Helping Parents and Advocates Improve
Educational Results for Children with Disabilities
Helping Parents and Advocates Improve
Educational Results for Children with Disabilities
The full text of this public domain publication is available at the Department's home page at www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/earlywrn.html and in alternate formats upon request. For more information, please contact us at:
U.S. Department of EducationThis guide was produced by the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice of the American Institutes for Research in collaboration with the National Association of School Psychologists, under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Office of Special Education Programs (grant# H237T60005).
The development of this guide was supported by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, Office of Special Education Programs, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Dissemination of the guide was supported by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program.
Dwyer, K., Osher, D., and Warger, C. (1998). Early warning, timely response: A guide to safe schools. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
August 1998
Dear Principal and Teachers:
On June 13, after the tragic loss of life and injuries at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, President Clinton directed the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to develop an early warning guide to help "adults reach out to troubled children quickly and effectively." This guide responds to that Presidential request. It is our sincere hope that this guide will provide you with the practical help needed to keep every child in your school out of harm's way.
America's schools are among the safest places to be on a day-to-day basis, due to the strong commitment of educators, parents, and communities to their children. Nevertheless, last year's tragic and sudden acts of violence in our nation's schools remind us that no community can be complacent in its efforts to make its schools even safer. An effective and safe school is the vital center of every community whether it is in a large urban area or a small rural community.
Central to this guide are the key insights that keeping children safe is a community-wide effort and that effective schools create environments where children and young people truly feel connected. This is why our common goal must be to reconnect with every child and particularly with those young people who are isolated and troubled.
This guide should be seen as part of an overall effort to make sure that every school in this nation has a comprehensive violence prevention plan in place. We also caution you to recognize that over labeling and using this guide to stigmatize children in a cursory way that leads to over-reaction is harmful. The guidelines in this report are based on research and the positive experiences of schools around the country where the value and potential of each and every child is cherished and where good practices have produced, and continue to produce, successful students and communities.
We are grateful to the many experts, agencies, and associations in education, law enforcement, juvenile justice, mental health, and other social services that worked closely with us to make sure that this report is available for the start of school this fall. We hope that you and your students and staff, as well as parents and the community, will benefit from this information.
Sincerely,
Richard W. Riley
Secretary
U.S. Department of Education
Janet Reno
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Although most schools are safe, the violence that occurs in our neighborhoods and communities has found its way inside the schoolhouse door. However, if we understand what leads to violence and the types of support that research has shown are effective in preventing violence, we can make our schools safer.
Research-based practices can help school communities-administrators, teachers, families, students, support staff, and community members-recognize the warning signs early, so children can get the help they need before it is too late. This guide presents a brief summary of the research on violence prevention and intervention and crisis response in schools. It tells school communities:
The information in this guide is not intended as a comprehensive prevention, intervention, and response plan--school communities could do everything recommended and still experience violence. Rather, the intent is to provide school communities with reliable and practical information about what they can do to be prepared and to reduce the likelihood of violence.
The full text of this public domain publication is available at the Department's home page at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/earlywrn.html.
The violence that occurs in our neighborhoods and communities has found its way inside the schoolhouse door. And while we can take some solace in the knowledge that schools are among the safest places for young people, we must do more. School violence reflects a much broader problem, one that can only be addressed when everyone--at school, at home, and in the community--works together.
The 1997-1998 school year served as a dramatic wake-up call to the fact that guns do come to school, and some students will use them to kill. One after the other, school communities across the country-from Oregon to Virginia, from Arkansas to Pennsylvania, from Mississippi to Kentucky-have been forced to face the fact that violence can happen to them. And while these serious incidents trouble us deeply, they should not prevent us from acting to prevent school violence of any kind.
There is ample documentation that prevention and early intervention efforts can reduce violence and other troubling behaviors in schools. Research-based practices can help school communities recognize the warning signs early, so children can get the help they need before it is too late. In fact, research suggests that some of the most promising prevention and intervention strategies involve the entire educational community--administrators, teachers, families, students, support staff, and community members--working together to form positive relationships with all children.
If we understand what leads to violence and the types of support that research has shown are effective in preventing violence and other troubling behaviors, we can make our schools safer.
