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February 27, 4:00-5:30 pm ET
What's New
HHS/Office of Adolescent Health Updates State-by-State Adolescent Mental Health Facts. The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health has recently updated its state summaries that focus on adolescent mental health. Each state page reports on positive social skills, depressive symptoms, depressive episodes and suicidal thoughts, attempts, and injuries. Learn More
Safety |
School safety refers to the security of the school setting and school-related activities as perceived and experienced by all stakeholders, including families, caregivers, students, school staff, and the community. School safety encompasses both emotional and physical safety, and is influenced by positive and negative behaviors of students and staff as well as the presence of substance use in the school setting and during school-related activities. The following products, research articles and briefs, and tools provide an overview of issues and concerns related to school safety, as well as tools and strategies to address components of emotional and physical safety in the school setting.
Featured Resource(s):
Human Trafficking of Children in the United States: A Fact Sheet for Schools
Developed for those working in school settings and provides an overview of human trafficking, how it affects schools, tips for identifying victims, and steps for reporting human trafficking.
Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention — A Sourcebook for Community Action
Looks at the effectiveness of specific violence prevention practices in four key areas: parents and families; home visiting; social and conflict resolution skills; and mentoring; documents the science behind each best practice and offers a comprehensive directory of resources for more information about programs that have used these practices.
Best Practices To Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Model, Second Edition
Provides guidance on how communities can best address an existing or emerging youth gang problem.
Bystander Intervention
Describes how a bystander approach gives community members specific roles that they can use in preventing sexual violence, including naming and stopping situations before they happen, stepping in during an incident, and speaking out against ideas and behaviors that support sexual violence. This approach develops skills to be an effective and supportive ally to survivors after an assault has taken place.
Children's Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey
Discusses the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), which measured the exposure to violence for children across several major categories: conventional crime, child maltreatment, victimization by peers and siblings, sexual victimization, witnessing and indirect victimization (including exposure to community violence and family violence), school violence and threats, and Internet victimization.
Community Partnerships: Improving the Response to Child Maltreatment
Offers a foundation for understanding child maltreatment and the roles and responsibilities of various practitioners in its prevention, identification, investigation, and treatment.
Creating Safe and Drug-Free Schools: An Action Guide
Helps school and community leaders, parents, and students develop a strategy to ensure safe schools in their communities with action steps for schools, parents, students, and community and business groups; information briefs on specific issues affecting school safety; and research and evaluation findings, a list of resources, and additional readings.
Dating Abuse Fact Sheet
Presents statistics about the prevalence of dating abuse among adolescents, information on the associated health risks, and issues to consider in helping teens cultivate healthy relationships.
Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools
Offers research-based practices designed to assist school communities identify these warning signs early and develop prevention, intervention and crisis response plans.
Federal Resources on Missing and Exploited Children: A Directory for Law Enforcement and Other Public and Private Agencies Sixth Edition
Describes the federal services, programs, publications, and training sessions that address child sexual exploitation issues, child pornography, child abduction, Internet crime, and missing children cases.
Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs
Presents an overview of gang research and programs in the United States and examines how gangs form and why youth join them.
Gender-Based Violence Prevention
Provides an overview of the research literature regarding gender-base violence prevention and provides examples from campuses on specific interventions.
Girls' Delinquency
Examines rising trends in girls’ delinquency in the 1990s.
Guns on Campus: A Current Debate
Describes how the debate on whether guns should be permitted at colleges and universities has intensified. Dozens of states have considered proposals to lift bans on concealed weapons at colleges and universities, but so far none have been successful.
Human Trafficking of Children in the United States: A Fact Sheet for Schools
Offers information on what human trafficking is and how it can affect schools. It also provides a list of indicators one can you use to identify a vicitim of sex trafficking, as well as tips on how to report it.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (HTSA)
Provides a series of resources for reducing school bus-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities through both behavioral programs and vehicle regulations; offers suggestions for working to educate school bus drivers, students, and other motorists about safe behavior that reduces the risk of being involved in a school bus-related crash.
Preventing Violence and Promoting Safety in Higher Education Settings: Overview of a Comprehensive Approach
Reviews the scope of campus violence problems, describes factors that cause and contribute to violence, outlines a comprehensive approach to reducing violence and promoting safety on campus, and lists specific recommendations
Questions and Answers About the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence
Presents an overview of the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), the most comprehensive nationwide survey to date of the incidence and prevalence of children's exposure to violence. Outlines the survey’s objectives and key features, how exposure to violence was measured, and plans for followup surveys and publications.
Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader’s Guide to Evidence-Based SEL Programs
Provides a road map for schools and districts that are launching or adding social, emotional, and academic learning programs and reviews 80 multiyear, sequenced SEL programs designed for use in general education classrooms.
Safeguarding Our Children: An Action Guide
Provides a comprehensive model that can lead to safer schools and information about technical assistance centers and evidence-based resources that schools can draw upon to develop a comprehensive plan that addresses the particular safety needs of their schools and communities.
SCOPE Thought Piece
Provides thoughts from an assembled group of prevention education practitioners and experts on the biggest questions facing prevention educators today.
Student-Led Crime Prevention: A Real Resource with Powerful Promise
Provides examples of student-led crime prevention, outlines its variations, and describes key steps for bringing it to schools.
The Challenge
Provides critical information and resources to help schools in creating safe and healthy environments for students. It is a publication of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students.
Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates
Details a process for identifying, assessing, and managing students who may pose a threat of targeted violence in schools; includes suggestions for developing a threat assessment team within a school or school district, steps to take when a threat or other information of concern comes to light, consideration about when to involve law enforcement personnel, issues of information sharing, and ideas for creating safe school climates.
