Annual Report on School Safety--October 1998

A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

What Communities Can Do

1. Establish school-community partnerships.

Schools function within the broader community. Participation from families, faith communities, businesses, health and social service agencies, police, juvenile justice authorities, and civic organizations is necessary to successfully intervene and prevent school violence. Individually and collectively, community organizations have a great deal to contribute. They can share information with schools on:

• Youth crime.

• Systems for measuring the levels of violence.

• Sources of funding.

• Volunteers.

• Learning opportunities and materials.

• Services and programs for youth.

Harnessing these resources and creating a successful partnership to reduce school violence require strong leadership from school officials. A workable school-community partnership invites multiple perspectives and allows for the sharing of responsibilities and accomplishments.

2. Identify and measure the problem.

School administrators and personnel, students, parents, and community leaders have different perceptions of school crime. These different perceptions make it difficult to agree on the primary school crime and safety issues that need to be addressed. Because perceptions of problems are not always accurate, it is important to know which problems are real and to act on them. In developing a comprehensive school safety plan, communities and schools should seek consensus on the primary issues. This occurs when people become more informed by examining information from several sources and sharing it widely. The box below provides a list of data sources for assessing the nature and extent of school crime and identifying the problems. A resource for assistance with data collection efforts is local universities.

Once the effort to collect data gets under way, it is important to establish a more systematic means of tracking multiple infractions by individual students, identifying problem areas, and examining trends over time. One data collection technique is to conduct anonymous student surveys to assess infrequent or underreported incidents and to measure attitudes and beliefs about crime. Another technique employs focus groups and interviews with students and staff.

3. Set measurable goals and objectives.

Goals describe broad purposes of anticipated measurable accomplishments. Objectives are the sequential, measurable steps needed to achieve each goal. Setting an unrealistic goal, such as eliminating school crime, makes it difficult to attain, increases the likelihood of failure, and invites criticism. A goal is more useful when it is reasonably specific and is supported by a fairly short list of objectives. Goals and objectives are based on accurate data and the identification of school-specific problems. Realistic and attainable goals lead to greater commitment and, ultimately, long-term success. Partners find that goals are more readily achieved when specific, manageable tasks are assigned to small groups of dedicated individuals.

Objectives describe "who will do how much of what by when." Often the objectives are written in sequential order, but multiple objectives are generally addressed in overlapping periods of time. Measurable objectives convey the advantage of knowing when, or whether, they have been achieved. They do not need to be so specific that every minor action is included. Stating the primary objectives is sufficient to allow accountability and to monitor progress. Goals and objectives need to be altered over time as experience and wisdom are gained. Communicating the goals to all participants throughout the intervention is very important, particularly if experience dictates that they change.

4. Identify appropriate research-based programs and strategies.

Although some programs and strategies are more effective than others, no single program or strategy is effective in meeting the needs of all students. The best approach calls for a mix of programs and strategies based on the goals, objectives, needs, and resources identified in the comprehensive plan. The plan should offer some programs and strategies to the entire student body and direct others toward at-risk students. Success is enhanced by keeping track of students from year to year, offering "booster" sessions at appropriate intervals, and using relapse prevention techniques.

When selecting programs and strategies, consider these features:

• Evidence of past effectiveness.

• The match between the program or strategy and the comprehensive safety plan's goals and objectives.

• The reading level of educational materials included in the program(s).

• The appropriateness of cultural images used by the program.

Chapter 3 describes examples of model programs that have proven effective or appear promising. Several programs and strategies can be implemented either simultaneously or sequentially. It makes sense to balance environmental and administrative strategies with educational and skills-training programs. In choosing this approach, it is important to plan to assess its effectiveness because the combination of programs and strategies being implemented is new and untested.

5. Implement the comprehensive plan.

Communities also differ in the way they implement their comprehensive plans. However, certain basic steps need to be followed by all communities.

• Obtain district approvals.

• Seek community support through a public awareness campaign.

• Train staff.

• Select students for participation in programs.

• Seek parental approval for student participation in programs.

School district officials may have to approve the selection of programs as well as any evaluation instruments. A broad campaign in the local community is appropriate for some program interventions, raising awareness of the school violence problem, introducing the intervention, explaining the process, and inviting expertise, volunteers, and donations. Staff development enhances the consistency and quality of program delivery and builds enthusiasm for the program. In some interventions, student selection is based on criteria such as risk factors or needs. Parents may need to give consent for their children to participate. These elements are usually in place before students become involved in the intervention.

Continuous monitoring and assessment are critical steps in implementing the plan. Ask these questions:

• Have procedures been developed for monitoring the implementation of the plan?

• Is there consistency between the plan and actual events?

• Do budgeted costs match actual costs?

• What is the initial response of students, staff, and parents to the plan?

• Are there unforeseen barriers to implementation?

• What are the unintended negative consequences of selected programs and strategies?

• What changes in the nature of the problem have evolved over time?

• What adjustments need to be made to the plan?

Because careful replication of selected programs and strategies improves success, the quality of implementation needs to be monitored. Communities should anticipate problems (barriers, consequences, changes, and need for adjustments) and view them as opportunities for collaborative resolution. The time and attention given to each phase of implementation, the amount of training provided to staff, the consistency of support and delivery, and attention to individual student needs and progress are just a few of the quality issues to consider.

6. Evaluate the plan.

Evaluation is a critical component of the comprehensive school safety plan. It serves several purposes:

• To increase the effectiveness of management and administration of the plan.

• To document that objectives have been met.

• To determine the overall effectiveness of the plan, its programs, and strategies.

Conducting an evaluation or a series of evaluations helps to ensure accountability, determines whether the plan is making a difference, and provides important feedback for improving the plan and its programs and strategies.

There are three kinds of evaluation: process, outcome, and impact. A process evaluation describes and assesses the quality of implementation activities. An outcome evaluation studies the immediate or direct effects of an intervention. An impact evaluation looks beyond the immediate results of policies, instruction, or services to identify longer-term as well as unintended effects. It also examines what happens when several programs and strategies operate in unison. Ideally, an evaluation of the plan's programs and strategies compares groups before and after the plan is implemented. Data from surveys, interviews, incident records, disciplinary referrals, and other relevant information need to be collected before and after the implementation of the plan's programs and strategies to assess whether the plan is having the desired effects on student attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. In this way, the evaluation tells us whether anything has changed and whether the change is attributable to the specific intervention. If improvements are greater in the intervention group than in a comparison group (one that did not receive the intervention, received it to a lesser extent, or received something different), the intervention is considered a success. This type of evaluation effort requires careful selection of research design, methods, and instruments. It makes sense to seek professional help from evaluation experts through local universities or evaluation research organizations.

7. Revise the plan on the basis of the evaluation.

A well-designed evaluation yields useful information. The results may suggest that changes should be made in the selection of programs and strategies, that additional training is warranted, or that other people need to be involved. If a school administers a comprehensive school safety plan for several years with little impact on violence, perhaps an entirely new plan needs to be implemented. Recommendations for improvement are identified through interviews with the stakeholders, surveys, or focus groups. These assessments reveal which activities were most effective, what materials worked best, how barriers were overcome, and what type of students received the most or least benefit and why.

[Chapter 2: What Communities Can Do Through Collaboration]

[What Schools Can Do]