This guide presents a brief summary of the research on violence prevention and intervention and crisis response in schools (see Section 8 for a review of methodology and information on how to locate the research). It tells members of school communities-especially administrators, teachers, staff, families, students, and community-based professionals:
The information in each section is not intended as a comprehensive prevention, intervention, and response system or plan. Indeed, school violence occurs in a unique context in every school and every situation, making a one-size-fits-all scheme impossible. Moreover, school communities could do everything recommended and still experience violence. Rather, this guide is designed to provide school communities with reliable and practical information about what they can do to be prepared and to reduce the likelihood of violence.
Creating a safe school requires having in place many preventive measures for children's mental and emotional problems-as well as a comprehensive approach to early identification of all warning signs that might lead to violence toward self or others. The term "violence" as used in this booklet, refers to a broad range of troubling behaviors and emotions shown by students-including serious aggression, physical attacks, suicide, dangerous use of drugs, and other dangerous interpersonal behaviors. However, the early warning signs presented in this document focus primarily on aggressive and violent behaviors toward others. The guide does not attempt to address all of the warning signs related to depression and suicide. Nevertheless, some of the signs of potential violence toward others are also signs of depression and suicidal risk, which should be addressed through early identification and appropriate intervention.
All staff, students, parents, and members of the community must be part of creating a safe school environment:
Research and expert-based information offers a wealth of knowledge about preventing violence in schools. The following sections provide information-what to look for and what to do-that school communities can use when developing or enhancing violence prevention and response plans (see Section 5 for more information about these plans).
We hope that school communities will use this document as a guide as they begin the prevention and healing process today, at all age and grade levels, and for all students.
"Violence is a major concern to parents, students, teachers, and the administration of any school. We have found that our best plan starts with prevention and awareness. At our middle school, the school psychologist, in conjunction with the assistant principal, has developed an anti-intimidation and threat plan. Our school statistics reflect a dramatic decline in violence from the 1996-97 to the 1997-98 school year. We treat each and every student with respect. We are finding that they in turn are demonstrating a more respectful attitude." G. Norma Villar Baker, Principal, Midvale, UT
Effective prevention, intervention, and crisis response strategies operate best in school communities that:
"I just recently got out of the hospital. I was a victim of a shooting at my school. I've been teaching for 20 years and I never thought it could happen at my school. Some of the kids knew about it before it happened, but they didn't want to say anything-they have a code of honor and they did not want to tattle tale. But someone has to stand up, someone has to take a stand because, if you don't, then somebody else is going to get hurt." Gregory Carter, Teacher, Richmond, VA
"We must avoid fragmentation in implementing programs. The concepts in preventing and responding to violence must be integrated into effective school reform, including socially and academically supportive instruction and caring, a welcoming atmosphere, and providing good options for recreation and enrichment." Howard Adelman, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
There are early warning signs in most cases of violence to self and others--certain behavioral and emotional signs that, when viewed in context, can signal a troubled child. But early warning signs are just that-indicators that a student may need help.
Such signs may or may not indicate a serious problem--they do not necessarily mean that a child is prone to violence toward self or others. Rather, early warning signs provide us with the impetus to check out our concerns and address the child's needs. Early warning signs allow us to act responsibly by getting help for the child before problems escalate.
Early warning signs can help frame concern for a child. However, it is important to avoid inappropriately labeling or stigmatizing individual students because they appear to fit a specific profile or set of early warning indicators. It's okay to be worried about a child, but it's not okay to overreact and jump to conclusions.
Teachers and administrators--and other school support staff--are not professionally trained to analyze children's feelings and motives. But they are on the front line when it comes to observing troublesome behavior and making referrals to appropriate professionals, such as school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses. They also play a significant role in responding to diagnostic information provided by specialists. Thus, it is no surprise that effective schools take special care in training the entire school community to understand and identify early warning signs.
When staff members seek help for a troubled child, when friends report worries about a peer or friend, when parents raise concerns about their child's thoughts or habits, children can get the help they need. By actively sharing information, a school community can provide quick, effective responses.