Featured Resource(s):
Prevalence and Implementation Fidelity of Research-Based Prevention Programs in Public Schools
Examines the prevalence of research-based drug and violence prevention programs in schools and the programs' implementation fidelity.
2011 School Climate Technical Assistance Symposium: Monitoring and Mapping Student Victimization in Schools
Argues that successful school violence prevention programs should involve a strategy of understanding where and when violence takes place in a particular school and then developing and implementing safety programs adapted to what is found in that school. Provides instruction on how to collect information on when and where violence occurs and how to use information collected to create a strategic violence prevention plan.
2011 School Climate Technical Assistance Symposium: Monitoring Indicators of Children’s Victimization in School: Linking National-, Regional-, and Site-Level Indicators
Suggests monitoring school violence from multiple perspectives, using multiple indicators, and comparing the results of national, regional, and state level studies in order to empower decision makers at each of these levels to provide the best solutions to school violence based on a picture showing, in full perspective, what the biggest problem areas are.
2011 School Climate Technical Assistance Symposium: Monitoring school violence: Linking national-, district-, and school-level data over time
Identifies the need for monitoring systems of school violence at the national, district, and school level who’s data can be gathered together and compared in order to make decisions on dealing with school violence that are based on both a global perspective and on the needs of independent cases.
2011 School Climate Technical Assistance Symposium: School Violence and Theoretically Atypical Schools: The Principal's Centrality in Orchestrating Safe Schools
Examines variables that explain how, while typically the level of safety within a school is a reflection of the level of safety in that school's surrounding community, there are some outlier schools with levels of safety that do not correlate with that of the community.
2011 School Climate Technical Assistance Symposium: Unowned Places and Times: Maps and Interviews About Violence in High Schools
Determines that school violence often occurs when there is a lack of adult supervision and explores what feasible adaptations could be made to lower school violence rates in light of these findings.
A Profile of Criminal Incidents at School: Results from the 2003-05 National Crime Victimization Survey
Provides estimates of criminal incidents that occur at school based on incident-level data obtained from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the nation’s primary source of information on criminal victimization and criminal incidents in the United States.
America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2007
Presents detailed information on the welfare of children and families including such topics as family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health.
America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2009
Provides annual updates on the well-being of children and families in the United States across a range of domains.
Child and Youth Victimization Known to Police, School, and Medical Authorities
Presents the survey results from the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) regarding authorities' knowledge of victimization incidents involving children and youth, particularly police, school, and medical authorities.
Children's Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Other Family Violence
Explores results from the NatSCEV, the most comprehensive nationwide survey to date of the incidence and prevalence of children’s exposure to violence across all ages, settings, and timeframes, regarding exposure to family violence among children in the United States, including exposure to intimate partner violence, assaults by parents on siblings of children surveyed, and other assaults involving teen and adult household members. Also discusses the implications of the survey data for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.
Crime and Safety Surveys
Provides data and reports produced by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on the topic of school crime and safety, organized by survey respondent.
Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools, Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2007-08
Presents national-level information about crime and safety in U.S. public schools as reported by school principals, including the frequency of criminal incidents at school, the use of disciplinary actions, and efforts to prevent and reduce crime at school.
Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings From the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2009–10
Presents findings on crime and violence in U.S. public schools, using data from the 2009–10 School Survey on Crime and Safety. Survey asks public school principals about the frequency of incidents, such as physical attacks, robberies, and thefts, in their schools; and asks about school programs, disciplinary actions, and the policies implemented to prevent and reduce crime in schools.
Dating Violence Prevention Programs in Public Middle Schools: A Multi-Level Experimental Evaluation
Employs a multi-level experiment to provide high-quality scientific evidence concerning the effectiveness of targeting a young, universal primary prevention audience with classroom-based curricula and school-level interventions around reducing peer-to-peer harassment and dating violence.
Electronic Media and Youth Violence: A CDC Research Brief for Researchers
Summarizes the data, to highlight the research gaps, and to suggest future topics for research to better understand the growing problem of electronic media and youth violence.
Evaluating G.R.E.A.T.: A School-Based Gang Prevention Program
Summarizes results of a 5-year study of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program, revealing that G.R.E.A.T. has modest positive effects on adolescents' attitudes and delinquency risk factors but no effects on their involvement in gangs and actual delinquent behaviors.
Findings From the Evaluation of OJJDP's Gang Reduction Program
Presents findings from an independent evaluation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP’s) Gang Reduction Program—a comprehensive, multifaceted approach to gang reduction.
Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs
Presents an overview of gang research and programs in the United States and examines how gangs form and why youth join them.
Highlights From Pathways to Desistance: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Adolescent Offenders
Looks at the factors that lead youth who have committed serious offenses to continue or desist from offending, including individual maturation, life changes, and involvement with the criminal justice system.
Highlights of the 2006 National Youth Gang Survey
Summarizes findings from the 2006 survey and reports data on the number of gangs, gang members, and gang-related crime. Based on survey results, it is estimated that approximately 26,500 gangs and 785,000 gang members were active in the United States in 2006.
Highlights of the 2007 National Youth Gang Survey
Reports findings from the 2007 National Youth Gang Survey. Based on survey results, it is estimated that nearly 3,550 jurisdictions across the United States experienced gang activity in 2007.
Highlights of the 2008 National Youth Gang Survey
Reports findings from the 2008 National Youth Gang Survey. Based on survey results, it is estimated that more than 3,330 jurisdictions across the United States experienced gang activity in 2008.
