. This year's report goes well beyond the individual, examining the broad range of school-climate factors that can affect student achievement overall."

A few key findings outlined in the 2013 release of Quality Counts:

• School administrators and teachers generally express similar views on the importance of school climate, discipline and safety for educational success.
• Overall, 74 percent of respondents report that school climate is "very important" to student achievement.
• A majority of respondents also cite school safety (64 percent) and school discipline policies (53 percent) as "very important" factors for student achievement.

This year's webinar, Quality Counts: Involving Students in School Climate, will feature researchers and administrators discussing how to bring students into the school-climate conversation, from identifying problems to changing behavior. Guests include: Bennett Lieberman, principal, Central Park East High School, New York, and Meagan O'Malley, research associate, middle school climate initiative, WestEd, Los Alamitos, CA.

To learn more or to register, visit: http://www.edweek.org/go/webinar/qc2013/. All Education Week webinars are archived and accessible on demand for up to six months after the original live-streaming date.

For more information about SchoolMessenger's Talk About It service, which currently serves over 500,000 K-12 students across the U.S. and Canada, visit: http://talk.schoolmessenger.com. A video and free white paper (Creating a Culture of Dialogue: Four Practical Steps for Better Communication and Safer Schools) are also available.

About SchoolMessenger
SchoolMessenger is a leading provider of communication solutions for education. Thousands of school districts, public schools, colleges, universities, private schools and other educational facilities in all 50 states depend on the company's innovative solutions, including the SchoolMessenger notification service and Talk About It anonymous communication service. Founded in 1999, the company is headquartered in Los Gatos, California. For information, visit www.schoolmessenger.com or call 888.527.5225.

Media Contact:
Carleen LeVasseur
SchoolMessenger Public Relations
408-264-6767
[email protected]

SOURCE SchoolMessenger