Educators and families can increase their ability to recognize early warning signs by establishing close, caring, and supportive relationships with children and youth--getting to know them well enough to be aware of their needs, feelings, attitudes, and behavior patterns. Educators and parents together can review school records for patterns of behavior or sudden changes in behavior.
Unfortunately, there is a real danger that early warning signs will be misinterpreted. Educators and parents--and in some cases, students--can ensure that the early warning signs are not misinterpreted by using several significant principles to better understand them. These principles include:
It is not always possible to predict behavior that will lead to violence. However, educators and parents--and sometimes students--can recognize certain early warning signs. In some situations and for some youth, different combinations of events, behaviors, and emotions may lead to aggressive rage or violent behavior toward self or others. A good rule of thumb is to assume that these warning signs, especially when they are presented in combination, indicate a need for further analysis to determine an appropriate intervention.
We know from research that most children who become violent toward self or others feel rejected and psychologically victimized. In most cases, children exhibit aggressive behavior early in life and, if not provided support, will continue a progressive developmental pattern toward severe aggression or violence. However, research also shows that when children have a positive, meaningful connection to an adult--whether it be at home, in school, or in the community--the potential for violence is reduced significantly.
None of these signs alone is sufficient for predicting aggression and violence. Moreover, it is inappropriate--and potentially harmful--to use the early warning signs as a checklist against which to match individual children. Rather, the early warning signs are offered only as an aid in identifying and referring children who may need help. School communities must ensure that staff and students only use the early warning signs for identification and referral purposes-only trained professionals should make diagnoses in consultation with the child's parents or guardian.
The following early warning signs are presented with the following qualifications: They are not equally significant and they are not presented in order of seriousness. The early warning signs include:
Unlike early warning signs, imminent warning signs indicate that a student is very close to behaving in a way that is potentially dangerous to self and/or to others. Imminent warning signs require an immediate response.
No single warning sign can predict that a dangerous act will occur. Rather, imminent warning signs usually are presented as a sequence of overt, serious, hostile behaviors or threats directed at peers, staff, or other individuals. Usually, imminent warning signs are evident to more than one staff member--as well as to the child's family.
Imminent warning signs may include:
An early warning sign is not a predictor that a child or youth will commit a violent act toward self or others. Effective schools recognize the potential in every child to overcome difficult experiences and to control negative emotions. Adults in these school communities use their knowledge of early warning signs to address problems before they escalate into violence.
Effective school communities support staff, students, and families in understanding the early warning signs. Support strategies include having:
It is often difficult to acknowledge that a child is troubled. Everyone--including administrators, families, teachers, school staff, students, and community members--may find it too troubling sometimes to admit that a child close to them needs help. When faced with resistance or denial, school communities must persist to ensure that children get the help they need.
Understanding early and imminent warning signs is an essential step in ensuring a safe school. The next step involves supporting the emotional and behavioral adjustment of children.
Use the Signs ResponsiblyIt is important to avoid inappropriately labeling or stigmatizing individual students because they appear to fit a specific profile or set of early warning indicators. It's okay to be worried about a child, but it's not okay to overreact and jump to conclusions.
"When doing consultation with school staff and families, we advise them to think of the early warning signs within a context. We encourage them to look for combinations of warning signs that might tell us the student's behavior is changing and becoming more problematic." Deborah Crockett, School Psychologist, Atlanta, GA
Use the Signs Responsibly
None of these signs alone is sufficient for predicting aggression and violence. Moreover, it is inappropriate--and potentially harmful--to use the early warning signs as a checklist against which to match individual children.
Know the Law
The Gun Free Schools Act requires that each state receiving federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) must have put in effect, by October 1995, a state law requiring local educational agencies to expel from school for a period of not less than one year a student who is determined to have brought a firearm to school.
Each state's law also must allow the chief administering officer of the local educational agency to modify the expulsion requirement on a case-by-case basis. All local educational agencies receiving ESEA funds must have a policy that requires the referral of any student who brings a firearm to school to the criminal justice or juvenile justice system.
"Being proactive and having the ability to consult and meet with my school psychologist on an ongoing basis has helped create a positive school environment in terms of resolving student issues prior to their reaching a crisis level."J. Randy Alton, Teacher, Bethesda, MD
What happens when we recognize early warning signs in a child?