Highlights of the 2009 National Youth Gang Survey
Summarizes findings from the 2009 National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS), a systematic survey of law enforcement agencies across the United States regarding the presence and characteristics of local gang problems; discusses the prevalence of gangs in the U.S., rates of gang activity and gang homicides, and factors that may influence gang violence.
Impacts of a Violence Prevention Program for Middle Schools: Findings After 3 Years of Implementation
Summarizes findings from an impact evaluation of a hybrid model violence prevention intervention that combined a curriculum-based program, Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways, and a whole-school approach, Best Behavior, for middle schools.
Improving academic achievement through improving school climate and student connectedness
Presents analyses of survey data regarding how students experience social and emotional conditions for learning, and the relationship of these conditions to academic outcomes.
Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2011
Provides data on crime and safety at school from the perspective of students, teachers, and principals. Provides crime and safety information for students’ travel to and from school. Highlights the most current detailed statistical information on the nature of crime in schools and school environments and responses to violence and crime at school.
Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2010
Provides the most current detailed statistical information on the nature of crime in schools, examining crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school.
Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools - Second Edition
Provides researchers and prevention specialists with a set of tools to assess violence-related beliefs, behaviors, and influences, as well as to evaluate programs to prevent youth violence.
Polyvictimization: Children's Exposure to Multiple Types of Violence, Crime, and Abuse
Presents the findings of the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), the most comprehensive nationwide survey to date of the incidence and prevalence of children's exposure to violence across all ages, settings, and timeframes. Focuses on polyvictimization, which is defined as having experienced multiple victimization of different kinds, such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, bullying, and exposure to family violence.
Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gang Affiliation Among High-Risk Youth: A Public Health Approach
Assesses risk and protective factors associated with gang affiliation among a high-risk youth population to better inform primary prevention strategies.
School Climate Predictors of School Disorder: Results from a National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools
Examines the association of school organizational characteristics with school crime and disorder in a nationally representative sample of 254 secondary schools.
Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2007 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
Uses data from the 2007 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to show the relationship between bullying and cyber-bullying victimization and other variables of interest such as the reported presence of gangs, guns, drugs, and alcohol at school; select school security measures; student criminal victimization; and personal fear, avoidance behaviors, fighting, and weapon-carrying at school.
Student Victimization in U.S. Schools: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
Uses data from the 2009 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to examine student criminal victimization and the characteristics of crime victims and nonvictims. Also provides findings on student reports of the presence of gangs and weapons and the availability of drugs and alcohol at school, student reports of bullying and cyberbullying, and fear and avoidance behaviors of crime victims and nonvictims at school.
Student-Reported Overt and Relational Aggression and Victimization in Grades 3–8
Examines the prevalence and distribution of aggression, victimization, and approval of aggression, both overt (verbally and physically aggressive behavior intended to threaten or harm) and relational (behavior intended to harm someone’s relationships with others).
The Effectiveness of Universal School-Based Programs for the Prevention of Violent and Aggressive Behavior
Provides a summary of findings from a review of evidence concerning the effectiveness of universal school-based violence prevention programs.
Using Environmental Design to Prevent School Violence
Considers how Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), a crime reduction approach that focuses on reducing crime opportunities and on promoting positive social behavior, can be applied to school violence prevention.
Violence by Teenage Girls: Trends and Context
Examines the involvement of girls in violent activity (including whether such activity has increased relative to the increase for boys) and the contexts in which girls engage in violent behavior.
Youth Violence National and State Statistics at a Glance
Describes trends and patterns in youth violence; data presented can be used by public health officials, researchers, practitioners and the public to understand and describe the need for prevention programs and policies that address risk and protective factors for youth violence, including policies and programs aimed at promoting prosocial behavior, strengthening families, and creating communities in which youth are safe from violence.
Human Trafficking of Children in the United States: A Fact Sheet for Schools
Offers information on what human trafficking is and how it can affect schools. It also provides a list of indicators one can you use to identify a vicitim of sex trafficking, as well as tips on how to report it.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Model Programs Guide
Offers a database of scientifically-proven programs that address a range of issues, including substance abuse, mental health, and education programs.
Safe Communities, Safe Schools: School Safety Glossary
Simple, concise tool for schools, families, and communities.
2011 OSDFS National Conference: Unifying Best Practices Under a Connected School Umbrella: Enhancing Conditions for Learning
Demonstrates how Olweus Bullying Prevention, Positive Behavior Intervention Supports, Avid, Second Step, and Steps to Respect can be enhanced by a Connected School approach. Acquaints participants with the Connected School ideas and strategies and how to use these ideas and strategies as a unifying force in implementing best practices for creating and maintaining conditions for learning in their school.
2011 School Climate Technical Assistance Symposium: How Can We Improve School Safety Research?
Suggests future approaches to researching school safety, such as working with attention to understanding school violence in context, understanding the interrelationships among types of violence at school, understanding cross-cultural and within-culture, variability in etiology and prevention of school violence, replicating evidence based practice studies to establish greater external validity, and observing and learning from schools that have independently made marked improvements in school safety.
2011 School Climate Technical Assistance Symposium: Making the Case for an International Perspective on School Violence - Implications for Theory, Research, Policy, and Assessment
Proposes a comprehensive study of school violence as it appears in cultures across the globe, suggesting that regions could share with one another their proposed theories on school violence, and, share interventions and policies that have been found effective. Discusses inherent challenges in performing a study of this kind and identifies resources and supports needed to accomplish the objectives of such a study.
