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Session Title: Findings From the Cross-site Evaluation of the Safe Schools, Healthy Students Initiative
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Panel Session 737 to be held in International Ballroom D on Saturday, November 10, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
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Sponsored by the Crime and Justice TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| James Trudeau,
RTI International,
trudeau@rti.org
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| Abstract:
The Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative is a landmark interdepartmental effort supported by an unprecedented collaboration among the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice. The Initiative was developed in response to increasing public concern over school violence. Sites funded through the Initiative are required to establish comprehensive, integrated strategies to promote the healthy development of students and families in a safe school and community environment. This panel presents findings from the cross-site evaluation of the SS/HS Initiative that assessed the implementation and effects of the Initiative. Following an overview of the Initiative and the evaluation, presentations will address SS/HS partnership characteristics and functioning; school violence and safety; school and classroom climate; and student substance use. The panel will present final results of the evaluation, updating interim results previously presented.
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Overview of the Safe Schools/Healthy Schools (SS/HS) Initiative and Cross-site Evaluation
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| James Trudeau,
RTI International,
trudeau@rti.org
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James Trudeau, the Principal Investigator of the SS/HS Cross-site Evaluation, will provide an overview of the SS/HS Initiative and the cross-site evaluation. Topics will include the Initiative rationale and site characteristics; evaluation design and logic model; and analytic techniques.
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SS/HS Partnerships, Programs, and Policies
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| Phillip Graham,
RTI International,
pgraham@rti.org
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This presentation will examine changes in implementation and service integration as a function of how Safe Schools Healthy Students partnerships were structured and how well they functioned. Partnership-related indicators of structure and function included management and leadership, sector diversity, member participation, perceived leadership, perceptions of operations, barriers to key partner involvement and barriers to accomplishing goals. Data were collected from multiple sources including project directors; partnership members; key partners in education, law enforcement, and mental health; principals; and coordinators in violence prevention, substance abuse, and mental health promotion across all 97 SS/HS sites. Changes were tracked over three consecutive years beginning with the first year in which the SS/HS initiative was implemented in each site. These data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to assess change among indicators of structure and functioning; and to determine if those changes are associated with changes in implementation and service integration.
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School Violence and Safety in the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative
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| Angela Browne,
RTI International,
abrowne@rti.org
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| James Trudeau,
RTI International,
trudeau@rti.org
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This presentation examines school violence and safety in SS/HS sites, including change and associations with implementation. Outcomes include student victimization, witnessing, and fighting; teacher reports of bullying and fighting in the classroom, feelings of safety at school, and abuse by students (verbal abuse, threats, and physical attacks); and principal reports of serious violent infractions and fighting, and ratings of the severity of bullying problems and problem behaviors toward teachers. The presentation also identifies characteristics of implementation associated with school differences in outcomes. Measures of implementation, which are based on surveys of principals and violence prevention coordinators, assess many aspects of violence prevention, including comprehensiveness of curricula, staff professional development, parent training, partnering with external agencies, student exposure to prevention services, comprehensiveness of school rules, monitoring of building and grounds, use of surveillance and communication devices, use of school resource officers and other security staff, and consequences for violence-related infractions.
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School and Classroom Climate in the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative
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| Steve Murray,
RMC Research Corporation,
smurray@rmccorp.com
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| Jason Williams,
RTI International,
jawilliams@rti.org
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This presentation will examine changes in school and classroom climate across 97 Safe Schools/Healthy Student (SS/HS) Initiative sites. Changes are tracked over three consecutive years in each site. Climate variables derived from both student surveys and teacher surveys include orderliness, perceived safety, opportunities for student participation in decision making, and openness of communication between students and staff. In addition to examining changes in climate outcomes, the presentation will report findings from the application of statistical models to identify characteristics of implementation associated with school differences in climate changes. Measures of implementation, which are based on surveys of school principals and service coordinators, assess the availability and comprehensiveness of violence prevention, substance use prevention, and mental health services.
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Student Substance Use in the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative
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| James Trudeau,
RTI International,
trudeau@rti.org
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| Jason Williams,
RTI International,
jawilliams@rti.org
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This presentation examines student substance use in SS/HS sites, including change and associations with implementation. Student self-reported outcomes include use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and inhalants, at school and anywhere; binge drinking; availability of substances at school; and perceptions of normative use and peer attitudes. Teacher-reported outcomes include seeing students in possession of or under the influence of substances in the classroom. Principal-reported outcomes include the rate per 1,000 students of infractions involving tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs. Measures of implementation, which are based on surveys of principals and substance use prevention coordinators, assess many aspects of substance use prevention, including comprehensiveness of curricula, staff professional development, parent training, partnering with external agencies, student exposure to prevention services, comprehensiveness of school rules, monitoring of building and grounds, use of surveillance and communication devices, use of school resource officers and other security staff, and consequences for substance use-related infractions.
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