The message is clear: It's okay to be concerned when you notice warning signs in a child-and it's even more appropriate to do something about those concerns. School communities that encourage staff, families, and students to raise concerns about observed warning signs--and that have in place a process for getting help to troubled children once they are identified--are more likely to have effective schools with reduced disruption, bullying, fighting, and other forms of aggression.
Violence prevention and response plans should consider both prevention and intervention. Plans also should provide all staff with easy access to a team of specialists trained in evaluating serious behavioral and academic concerns. Eligible students should have access to special education services, and classroom teachers should be able to consult school psychologists, other mental health specialists, counselors, reading specialists, and special educators.
Effective practices for improving the behavior of troubled children are well documented in the research literature. Research has shown that effective interventions are culturally appropriate, family-supported, individualized, coordinated, and monitored. Further, interventions are more effective when they are designed and implemented consistently over time with input from the child, the family, and appropriate professionals. Schools also can draw upon the resources of their community to strengthen and enhance intervention planning.
When drafting a violence prevention and response plan, it is helpful to consider certain principles that research or expert-based experience show have a significant impact on success. The principles include:
The incidence of violent acts against students or staff is low. However, pre-violent behaviors-such as threats, bullying, and classroom disruptions-are common. Thus, early responses to warning signs are most effective in preventing problems from escalating.
Intervention programs that reduce behavior problems and related school violence typically are multifaceted, long-term, and broad reaching. They also are rigorously implemented. Effective early intervention efforts include working with small groups or individual students to provide direct support, as well as linking children and their families to necessary community services and/or providing these services in the school.
Examples of early intervention components that work include:
Intervention Tactic: Teaching Positive Interaction Skills
Although most schools do teach positive social interaction skills indirectly, some have adopted social skills programs specifically designed to prevent or reduce antisocial behavior in troubled children. In fact, the direct teaching of social problem solving and social decision making is now a standard feature of most effective drug and violence prevention programs. Children who are at risk of becoming violent toward themselves or others need additional support. They often need to learn interpersonal, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills at home and in school. They also may need more intensive assistance in learning how to stop and think before they react, and to listen effectively.
Intervention Tactic: Providing Comprehensive Services
In some cases, the early intervention may involve getting services to families. The violence prevention and response team together with the child and family designs a comprehensive intervention plan that focuses on reducing aggressive behaviors and supporting responsible behaviors at school, in the home, and in the community. When multiple services are required there also must be psychological counseling and ongoing consultation with classroom teachers, school staff, and the family to ensure intended results occur. All services-including community services-must be coordinated and progress must be monitored and evaluated carefully.
Intervention Tactic: Referring the Child for Special Education Evaluation
If there is evidence of persistent problem behavior or poor academic achievement, it may be appropriate to conduct a formal assessment to determine if the child is disabled and eligible for special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). If a multidisciplinary team determines that the child is eligible for services under the IDEA, an individualized educational program (IEP) should be developed by a team that includes a parent, a regular educator, a special educator, an evaluator, a representative of the local school district, the child (if appropriate), and others as appropriate. This team will identify the support necessary to enable the child to learn-including the strategies and support systems necessary to address any behavior that may impede the child's learning or the learning of his or her peers.
Children who show dangerous patterns and a potential for more serious violence usually require more intensive interventions that involve multiple agencies, community-based service providers, and intense family support. By working with families and community services, schools can comprehensively and effectively intervene.
Effective individualized interventions provide a range of services for students. Multiple, intensive, focused approaches used over time can reduce the chances for continued offenses and the potential for violence. The child, his or her family, and appropriate school staff should be involved in developing and monitoring the interventions.
Nontraditional schooling in an alternative school or therapeutic facility may be required in severe cases where the safety of students and staff remains a concern, or when the complexity of the intervention plan warrants it. Research has shown that effective alternative programs can have long-term positive results by reducing expulsions and court referrals. Effective alternative programs support students in meeting high academic and behavioral standards. They provide anger and impulse control training, psychological counseling, effective academic and remedial instruction, and vocational training as appropriate. Such programs also make provisions for active family involvement. Moreover, they offer guidance and staff support when the child returns to his or her regular school.
