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SCHOOL SAFETY STUDY

To ensure that schools are safe places where students can learn without fear, researchers and educators must be able to understand the indicators of school safety as well as student and staff safety concerns. Data gathered from school, law enforcement and justice systems can provide archival measures of school safety. A missing element in these indicators is the perceptions of both students and faculty about the safety of their campuses. This study examines the perceptions of students and faculty and compares those perceptions to archival data to answer the following questions:

1. How well do the various sources of data measure school safety?

2. How well are the various sources of data correlated?

3. How well do the perceptions of students and faculty reflect the archival school safety indicators?

4. How do the perceptions of school safety differ in schools with high standardized test scores from those with low standardized test scores?

For this study, researchers selected a stratified random sample of charter and public schools. At each school researchers conducted focus groups of students and teachers as well as interviews with principals and counselors on their perceptions of school safety. Archival data were from each school's report to the state department of education, local law enforcement crime reporting, and juvenile justice records.

 ARIZONA PROTECTIVE SCHOOLS

A school can be a powerful protective influence in the lives of its students, providing a positive environment that supports student academic and social growth. The Protective Schools Model identifies ten characteristics of schools shown to link prevention and resiliency factors with academic success. Please click here to visit the Protective Schools websIte.

TUCSON PBIS INITIATIVE

The Tucson PBIS Initiative is a systems approach to creating a safe and productive learning environment where teachers can teach, and all students can learn.

It includes the following features:

* Research-based, school-wide and classroom behavior support systems.
* A process for creating safer and more effective schools.
* A team-based process for systemic problem-solving, planning, and evaluation.
* A focus on improving the school’s ability to teach and support positive behavior for all students.

Its benefits include:

* More instructional time.
* Decreased number of office referrals.
* Increased staff and student attendance.
* More positive and calm environment.
* Increased parent participation and partnership.
* Improved community involvement and support.
* Decrease in staff turnover.

COMMUNITY SERVICE FOR SUSPENDED STUDENTS

Service Options provides assistance for educators, administrators, counselors, alternative to suspension (ATS) program coordinators, or other school personnel who would like to implement a unique alternative approach for suspended and disciplined students – community service. Please click here to visit the Service Options website.

VAIL C.A.R.E.S.

This program was designed to assist the Vail School District in their efforts to enhance the protective nature of their schools and target opportunities to strengthen their schools. The Vail C.A.R.E.S. Blog was designed to be used as a basis to begin conversations about school improvement strategies. To visit the Vail C.A.R.E.S. Blog, please click here.

TUCSON LINKS

Tucson LINKS is a comprehensive community-wide substance abuse and violence prevention project. LINKS provides training, technical support, behavioral health services, primary medical care, and financial incentives to 55 elementary schools, local preschools and early childhood programs. To visit the Tucson Links website, please click here.

The Protective Schools e-learning modules are design to assist learning facilitators in their efforts to increase the protective natures of their schools. These modules were prepared by Tucson LINKS, a Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative, in conjunction with the Smith Initiatives for Prevention and Education at the University of Arizona College of Education. To view the modules, please click here.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Relevant and effective professional development is critical to the success of any program. More information will be provided on this topic in the near future. Please check back for updates.