School Safety Strategies: Findings from WestEd's Health and Justice Program

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

WestEd's Health and Justice Program focuses on criminal justice and prevention, school climate, and mental and social-emotional health. The WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center highlights the agency's work around areas such as school safety, violence prevention, adult criminal and juvenile justice, and public health and broader prevention initiatives. In this panel, we summarize our recent randomized experimental studies relevant to school safety and school experiences that focus on peer and/or adult relationships including papers on strategies targeting bullying and harassment, school connectedness and modifiable risk behaviors, and school-based law enforcement. The first paper presents initial findings on the impact and implementation of a set of interventions designed to enhance adult and peer support systems for the targets of bullying in Oakland. The second paper focuses on preliminary findings from an evaluation of a skill intensive, systematic process and model designed to impact student behavior by enhancing school climate in South Carolina. The final paper presents baseline data on students and law enforcement relationships and interactions within secondary schools in Texas.

Sub Unit

• Area V. Correlates of Crime / 32. School Experiences

Division of Special Interest

• Division Session of Interest / Division of Experimental Criminology

Individual Presentations

• The impact and implementation of the No Bully System on student safety and related school and student outcomes - Jo Ann Izu, WestEd; Tom Hanson, WestEd; Anthony Petrosino, WestEd; Trevor Fronius, WestEd; Cindy Zheng, WestEd; Rahila Simzar, WestEd

• Impact of Capturing Kids' Hearts on student safety and related school outcomes - Tom Hanson, WestEd; Jonathan Nakamoto, WestEd; Anthony Petrosino, WestEd; Cindy Zheng, WestEd

• School-based law enforcement, student safety, and related school outcomes - Alexis Stern, WestEd; Trevor Fronius, WestEd; Sarah Guckenburg, WestEd; Hannah Persson, WestEd; Anthony Petrosino, WestEd; Joesph M. McKenna, Texas State, Texas School Safety Center

Discussant

• Anthony Petrosino, WestEd