Schoolwide strategies create a foundation that is more responsive to children in general--one that makes interventions for individual children more effective and efficient.
Effective and safe schools are places where there is strong leadership, caring faculty, parent and community involvement--including law enforcement officials--and student participation in the design of programs and policies. Effective and safe schools also are places where prevention and intervention programs are based upon careful assessment of student problems, where community members help set measurable goals and objectives, where research-based prevention and intervention approaches are used, and where evaluations are conducted regularly to ensure that the programs are meeting stated goals. Effective and safe schools are also places where teachers and staff have access to qualified consultants who can help them address behavioral and academic barriers to learning.
Effective schools ensure that the physical environment of the school is safe, and that schoolwide policies are in place to support responsible behaviors.
Characteristics of a Safe Physical Environment
Prevention starts by making sure the school campus is a safe and caring place. Effective and safe schools communicate a strong sense of security. Experts suggest that school officials can enhance physical safety by:
The physical condition of the school building also has an impact on student attitude, behavior, and motivation to achieve. Typically, there tend to be more incidents of fighting and violence in school buildings that are dirty, too cold or too hot, filled with graffiti, in need of repair, or unsanitary.
Characteristics of Schoolwide Policies that Support Responsible Behavior
The opportunities for inappropriate behaviors that precipitate violence are greater in a disorderly and undisciplined school climate. A growing number of schools are discovering that the most effective way to reduce suspensions, expulsions, office referrals, and other similar actions--strategies that do not result in making schools safer--is to emphasize a proactive approach to discipline.
Effective schools are implementing schoolwide campaigns that establish high expectations and provide support for socially appropriate behavior. They reinforce positive behavior and highlight sanctions against aggressive behavior. All staff, parents, students, and community members are informed about problem behavior, what they can do to counteract it, and how they can reinforce and reward positive behavior. In turn, the entire school community makes a commitment to behaving responsibly.
Effective and safe schools develop and consistently enforce schoolwide rules that are clear, broad-based, and fair. Rules and disciplinary procedures are developed collaboratively by representatives of the total educational community. They are communicated clearly to all parties-but most important, they are followed consistently by everyone.
School communities that have undertaken schoolwide approaches do the following things:
"Partnerships with local community agencies have created a safer school and community." Sally Baas, Educator, Coon Rapids, MN
"Students should feel a sense of responsibility to inform someone if they're made aware of an individual who may perform a violent act. They should not feel like they are tattle telling, but more in the sense of saving someone's life. Students should have a role on the school's violence prevention and response team because they know what points of student life and school to target." Elsa Quiroga, Graduate of Mount Eden High School and Student, University of California at Berkeley
Parents can help create safe schools. Here are some ideas that parents in other communities have tried:
- Discuss the school's discipline policy with your child. Show your support for the rules, and help your child understand the reasons for them.
- Involve your child in setting rules for appropriate behavior at home.
- Talk with your child about the violence he or she sees-on television, in video games, and possibly in the neighborhood. Help your child understand the consequences of violence.
- Teach your child how to solve problems. Praise your child when he or she follows through.
- Help your child find ways to show anger that do not involve verbally or physically hurting others. When you get angry, use it as an opportunity to model these appropriate responses for your child-and talk about it.
- Help your child understand the value of accepting individual differences.
- Note any disturbing behaviors in your child. For example, frequent angry outbursts, excessive fighting and bullying of other children, cruelty to animals, fire setting, frequent behavior problems at school and in the neighborhood, lack of friends, and alcohol or drug use can be signs of serious problems. Get help for your child. Talk with a trusted professional in your child's school or in the community.
- Keep lines of communication open with your child-even when it is tough. Encourage your child always to let you know where and with whom he or she will be. Get to know your child's friends.
- Listen to your child if he or she shares concerns about friends who may be exhibiting troubling behaviors. Share this information with a trusted professional, such as the school psychologist, principal, or teacher.
- Be involved in your child's school life by supporting and reviewing homework, talking with his or her teacher(s), and attending school functions such as parent conferences, class programs, open houses, and PTA meetings.