2012 OSHS Grantee TA Symposium: Resources to Support Improved School Climate
Documents descriptions and links to a variety of guides, briefs, tools, and websites by the school climate content areas of programmatic intervention, measures, school climate (engagement, environment, and safety), and special populations.
Dating Matters: Understanding Teen Dating Violence Prevention
60-minute, interactive training designed to help educators, youth-serving organizations, and others working with teens understand the risk factors and warning signs associated with teen dating violence.
Websites
The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV)
Works from a multi-disciplinary approach on the subjects of violence and facilitates, and, the building of bridges between the research community and practitioners and policy makers. Offers tools and products related to school climate, bullying prevention, and problem behaviors.
Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior
Empowers schools and social service agencies to address violence and destructive behavior, at the point of school entry and beyond, in order to ensure safety and to facilitate the academic achievement and healthy social development of children and youth. Features a learning center and information about trainings.
Kentucky Center for School Safety
Produces and houses safe school assessments, resources, emergency procedures, and handouts, and oversees safe school funding recipients' work for the state of Kentucky under House Bill 330.
National Crime Prevention Council - School Safety
Leads nation in helping people keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe from crime. Produces tools that communities can use to learn crime prevention strategies, engage community members, and coordinate with local agencies.
The National Gang Center
Features the latest research about gangs; descriptions of evidence-based, anti-gang programs; and links to tools, databases, and other resources to assist in developing and implementing effective community-based gang prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies.
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
Works to improve societal and community responses to domestic violence and, ultimately, prevent its occurrence. Offers resources like online publications and links to other key resources.
National School Safety Center
Provides school communities and their school safety partners with quality information, resources, consultation, and training services.
New York State Center for School Safety
Provides support to schools, families, communities and government organizations throughout the state of NY as a government coordinating agency and information clearinghouse on school safety. Houses resources like briefs, factsheets, archived webinars, and newsletters.
Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY)
Supports cities in developing, implementing and evaluating effective and sustainable prevention efforts and increases awareness of what is needed to prevent violence in the first place. Offers resources like guidebooks and research summaries to meet these ends.
American Federation of Teachers
Houses free products and tools on topic it calls "Safe, Orderly and Healthy Schools" and serves as a membership organization for teachers, providing members a wealth of resources on teaching, including periodicals and videos.
Arkansas Safe Schools Initiative
Houses a resource library with briefs, tools and more related to the prevention of violence and bullying in school.
Blueprints at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV)
Identifies violence and drug prevention programs that meet a high scientific standard of effectiveness. Serves as a resource for governments, foundations, businesses, and other organizations trying to make informed judgments about their investments in violence and drug prevention programs.
California Safe Schools Coalition
Provides tools and products as State of California resource center for promoting safety and non-violence in schools.
Building State Capacity for Preventing Youth Substance Use and Violence (BSC) Program
Provides information on Building State Capacity for Preventing Youth Substance Use and Violence grants that are awarded to state educational agencies (SEAs) to build and sustain capacity to prevent youth substance use and violence and support collaboration between SEAs and other State agencies that are involved in efforts to prevent these problems.
The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) within the Problem Behavior Program of the Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS)
Works from a multi-disciplinary approach on the subject of violence and facilitates, and, the building of bridges between the research community and the practitioners and policy makers. Offers tools and products related to school climate, bullying prevention, and problem behaviors.
The Governor's Prevention Partnership - Connecticut
Provides tools and products as State of Connecticut Governor's Prevention Partnership, including information on mentoring, violence prevention, bullying prevention, and drug-use prevention.
The National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere
Promotes meaningful student involvement, education and service opportunities in efforts to provide safer environments for youth through dissemination of tools and other resources focusing on the subject.
Project Youth Safety
Comprehensive multimedia, multicultural public awareness initiative promoting child and youth safety at the community level focusing on six different child/youth safety issues: Youth in Crisis; Impact of Domestic Violence on Youth; Child Sexual Abuse; Teen Dating Violence; Child Abuse & Neglect in a Southeast Asian Community; and Cell Phone Safety for Ages 8 & up.
Take Action to Protect Children
Provides online resources, tips, hotline numbers, and a personal call to action tailored for professionals in various fields who work with children who experience or witness violence.
Safe Start Initiative
National resource center that seeks to broaden the knowledge of and promote community investment in evidence-based strategies for reducing the impact of children's exposure to violence.
National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth
Information resource of the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services serving FYSB grantees and others working with at-risk youth and families. Offers articles, publications, podcasts and other tools on topics like Cultural Competence, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Youth, Permanent Connections, Positive Youth Development, Relationship Violence and Sexual Exploitation, Runaway and Homeless Youth, and Well-Being.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Provides states, providers, communities and the public with the best and most up-to-date information about behavioral health issues and prevention/treatment approaches.
Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere (STRYVE)
Takes a public health approach to preventing youth violence before it starts by providing communities with knowledge and resources on a wide range of topics related to youth violence, including definition and causes, prevalence and consequences, prevention, help, and news.
Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative TA Center
Provides students, schools, and communities with federal funding to implement an enhanced, coordinated, and comprehensive plan of activities and services that focus on promoting healthy childhood development and preventing violence and substance abuse.
School Safety Partners
Dedicated to creating long-term funding partnerships to support school safety best practices. Offers webinars and information kits about improving school safety legislation and finding long-term funding solutions.
Office of Safe and Healthy Students
Provides information on programs, grants, and policies addressing drug and violence prevention, character and civic education, and physical education.
National Center for Safe Routes to School
Provides information about the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs, which are sustained efforts by parents, schools, community leaders and local, state, and federal governments to improve the health and well-being of children by enabling and encouraging them to walk and bicycle to school.
