Robert DiGiulio is Education Professor at Johnson State College in Vermont. He earned his Ph.D. in human development from the University of Connecticut, and recently earned his D.Ed. in socio-education from the University of South Africa. He began his teaching career in the New York City public school system, where he taught for a number of years. His 33-year career as an educator includes teaching at the elementary, middle, junior high and college levels, with experience ranging from crowded urban schools to a one-room schoolhouse. He has also served as a school principal educational researcher, consultant, and writer. As an educational consultant, he co-developed Teen Test, a vocational counseling program for adolescents. He coauthored educational computer software called Language Activities Courseware and authored its teachers guide. His Teacher magazine article The Guaranteed Behavior Improvement Plan was recognized as having one of the highest total readership scores of any of that magazines articles. He has authored numerous books including When You Are a Single Parent, Effective Parenting, Beyond Widowhood, and After Loss, selected by Readers Digest as their featured condensed book in May 1994. He is a contributing author to The Oxford Companion to Womens Writing in the United States, and Marriage and Family in a Changing Society, and is the coauthor of Straight Talk about Death and Dying. Most recently, he has written Nonviolent Interventions in Secondary Schools: Administrative Perspectives, a chapter in Peacebuilding for Adolescents: Strategies for Educators and Community Leaders, edited by Ian H. Harris and Linda R. Forcey. Dr. DiGiulio's most recent books are Great Teaching: What Matters Most in Helping Students Succeed, Educate, Medicate, or Litigate? What Teachers, Parents, and Administrators Must Do About Student Behavior, and Positive Classroom Management: A Step-by-Step Guide to Successfully Running the Show Without Destroying Student Dignity, both published by Corwin Press. Dr. DiGiulio's interests include international education, child behavior, and teacher education. He won a 2002-2003 Fulbright Scholar Award to the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. He was a Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2003 Conference on Teaching and Learning for Intercultural Understanding. Dr. DiGiulio is also a member of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education, and serves on the Project Harmonys Advisory Board on Education Programs. He resides with his family in northern Vermont.
Educate, Medicate, or Litigate? tackles an issue that is increasingly taking the fore in school safety issues: intervention. Until now, the response to antisocial behaviour in schools has been generally reactive in nature due to the fact that few contemporary preventative' measures actually prevent anything. While medical and legal recourses cannot be eschewed, after the tragedy at Columbine and other much-publicized school shootings across the country, it is all too clear that these reactive measures are much too little, too late - effective violence prevention is critical. This book examines bullying, subversive behaviour, and other negative psychosocial behaviours from their roots to their eventual eruptions, analyzes common myths about school violence and its origins, and, based on research and empirical knowledge, prescribes best practices, administrative action that will help schools prevent larger and more violent incidents from occurring.