- Work with your child's school to make it more responsive to all students and to all families. Share your ideas about how the school can encourage family involvement, welcome all families, and include them in meaningful ways in their children's education.
- Encourage your school to offer before- and after-school programs.
- Volunteer to work with school-based groups concerned with violence prevention. If none exist, offer to form one.
- Find out if there is a violence prevention group in your community. Offer to participate in the group's activities.
- Talk with the parents of your child's friends. Discuss how you can form a team to ensure your children's safety.
- Find out if your employer offers provisions for parents to participate in school activities.
"Our school system has created a student services team-including the principal, a special educator, the school psychologist, other behavioral support personnel, the child development specialist, and others-that meets weekly to address safety and success for all students. Our teachers and families have easy access to this team. As part of our plan, we conduct a campus-by-campus risk assessment in coordination with city, county, and state law enforcement agencies. We provide interventions for children who are troubled and connect them and their families to community agencies and mental health services." Lee Patterson, Assistant Superintendent, Roseberg, OR
There is much students can do to help create safe schools. Talk to your teachers, parents, and counselor to find out how you can get involved and do your part to make your school safe. Here are some ideas that students in other schools have tried:
- Listen to your friends if they share troubling feelings or thoughts. Encourage them to get help from a trusted adult-such as a school psychologist, counselor, social worker, leader from the faith community, or other professional. If you are very concerned, seek help for them. Share your concerns with your parents.
- Create, join, or support student organizations that combat violence, such as "Students Against Destructive Decisions" and "Young Heroes Program."
- Work with local businesses and community groups to organize youth-oriented activities that help young people think of ways to prevent school and community violence. Share your ideas for how these community groups and businesses can support your efforts.
- Organize an assembly and invite your school psychologist, school social worker, and counselor-in addition to student panelists-to share ideas about how to deal with violence, intimidation, and bullying.
- Get involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating your school's violence prevention and response plan.
- Participate in violence prevention programs such as peer mediation and conflict resolution. Employ your new skills in other settings, such as the home, neighborhood, and community.
- Work with your teachers and administrators to create a safe process for reporting threats, intimidation, weapon possession, drug selling, gang activity, graffiti, and vandalism. Use the process.
- Ask for permission to invite a law enforcement officer to your school to conduct a safety audit and share safety tips, such as traveling in groups and avoiding areas known to be unsafe. Share your ideas with the officer.
- Help to develop and participate in activities that promote student understanding of differences and that respect the rights of all.
- Volunteer to be a mentor for younger students and/or provide tutoring to your peers.
- Know your school's code of conduct and model responsible behavior. Avoid being part of a crowd when fights break out. Refrain from teasing, bullying, and intimidating peers.
- Be a role model-take personal responsibility by reacting to anger without physically or verbally harming others.
- Seek help from your parents or a trusted adult--such as a school psychologist, social worker, counselor, teacher--if you are experiencing intense feelings of anger, fear, anxiety, or depression.
"Since we developed the high school peer mediation program, we have seen a decline in physical fights. We are defusing potentially dangerous situations." Terry Davis, School Psychologist, Natick, MA
"Everyone is trained to use consistent language. We remind students to stop and think. Students also know we will always follow through if they make poor behavioral choices. As a result, we have been able to diffuse violent situations." Annette Lambeth, Assistant Principal, Chester County, PA
"Appropriate behavior and respect for others are emphasized at all times. However, despite our best efforts, unfortunate incidents do occur. When they do, it is our responsibility to provide appropriate support to meet the needs of every child." Carol S. Parham, Superintendent of Schools, Anne Arundel County, MD
"The police are a school's greatest community asset when effectively preventing and responding to school violence. Building a relationship with law enforcement strengthens the school's ability to ensure safety." Gil Kerlikowske, former Police Commissioner, Buffalo, NY
"Everyone follows the same discipline plan. Everyone-including the lunch room workers and custodians-works as a team. There are always times when children forget the rules. But there is immediate intervention by faculty and staff, and even other children. The responsibility is on the students." Anna Allred, Parent, Lakeland, FL
"It is necessary to provide training and support to staff. We have provided inservices on behavior management systems that are effective in regular classroom settings. These inservices have been of great benefit. Numerous schools throughout our district presently use stop and think, conflict resolution, and peer mediation." Denise Conrad, Teacher, Toledo, OH
A sound violence prevention and response plan reflects the common and the unique needs of educators, students, families, and the greater community. The plan outlines how all individuals in the school community--administrators, teachers, parents, students, bus drivers, support staff--will be prepared to spot the behavioral and emotional signs that indicate a child is troubled, and what they will need to do. The plan also details how school and community resources can be used to create safe environments and to manage responses to acute threats and incidents of violence.