Love Is Respect
Provides information about fostering healthy dating attitudes and relationships to prevent teen dating violence.
Injury and Violence Prevention and Control
Provides information from the CDC on the topics of injury and violence prevention within topic areas and through publications and other resources.
Find Youth Info
Provides information and resources on youth engagement; youth development, mental health, safety, transportation, housing and employment.
Dating Matters Initiative
Serves as a comprehensive teen dating violence prevention initiative based on the current evidence about what works in prevention. Focuses on 11 to 14 year olds in high-risk, urban communities and includes preventive strategies for individuals, peers, families, schools, and neighborhoods.
Choose Respect
Helps adolescents form healthy relationships to prevent dating abuse before it starts; designed to motivate adolescents to challenge harmful beliefs about dating abuse and take steps to form respectful relationships.
Academic Centers for Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention
Researches youth violence prevention approaches, collects and analyzes surveillance data, and fosters relationships with local community partners to help develop, implement, and evaluate promising prevention efforts.
News Clips
IN Elementary School Students Give Up Violent Video Games
Students in an Indiana elementary school have voluntarily agreed to give up violent video games and other media following concerns that such games could lead students to be desensitized to violence. Parents say they support the change, especially following the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. In four days, officials say families turned in 70 violent games that will be recycled.
College Presidents Call for Stricter Gun Laws
A group of college presidents is joining forces with mayors around the U.S. to advocate for stricter gun control. Through a new organization called College Presidents for Gun Safety, the school officials are collaborating with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of close to 900 city leaders that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has founded to fight gun violence and elect public officials who consider this a priority. Read Story
Schools’ Reactions to Fake Guns: Avoiding Real Danger?
Students across the nation have faced detention, lengthy suspensions and even expulsion for making firearms out of Legos or bringing cheap, plastic toy pistols to class. A Montgomery County Public Schools student was even suspended recently for pointing his fingers in the shape of a gun, though the suspension was overturned. With much of the nation caught up in a furious debate over guns and Second Amendment rights in the wake of Newtown, school leaders are struggling to walk the line between prudence and hysterical overreaction. Read Story
MD County Council Approves $3.7M School Safety Plan
Members of the Baltimore County Council on Monday approved spending $3.7 million on school safety equipment, including cameras, improved electronic entry systems and a new visitor ID system. Under the plan, the county will expand the use of cameras in schools, and the video will stream live to police patrol cars, precincts and command staff at police headquarters. School police officers will get mobile tablets to monitor the footage. Read Story
Armed Teachers and Guards Won't Make Schools Safer
There are three cost-effective alternatives to arming classroom teachers, writes Charles J. Russo, an adjunct law professor at the University of Dayton, Ohio. Among the suggestions he offers in this commentary are to strengthen counseling and family programs, develop and practice comprehensive school-safety plans and take measures to secure the school building, such as requiring visitors to check into a central location and reinforcing the windows. Read Story
Parents Concerned About School Safety Weigh Various Options
There are plenty of signs that parents are fearful about violence in our society and how it will impact their children—in school, and beyond. As U.S. lawmakers eye policy changes in the wake of the Newtown tragedy, proposals include arming adults in and around schools, a suggestion that has raised several concerns.
Obama Presses School Safety, Mental-Health Initiatives
President Barack Obama's comprehensive plan to help the nation avert gun violence lays out a series of new and reinvigorated federal programs aimed at bolstering districts' emergency preparedness; helping schools hire safety personnel, social workers, and psychologists; and training teachers to better identify students with mental illness.
Opposition, Support Grow for Adding Armed Police at Schools
While President Obama said recently that he would be skeptical that more guns would be an answer to school safety, his administration is considering paying to add police to secure schools. Read Story
Social-Emotional Needs Entwined with Students' Learning, Security
A supportive environment can promote student achievement, and stress can be a hindrance, research and experience show. Read Story
Social-Emotional Needs Entwined with Students' Learning, Security
Students' ability to learn depends not just on the quality of their textbooks and teachers, but also on the comfort and safety they feel at school and the strength of their relationships with adults and peers there. Read Story
PA: School Resource Officers Expected at all Buildings
Officials in a Pennsylvania district are working with police to place school resource officers in all buildings. The move comes after the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and also follows what turned out to be an unsubstantiated rumor that a violent incident would take place at a local high school.
PA District Cuts Parent Lunch Visitation in Wake of Sandy Hook
In the wake of the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., a school district in Pennsylvania has decided to retool a policy on parents and guardians joining students for lunch during the school day. Previously, parents and guardians were permitted at lunch without the clearance required for school volunteers. Now, however, officials say the revised policy will minimize risk and improve safety for students and staff. Read Story
Debate Stirred on Arming Teachers, School Staff
In the aftermath of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, several prominent voices, including former U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett and U.S. Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, have argued that allowing teachers and principals to carry firearms could prevent such incidents. But allowing school staff members to carry firearms to defend students and themselves could create safety and logistical problems for school authorities and law-enforcement officers, according to a national group representing police officers assigned to schools.
Arne Duncan Named to White House Task Force After School Shootings
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been tapped—along with other cabinet officials—to serve on a White House task force that will examine gun violence, mental health services, and other policies related to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Principals' Union: We Need National School Safety Task Force
In the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Conn., the American Federation of School Administrators is calling for a national task force specifically on school safety. The task force, the goals of which were outlined in a press release dated Dec. 18, would focus on standards for establishing best practices in school safety, for implementing those best practices, and for determining what resources are needed to establish them.
