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The aim of this study is to determine the preparedness status of 181 elementary and high schools in four cities located on the East Anatolia Fault Zone of Turkey.

To determine the status of preparedness, a School Disaster Preparedness Questionnaire with 27 items was administered to the school director or deputy director. The data obtained were analyzed with SPSS Software.

The results show that there are meaningful differences between the status of school preparedness and school type and allocation units surveyed.

This study was conducted from April to May 2009, in schools located on the East Anatolia Fault Zone of Turkey. The study was limited to school directors/deputy directors' responses to the School Earthquake Preparedness Form.

Turkey is located in one of the most significant active seismic regions in the world; therefore the probability of a serious earthquake is high. Turkey has a large population of over 60 million, with a large number of children under 16; therefore, it is vital that schools are prepared for disasters. It is possible to reduce the destructive effects of these hazards if people are well prepared.

The research highlights the actual conditions, especially the physical conditions of selected schools in a seismically risky region of Turkey. The results of this study can contribute to the development of disaster plans and preparedness in schools in developing countries. This study aims to raise awareness of school directors to reduce the impact of an earthquake on school buildings and the people inside them.

The purpose of this paper is to identify lessons learned by schools from their involvement in the 2012 New Zealand ShakeOut nationwide earthquake drill.

The results from a survey conducted with 514 schools were collated to identify the emergency preparedness lessons learned by schools through their participation in the ShakeOut exercise.

Key findings indicated that: schools were likely to do more than the minimum when presented with a range of specific emergency preparedness activities; drills for emergency events require specific achievement objectives to be identified in order to be most effective in preparing schools; and large-scale initiatives, such as the ShakeOut exercise, encourage schools and students to engage in emergency preparedness activities.

Based on the findings, six recommendations are made to assist schools to develop effective emergency response procedures.

The present study contributes to the ongoing efforts of emergency management practitioners and academics to enhance the efficacy of school-based preparedness activities and to, ultimately, increase overall community resilience.

The purpose of this study is to measure the willingness of general education schools (governmental and private) in the Mecca region to deal with the threat of earthquakes through the identification of the preparedness of school buildings, the differences in the willingness of schools, and examine the relationship between the exposure to previous crises and readiness for future crises.

The authors used a survey method to explore and determine the readiness range of schools by distributing a questionnaire to school principals. The questionnaire measures the readiness range of the institutions to counter earthquake threat through six main fields which were developed based on Federal Emergency Management Agency Resources (www.fema.gov) and were used in developing an earthquake consequences model (Al Momani), namely: previous emergencies measures, previous earthquake experience measures, earthquake mitigation measures, earthquake preparedness measures, earthquake response measures and earthquake recovery measures.

It is apparent that schools are not prepared to deal with future earthquakes regardless of their types (public vs private) and levels (primary, elementary, secondary) which require establishing a department for disaster and crisis management within the public administration of Education headed by a specialist in disasters and crises management to make sure that current school campus, under construction campus, or leased buildings be prepared to deal with disasters and crises as they occur in non‐hazardous locations, compatible with building codes, and equipped with safety means. It is important to prepare a public emergency plan for disasters and crises and to train school administrators and teachers to prepare contingency plans for disaster management in school. Finally, there is a need to prepare disasters awareness programs benefiting from public and private media, internet, and workshops through utilizing experiences of other developed countries in disasters and crises management especially for schools.

This research could be used to augment the need of developing education system preparedness in Jeddah Province through implementing effective mitigation, preparedness, and response, as well as recovery options.

National, regional and local disaster preparedness planning requirements allow a wide range of responses. Describes a study in which such responses were cast against Quarantelli’s minimum criteria and Levin’s notion of experience as a powerful source for change. Data collection and comparative analyses were accomplished through the examination of local school district plans and policies as well as interviews with school leaders who had survived disasters. Concludes that school districts meet minimum local standards but few meet Quarantelli’s minimum; and having lived through a disaster neither served as impetus to initiate disaster preparedness plans nor resulted in plans incorporating knowledge gained.

Universities and higher education institutes are key pillars of all societies, as the result of their important roles in education, research and training of human resources. Nevertheless, similar to other social structures, universities need to be prepared for natural disasters. This study aims to measure and analyze the level of earthquake preparedness in a higher education institute in Tehran, Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 in a higher education institute through three stages of tool, namely, development, preparedness evaluation and strength–weakness–opportunity–threat analysis. The valid and reliable tool was applied for assessment of college preparedness through a field survey. Factors affecting the obtained level of preparedness were categorized into internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) factors to decide on an appropriate strategy for promoting the preparedness level.

Content validity index and content validity ratio of the tool were 88 and 98.85 per cent, respectively. The reliability of the tool was measured to be 98 per cent using the kappa coefficient. The level of preparedness was estimated to be weak. The final value of the matrix of internal and external factors was higher than average, which can be improved in the form of strength–opportunity strategy.