An effective written plan includes:
The plan must be consistent with federal, state, and local laws. It also should have the support of families and the local school board.
Recommendations in this guide will prove most meaningful when the entire school community is involved in developing and implementing the plan. In addition, everyone should be provided with relevant training and support on a regular basis. Finally, there should be a clearly delineated mechanism for monitoring and assessing violence prevention efforts.
It can be helpful to establish a school-based team to oversee the preparation and implementation of the prevention and response plan. This does not need to be a new team; however, a designated core group should be entrusted with this important responsibility.
The core team should ensure that every member of the greater school community accepts and adopts the violence prevention and response plan. This buy-in is essential if all members of the school community are expected to feel comfortable sharing concerns about children who appear troubled. Too often, caring individuals remain silent because they have no way to express their concerns.
Typically, the core team includes the building administrator, general and special education teachers, parent(s), and a pupil support services representative (a school psychologist, social worker, or counselor), school resource officer, and a safe and drug-free schools program coordinator. If no school psychologist or mental health professional is available to the staff, involve someone from an outside mental health agency. Other individuals may be added to the team depending on the task. For example, when undertaking schoolwide prevention planning, the team might be expanded to include students, representatives of community agencies and organizations, the school nurse, school board members, and support staff (secretaries, bus drivers, and custodians). Similarly, crisis response planning can be enhanced with the presence of a central office administrator, security officer, and youth officer or community police team member.
The core team also should coordinate with any school advisory boards already in place. For example, most effective schools have developed an advisory board of parents and community leaders that meets regularly with school administrators. While these advisory groups generally offer advice and support, that role can be expanded to bringing resources related to violence prevention and intervention into the school.
Consider involving a variety of community leaders and parents when building the violence prevention and response team:
While we cannot prevent all violence from occurring, we can do much to reduce the likelihood of its occurrence. Through thoughtful planning and the establishment of a school violence prevention and response team, we can avert many crises and be prepared when they do happen.
"Our district initiated a safety task force involving parents, students, teachers, support staff, administrators, and community members to enhance our plan for safety and crisis management. It works." Richard E. Berry, Superintendent, Houston, TX"We need to give attention to the segment of the population that includes bus drivers, secretaries, and cafeteria workers. They are a very important yet often overlooked group of people who can provide support to children." Betty Stockton, School Psychologist, Jonesboro, AR
What To Look For--Key Characteristics of Responsive and Safe Schools
Does my school have characteristics that:__ Are responsive to all children?
What To Look For--Early Warning Signs of Violence
Has my school taken steps to ensure that all staff, students, and families:__ Understand the principles underlying the identification of early warning signs?
__ Know how to identify and respond to imminent warning signs?
__ Are able to identify early warning signs?
What To Do--Intervention: Getting Help for Troubled Children
Does my school:What To Do--Crisis Response__ Understand the principles underlying intervention?
__ Make early intervention available for students at risk of behavioral problems?
__ Provide individualized, intensive interventions for students with severe behavioral problems?
__ Have schoolwide preventive strategies in place that support early intervention?
Does my school:
__ Understand the principles underlying crisis response?
__ Have a procedure for intervening during a crisis to ensure safety?
__ Know how to respond in the aftermath of tragedy?
As with other interventions, crisis intervention planning is built on a foundation that is safe and responsive to children. Crisis planning should include:
Weapons used in or around schools, bomb threats or explosions, and fights, as well as natural disasters, accidents, and suicides call for immediate, planned action, and long-term, post-crisis intervention. Planning for such contingencies reduces chaos and trauma. Thus, the crisis response part of the plan also must include contingency provisions. Such provisions may include:
Just as staff should understand and practice fire drill procedures routinely, they should practice responding to the presence of firearms and other weapons, severe threats of violence, hostage situations, and other acts of terror. School communities can provide staff and students with such practice in the following ways:
Members of the crisis team should understand natural stress reactions. They also should be familiar with how different individuals might respond to death and loss, including developmental considerations, religious beliefs, and cultural values.