Governor Vetoes Bill Permitting Concealed Weapons in MI Schools
Days after the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn., Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has vetoed legislation that would have allowed some people to carry concealed weapons in schools, day-care centers and other locations. Under the bill, gun owners with additional training would have been permitted to carry the weapons. Snyder said he vetoed the bill because it did not allow for institutions to opt out and ban weapons from their premises. Read Story
School Shootings' Effects Felt in Districts Nationwide
Three days after the deadliest K-12 school shooting in American history, state and district education leaders across the country are reviewing security measures, increasing police presence, and grappling with how to answer students’ questions about the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the Newtown, Conn., district.
New Orleans Middle-school Students Describe High Rates of Depression
New Orleans middle-school students cite symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress at much higher rates than typical teenagers, according to data based on interviews collected by a local non-profit organization. Perhaps not surprising in a city with the highest murder rate in the country, the interviews conducted by the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies also showed the New Orleans children had elevated rates of witnessing violence and feeling concerned about their safety.
Civil Rights Office Reflects on Discipline, Bullying, Violence Issues
The office for civil rights maintains that minority students are disciplined more harshly and more frequently than other students, "resulting in serious, negative educational consequences, particularly when such students are excluded from school." One analysis of data collected by the agency from the 2009-10 school year found that one in six black students was suspended out of school at least once that school year.
School Safety Expert Urges Proactive Approach To Prevent School Violence
In the wake of recent weapon-related incidents at Baltimore County schools, new superintendent Dr. Dallas Dance has encouraged better communication with the community and increased community involvement. Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services and “expert” in several federal school safety reviews, urges parents and school administrators to develop an understanding that true safety is proactive and begins with what cannot be seen -- increased communication, planning and relationship with the community.
Jury Award Upheld Against District in Locker Room Harassment
A jury found that administrators in the Wayne County district were deliberately indifferent to evidence that 8th grade male basketball players were harassing their 7th grade counterparts in the locker room, including "lights out" incidents of gyrating on the younger players, and requiring a blindfolded student to perform sit-ups in which his face came into contact with the bare buttocks of an 8th grader. In the most serious incident, 8th grade players restrained a 7th grader, pulled down his pants, and anally inserted a felt marker.
Police Chief: More Parental Involvement Reduces School Crime
An increase in parental involvement at Detroit Public Schools is one of the reasons crime has decreased in those schools, according to Schools Police Chief Roderick Grimes. Independent surveys of 3,144 parents demonstrated that parent engagement in school programs increased by 30 percent from the 2010-11 to the 2011-12 school year, a release from DPS indicates. At the same time, overall on-campus incidents were down 10 percent in the district's schools from the 2010-11 to the 2011-12 school year.
Justice Dept. Will Track Pa. District, Resolving Sexual Assault Cases
The Allentown, Pa., school district will have to take a number of steps to better prevent and address sexual harassment to resolve a federal investigation into how it handled the sexual assaults by a 5th grade student on 6- and 7-year-old schoolmates. Under a proposed agreement between the district and the U.S. Department of Justice, the district must develop new policies to address sexual harassment, agree to fully investigate alleged incidents of sexual harassment, and hire a consultant to oversee changes in the district.
More Middle Schoolers Are Exposed to Dating Violence
Data on more than 1,400 seventh-graders in a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program showed than 37% of them were victims of psychological dating violence and 15% were physical dating-violence victims. The survey also found 49% reported having been a victim of sexual harassment in the past 6 months.
Report: Crime at U.S. Public Schools on the Decline
Violent crime at the nation's schools is declining, and students and schools are reporting less bullying and gang activity. But new government data reports an increase in cyber bullying and youth suicides.
Volunteers Walk Students to School Amid Bus-Service Cuts
Military veterans and other community volunteers are working to ensure that students in Orange County, Fla., make it to school safely after budget cuts caused the district to reduce bus service.
Special Preschool Helps Address Students' Behavioral Challenges
A preschool in Ohio offers short-term interventions for preschool students with behavioral and mental health challenges who have been suspended from other area preschool programs. Educators at the school use puppets and other hands-on strategies to help teach positive behavior and impulse control to students, who typically attend the school for three to six months.
Youth Sexting Not All That Common, Reports Find
Illegal actions involving sexting befall a relatively small number of youth Internet users nationally, according to two reports from the University of New Hampshire. But the reports focus on transmission of videos and pictures, and don't address sexually explicit text-based messages.
Text-Message Bullying Becoming More Common
Twenty-four percent of more than 1,500 youths aged 10 to 15 who were surveyed in 2008 said they were harassed via text messages, up from about 14% in a 2007 survey of the same respondents, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.
DOJ: Dating-Violence Program in NYC Got Results
NYC middle school students who were warned against dating violence and harassment as part of a federal study were up to 50 percent less likely to commit dating violence than a control group of students.
National Study Finds Widespread Sexual Harassment of Students in Grades 7 to 12
Roughly 50% of students in grades 7 to 12 report having experienced sexual harassment during the past school year, with a majority of those saying the experiences caused them to miss school and sleep or have stomachaches, according to a new study.
Bisexual Teens at Highest Risk of Bullying and Suicide
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and those questioning their sexuality are at greater risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, bullying by their peers and truancy, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois.
Study: Violence More Common Among Students With Deployed Parents
A new study suggests that when parents are deployed in the military, their children are more than twice as likely to carry a weapon, join a gang or be involved in fights.
