Research Symposium

BIO

Malak Ghandour is a third-year Criminology (Bachelors of Science) student with minors in History, Psychology, and Arabic Language. She has been involved greatly within the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, developing her interest in the biosocial perspective of criminology over the past 3 years. She has been an active member of the criminology fraternity Lambda Alpha Epsilon since 2025, and is also a research assistant on Dr. Sylwia Piatkowska's hate crime and education project, "Understanding Bias in K–12 Schools: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Victimization, Policy, and Structural Influences". Outside of the criminology program, Malak Ghandour is also greatly involved in the Middle-Eastern Studies program at Florida State University. She is an executive officer in the Arabic Honor Society and has won achievement awards for proficiency in Arabic Language. She is also currently conducting a Directed Individual Study on Arabic folklore music and its regional variances. Recently, she has been accepted into the Criminology PhD program at Florida State University with the guidance of Dr. Piatkowska, Dr. Brian Stults, and Dr. Zafer Lababidi, along with various graduate assistants within the program. Her prospective research targets are criminal legal policy application to neurodivergent persons and biosocial influences on deviant behavior.

Understanding Bias in K–12 Schools: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Victimization, Policy, and Structural Influences

Abstract

Hate crimes and bias-motivated harassment in U.S. K–12 schools have drawn sustained attention from policymakers, scholars, and the public as incidents in educational settings have become more visible in national reporting. Federal intervention through the Hate Crime Statistics Act mandated the systematic collection of hate crime data by the FBI, increasing transparency around bias-related incidents occurring in schools. Despite this federal data infrastructure, responsibility for prevention and response largely remains at the state level, where legislative approaches vary considerably.
By examining the variations and effectiveness of state-level school policies, the research seeks to determine whether stronger legislative policies are associated with improved outcomes and safer educational environments. Through a review of statutes, legislative records, and state constitutional provisions across all 50 states, policies are coded and scored on the basis of protected groups, enforcement mechanisms, institutional scope, and representational inclusivity. Comparative quantitative analysis incorporates controls for political affiliation, regional crime rates, demographic composition, and socioeconomic conditions to isolate policy effects.
Preliminary findings reveal substantial interstate variation in policy strength, with more comprehensive protections often concentrated in northern states. Democratic-sponsored policies generally receive higher inclusivity scores than Republican-sponsored legislation, though further statistical testing is required to establish causal relationships. The current findings provide a foundation for future research using national databases to assess long-term policy outcomes and their impact on reducing hate-related incidents in schools. These insights will empower policymakers to implement effective, evidence-based strategies that safeguard marginalized students and ensure equitable, high-quality educational experiences for all communities.

Keywords: K-12, Bias, Education, Schools, Policy