Regulation-Aligned Schooling (RAS): An Operational Framework for Developmentally Matched Education Systems

Regulation-Aligned Schooling (RAS) is a closed, operational framework that defines the minimum structural conditions under which schooling systems can function without producing predictable regulatory overload in students or staff. The framework treats escalation, disengagement, exclusion, and staff burnout as system-level design failures, not individual deficits. It specifies non-negotiable design constraints governing environment, staffing, transitions, recovery access, governance, and data use, while explicitly excluding therapeutic, behavioural, diagnostic, or curriculum-prescriptive functions. RAS is not a wellbeing programme, behaviour management system, or pedagogical model. It does not train teachers, treat trauma, assess individuals, or require belief, values alignment, or cultural buy-in. Instead, it functions as operational infrastructure—comparable to safety or engineering constraints—against which schooling systems can be tested, redesigned, or halted. The framework is falsifiable by design. If escalation, recovery time, staff load, exclusions, or access do not improve under compliant implementation, termination—not escalation—is the correct response. Use of this framework is governed by the RAS Operational Use License v1.0 (Stewarded). Reading, citation, and governance review are permitted. Any form of implementation, pilot, adaptation, or operational engagement requires explicit institutional governance approval under the license conditions. Partial adoption, symbolic alignment, or therapeutic reframing constitutes misuse. This Zenodo record preserves the canonical operational specification (v1.3). No authority, endorsement, training entitlement, or implied permission is conferred by publication.