Study: More Soda, More Violence
Teenagers who consume large amounts of soda are more likely to display violent tendencies, according to a study recently conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Film Addresses Online Bullying in Chicago Public Schools
The film, "Your Social Life," was produced by two nonprofits with the support of the school district, whose students are featured discussing examples of bullying involving social-networking tools such as Facebook and YouTube.
L.A. Unified to Consider Expanding Anti-Dating Violence Programs
The Los Angeles Board of Education is expected to consider a proposal Tuesday that will take on teen dating violence by teaching students to recognize when a relationship is becoming abusive.
CO Panel: Strict School Discipline Should Be Scrapped
Colorado lawmakers and police said Monday that strict disciplinary policies at schools created after the Columbine High School shootings should be scaled back or scrapped and that administrators should have more control over student punishment.
How to Cut Crime, Alcoholism and Addiction? It's Not Elementary, But Preschool
To cut crime, raise education and income levels, and reduce addiction rates among the poor, no program offers more bang for the buck than preschool, as a new study published in Science demonstrates.
Homeland Security Hosts School Safety Workshops
Guam Homeland Security and the Office of Civil Defense (GHS/OCD), in conjunction with the Department of Education, will be hosting a School Safety Training Workshop for five (5) weeks for all School Personnel. The workshops began on Monday, June 6, at GHS/OCD.
Boys Who Bully May Grow Up to Be Abusive Men
Though it's not clear whether one type of violence directly leads to the other, a new study says that men who bully others during childhood are more likely to grow up and abuse their wives and girlfriends.
Study Links School Safety to Achievement, Relationships
Education Week
A new study finds that students' achievement and relationships with educators may play more of a role in school safety than neighborhood crime rate.
Start Strong Shares Ideas to Stop Dating Violence Before it Starts
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange
Sometimes the solution to a very big problem is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. That’s the theory behind Start Strong, a national program designed to defeat teen-dating violence by helping middle-school kids learn how to avoid unhealthy relationships.
Are High Schools Safer From Guns Since the Columbine Shooting?
On the 10 year anniversary of the Columbine shooting, consulting firm National School Safety and Security Services released a report suggesting schools are safer, but not out of the woods.
‘Day Of Silence’ Shows How Bullying, Hate Crimes Silence Youth
Friday, April 15 marks the “Day of Silence” – a day in which hundreds of thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-gay name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools.
Report: Domestic Problems, Safety Concerns Lead to Truancy
The D.C. Council's committee on school safety and truancy found in a report released Thursday that domestic problems and safety concerns both during commutes and at school cause truancy.
Attorney General Holder Speaks on School Violence, Critics Question Federal Role
Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department has a central role to play in tackling the problem of youth violence, but some education experts are skeptical of the federal government’s hand in the matter.
Federal Government Reviewing Sexual Violence in D.C. Schools
The federal government is investigating how D.C. public schools respond to reports of sexual violence and what they are doing to prevent such incidents, a senior U.S. education official said Monday.
Vice President Biden Announces New Administration Effort to Help Nation's Schools Address Sexual Violence
Vice President Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan introduced comprehensive guidance to help schools, colleges and universities better understand their obligations under federal civil rights laws to prevent and respond to the problem of campus sexual assault.
Underreporting Masks Violence in Philadelphia Schools
A yearlong Inquirer investigation of violence in Philadelphia schools uncovered dozens of cases of students assaulting each other, punching teachers, kicking school police officers and threatening to harm staff. The incidents only came to light—weeks or months later—when city police issued arrest reports on the incidents, prompting district officials to ask principals about them. Teachers and union officials, meanwhile, spoke of constant pressure from senior administrators at the district and school level—sometimes subtle and unspoken, sometimes blatant—to hold down the reported numbers.
U.S. Department of Education’s Kevin Jennings on School Bus Bullying
School Transportation News caught up with Kevin Jennings, the assistant deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools to discuss school bus driver-specfic training necessary to combat the problem.
School Climate Survey Compendium (as of December 20, 2011)
To assist educators and education agencies in locating a valid and reliable needs assessment that suits their needs, the Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center is developing a compendium of student, staff, and family surveys that can be used as part of a school climate needs assessment. Below is an initial list of school climate survey batteries. (Alternatively, click here to download a summary table (PDF) of each survey by respondent type.)
Please note that the Office of Safe and Healthy Students does not endorse any particular scale or survey presented in this compendium. Additionally, the database presented is not an exhaustive listing of available measures or survey instruments. If you would like to nominate a survey that is not currently included in the compendium, click on the link below.