Effective schools ensure a coordinated community response. Professionals both within the school district and within the greater community should be involved to assist individuals who are at risk for severe stress reactions.
Schools that have experienced tragedy have included the following provisions in their response plans:
"Early intervention and quick response from our school district team resulted in no one getting hurt." Pamela Cain, Superintendent, Wirt County, WV
A crisis plan must address many complex contingencies. There should be a step-by-step procedure to use when a crisis occurs. An example follows:__ Assess life/safety issues immediately.
__ Provide immediate emergency medical care.
__ Call 911 and notify police/rescue first. Call the superintendent second.
__ Convene the crisis team to assess the situation and implement the crisis response procedures.
__ Evaluate available and needed resources.
__ Alert school staff to the situation.
__ Activate the crisis communication procedure and system of verification.
__ Secure all areas.
__ Implement evacuation and other procedures to protect students and staff from harm. Avoid dismissing students to unknown care.
__ Adjust the bell schedule to ensure safety during the crisis.
__ Alert persons in charge of various information systems to prevent confusion and misinformation. Notify parents.
__ Contact appropriate community agencies and the school district's public information office, if appropriate.
__ Implement post-crisis procedures.
We know from the research that schools can meet the challenge of reducing violence. The school community can be supported through:
Everyone who cares about children cares about ending violence. It is time to break the silence that too often characterizes even the most well-meaning school communities. Research and expert-based information is available for school communities to use in developing and strengthening programs that can prevent crises.
School safety is everyone's job. Teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and students all must commit to meeting the challenge of getting help for children who show signs of being troubled.
"Coordinated school efforts can help. But the solution does not just rest in the schools. Together we must develop solutions that are community-wide and coordinated, that include schools, families, courts, law enforcement, community agencies, representatives of the faith community, business, and the broader community." Wilmer Cody, Kentucky Commissioner of Education
Much of the research found in this guide was funded by federal offices whose senior staff were involved in supporting and reviewing this document. They include:
Each assertion in the guide is backed by empirical data and/or expert consensus. Research references can be found on the project's Web site at cecp.air.org/guide/.
The guide was conceptualized by an interdisciplinary expert panel. The writing team, led by Kevin P. Dwyer, included members of the expert panel-George Bear, Norris Haynes, Paul Kingery, Howard Knoff, Peter Sheras, Russell Skiba, Leslie Skinner, and Betty Stockton-in addition to David Osher and Cynthia Warger. The writing team drew upon the other expert panelists for guidance and for resources.
The first draft was reviewed for accuracy by the entire expert panel as well as staff from the federal agencies. The federal reviewers are listed on the project's Web site at cecp.air.org/guide/.
The second draft was reviewed by family members, teachers, principals, and youth, in addition to leaders of major national associations. The expert panel reviewed the document again at this stage. These reviewers are also listed on the project's Web site at cecp.air.org/guide/.
Also On The Web
- An annotated version of the guide with references to support each assertion as well as references to practical materials that can be employed to implement the recommendations it contains.
- Additional resources that can be employed to implement the recommendations contained in the guide.
- Links to other Web sites that provide useful and usable information.
- English and Spanish versions of the guide that can be downloaded for dissemination.
The expert panel included national experts from a variety of disciplines, as well as principals, teachers, pupil personnel staff, families, and youth:
J. Randy Alton, Teacher, Montgomery County, MD
George Bear, Professor, University of Delaware
Renee Brimfield, Principal, Montgomery County, MD
Michael Bullis, Professor, University of Oregon
Andrea Canter, Lead School Psychologist, Minneapolis, MN
Gregory Carter, Teacher, Richmond, VA
Deborah Crockett, School Psychologist, Atlanta, GA
Scott Decker, Professor, University of Missouri-St. LouisMaurice Elias, Professor, