• Ensure adequate assessment of special needs. Familiarize yourself and your colleagues with the rights of students in your state to appropriate special education, including emotional and mental health services. Call upon referral agencies for evaluation and action plans. Work with school counselors to make sure that no student with a physical, emotional or learning disability "falls through the cracks."

• Reach out to cliques and social groups, including gangs. Initiate conversations in the halls and cafeteria with students from all segments of the school community. Administrators who do this send a message of inclusion, lay a foundation for communication, and help to dispel the "mystique" surrounding certain groups. Remember that gang rivalry often involves hate. Gang conflicts can create the same safety issues as racial and other bias-related conflicts and the same need for immediate denunciation of the hateful act, as well as for involvement by the school and local community in developing solutions. The responses to bias-motivated conflicts suggested in this guide may apply to many gang conflicts, as well.

• Support a wide range of extracurricular activities. Although every child needs to feel valued, not every child can be a star in the classroom or on the playing field. Offering many specialized clubs can help students "find their place" at school and foster feelings of belonging.

• Examine the ways your school recognizes student achievement. Longstanding traditions that may contribute to a sense of superiority among some students and feelings of frustration or inadequacy in others often go unquestioned. For example, the practice of spotlighting athletes and cheerleaders at pep assemblies on a regular basis, or encouraging them to stand out by dressing up on game days, often contrasts markedly with the way other groups are recognized. Also, athletes, honor students and student leaders may be perceived by classmates, rightly or wrongly, as enjoying special privileges or being disciplined less severely for offenses. Take steps to avoid favoritism and to celebrate a broad range of student achievement.