Nominate a Survey
Alaska School Climate and Connectedness Survey
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Constructs |
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Respondents |
Students, Staff |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
These survey instruments are not publicly available. Please contact Kim Kendziora at kkendziora@air.org for more information about this survey. |
American Institutes for Research Conditions for Learning Survey
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Constructs |
Safe and Respectful Climate, High Expectations, Student Support, Social and Emotional Learning |
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Respondents |
Students |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
There is no charge for using this survey. Please contact David Osher at dosher@air.org for additional information. |
California Healthy Kids Survey
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Constructs |
School connectedness, School supports - caring relationships, School supports - high expectations, School supports - opportunities for meaningful participation, Community supports - caring relationships, Community supports - high expectations, Community supports - opportunities for meaningful participation, Tobacco, alcohol, or drug use at school, Physical/ verbal/emotional violence victimization, Physical/ verbal/emotional violence perpetration, Harassment victimization, Peer supports - caring relationships, Peer supports - high expectations, Home supports - caring relationships, Home supports - high expectations, Home supports - opportunities for meaningful participation, Problem solving Self-efficacy, Cooperation and communication, Empathy, Self-awareness |
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Respondents |
Students |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://chks.wested.org/administer/download, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: http://chks.wested.org/. |
California School Climate Survey
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Constructs |
Collegiality, Resource provisions and training, Professional development – instruction, Professional development – cultural competence, Professional development – meeting student needs, Positive student learning environment, Caring and respectful relationships, High expectations of students, Opportunities for meaningful participation, Cultural sensitivity, Clarity and equity of discipline policies, Perceived school safety, Learning facilitative behavior, Learning barrier – risk behavior, Learning barrier – interpersonal conflict and destructive behavior |
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Respondents |
Staff |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://cscs.wested.org/training_support, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: http://cscs.wested.org/. |
California School Parents Survey
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Constructs |
Facilitation of parent involvement, Positive student learning environment, Opportunities for meaningful participation, Cultural sensitivity, Clarity and equity of discipline policies, Perceived school safety, Learning barriers |
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Respondents |
Parents |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://csps.wested.org/, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: http://cscs.wested.org/. |
The Center for Research in Educational Policy School Climate Inventory
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Constructs |
Orderly School Environment; Instructional Leadership; Positive Learning Environment; Parent and Community Involvement; Well-Developed and Implemented Instruction; Expectations for Students; Collaboration among Administration, Faculty, and Students |
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Respondents |
Teachers, Administrators and Professional Staff |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
This survey instrument is not publicly available. Please contact the Center for Research in Educational Policy at CREP@memphis.edu or 1-866-670-6147 for more information. |
The Center for Social and Emotional Education Comprehensive School Climate Inventory
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Constructs |
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Respondents |
Students, Staff, Parents/Guardians, Community Members |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
These survey instruments are not publicly available. Please contact Darlene Faster, COO and Director of Communications, at the National School Climate Center at dfaster@schoolclimate.org or (212) 707-8799 x22 for more information on these surveys. |
Communities That Care Youth Survey
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Constructs |
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Respondents |
Students |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
The 2010 survey instrument is not publicly available. Please contact Michael Arthur at marthur@u.washinton.edu for information about this survey. |
The Consortium on Chicago School Research Survey of Chicago Public Schools
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Constructs |
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Respondents |
Students, Staff |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
Student surveys are available at http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/downloads/17242009_my_voice__9th-11th_student_codebook_.pdf and http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/downloads/23532009_my_voice_senior_student_codebook.pdf. Staff survey is available at http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/downloads/2009/HS_Teacher_Survey09Cdbk_8-6.pdf. Please note that the student and staff surveys are currently being updated and are copyrighted. Please contact Nick Montgomery at nmontgomery@uchicago.edu for additional information on these surveys. |
Culture of Excellence & Ethics Assessment
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Constructs |
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Respondents |
Students, Faculty/Staff, Parents |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
These survey instruments can be used free of charge, subject to the conditions of the User Agreement, and can be found at: http://excellenceandethics.com/assess/ceea.php. Please contact Vlad Khmelkov at vkhmelkov@excellenceandethics.com for additional information. |
Effective School Battery
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Constructs |
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Respondents |
Students, Teachers |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
Additional information and order forms for these survey instruments can be found at: http://www.education.umd.edu/EDCP/schoolassess/Tools/ESB/ESB.html. Please contact Eva Yui at climate-assess@umd.edu for additional information. |
Perceived School Experiences Scale
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Constructs |
Academic Motivation, Academic Press, School Connectedness |
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Respondents |
Students |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
There is no charge for using this survey. Please contact Dawn Anderson-Butcher at anderson-butcher.1@osu.edu for additional information. |
Pride Learning Environment Survey
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Constructs |
School climate; teacher and student respect; student discipline; school safety; teacher to student relationships; teacher collaboration; student engagement; student encouragement; frequency of substance use; effect of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; age of first substance use; perceived harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; parents’ feelings towards alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; place of substance use; time of substance use; violence; bullying |
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Respondents |
Students |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://dbdemo.pridesurveys.com, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: |
Pride Teaching Environment Survey
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Constructs |
Like Teaching, Like Administrators – My School, Like Administrators – Instructional Leadership, Effective Teaching, Teacher Evaluation, Principal Support, Teacher Respect, Participatory Decision-making, Staff Collegiality, Desired Involvement in Improving Teaching Practices, Current Involvement in School Policies and Practices, Desired Involvement in Teaching Practice Policies, Student Discipline, Student Conduct Rules/Policies, Teacher Stress, Classroom Support, Teacher Attitude, Interpersonal Relationships, Student Engagement, Teacher Pay, Facilities and Resources, Teacher Workload |
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Respondents |
Faculty |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://dbdemo.pridesurveys.com, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: |
Search Institute Creating a Great Place to Learn Survey
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Constructs |
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Respondents |
Students, Staff |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
These survey instruments are not publicly available. Please contact the Search Institute for additional information at http://www.search-institute.org/survey-services. |
Secondary Classroom Climate Assessment Instrument
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Constructs |
Discipline environment, Student interactions, Learning assessment, Attitude and culture |
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Respondents |
Students, Staff |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
Survey instrument is not publicly available. Please contact John Shindler, Director of the Alliance for the Study of School Climate at jshindl@calstatela.edu for additional information on the CCAI. |
Secondary School Climate Assessment Instrument
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Constructs |
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Respondents |
Students, Faculty, Parents |
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Reports |
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Survey Instruments |
This survey instrument is not publicly available. Please contact John Shindler, Director of the Alliance for the Study of School Climate at jshindl@calstatela.edu for additional information on the SCAI. |