It is highly suggested to allocate a specific budget for improvement and evaluation of preparedness measures in all parts of education systems. In addition, making the preparedness measures as the mandatory duty for educational structures can be considered by decision-makers and managers at the national and local levels.

This paper seeks to provide a brief summary on the comprehensive earthquake education program for increasing the public awareness and preparedness for earthquake through an integrated educational program using all types of media, especially in the schools and amongst children.

The paper will provide an overview to the program on the disaster management education for the managers; general public; and especially children's earthquake safety education in schools. This priority could be better highlighted by looking at the wide coverage of schools as well as the young age structure of Iran.

There is still a is a long way to go to achieve a fully prepared and seismically safe community and for this stronger cooperation and participation of the whole of society are necessary for enhancing public safety.

Finally, the paper strongly believes that the Iran experience is successful, one that can be shared and from which one can learn.

Analyzing data collected from the charter school board members and the superintendent in a charter school district in a southeastern state about the quality and usefulness of training, the purpose of this paper is to provide an important foundation for understanding training and development for charter school boards in the USA.

This study uses a qualitative case study approach to examine a charter school district and the preparedness of charter school board members to serve in that district. The authors sampled one charter school district in the southeast region of the USA and interviewed five charter school board members and the superintendent.

The first theme is composition and responsibility of charter school board members, which outlines the roles and responsibilities that charter school board members assume when they serve on this charter district board. The second theme is preparedness to serve, which traces the readiness of charter school board members to serve on a board. The final theme is training and documents related to the kind of training charter school board members receive once they are appointed to the board.

This study provides a conceptual framework about the dimensions and standards associated with preparedness to serve as a charter school board member and broadens the authors’ understanding of the roles and responsibilities of charter school boards, their preparedness to serve and the training and development they receive.

Schools are vulnerable to strong-magnitude earthquakes. The purpose of this study is to develop a seismic evacuation safety index (ESI) to assess school’s safety as a function of the following parameters: means of egress, disaster preparedness and disaster response. Moreover, the study aims to simulate and study an evacuation model to estimate evacuation time for a realistic understanding of the evacuation processes.

The paper used a semi-quantitative risk assessment method in developing the ESI. This was used to evaluate schools and classify them according to their level of evacuation safety. To estimate the evacuation time of each school, cellular automata theory and static floor field were used.

The paper provides primary school stakeholders important parameters that they should consider in preparing pre-disaster plans to ensure safe evacuation of school children.

ESI focuses only on the means of egress, disaster preparedness and disaster response as the contributing factors. The structural conditions of each school building and assessment of non-structural elements are not considered.

The ESI and the evacuation model can be used as a basis for evacuation planning and decision-making. This can help building owners and administrators in strengthening their disaster risk management plan by enforcing mitigating measures.

ESI is an original idea and fills the gap regarding the safe evacuation of school children especially during a major seismic event.

This paper aims to develop an appropriate earthquake disaster management system for Iranian schools with a main focus on non‐structural problems of schools during disasters.

A framework is proposed for disaster management planning regarding earthquakes in three phases: before, during, and after an earthquake. A detailed description of the proposed management system is also presented with special application to schools, focusing mainly on non‐structural problem.

There is a need to emphasise on a national‐level contingency planning that includes developing and designing detailed plans for a proper response and training of relevant personnel. Another important issue, which needs special attention is the material which should be taught to the commanders of emergency activities at various levels in order to help them to control an effective emergency situation.

By using the “emergency management system” proposed in this paper for Iranian schools the authorities can make sure that they have utilized all of their resources for an efficient disaster risk management. It is hoped that other developing countries can also benefit from the proposed programme.

The originality of this paper is in the comprehensiveness of the “emergency management system” proposed for the schools, and the approaches it suggests for constructing the “safety culture” in society.

In response to a critical need for uniform school crisis preparedness and response efforts across districts, the National Association of School Psychologists developed PREPaRE, a model and training curriculum aimed to equip school-based professionals to engage in comprehensive school crisis prevention and intervention practices. The PREPaRE acronym stands for: Prevent/Prepare for psychological trauma; Reaffirm physical health, security, and safety; Evaluate psychological trauma; Provide interventions (and) Respond to psychological needs; and Examine the effectiveness of prevention and intervention efforts. The model spans four crisis preparedness phases: Prevention, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery. This chapter provides a detailed overview of the development and structure of the PREPaRE model's core components and the organizational framework of the Incident Command System. It delineates elements of the basic school crisis response plan, assessment of mental health risk following a crisis event, and the provision of crisis interventions within a multitiered system of support framework. Additionally, it summarizes ongoing effectiveness and implementation research used to evaluate and improve the model based on immediate training outcomes assessed through pre and postmeasures and training transfer to applied school contexts. Implications for research and public policy regarding school safety and crisis prevention and intervention, as well as the future of PREPaRE curriculum development, are discussed.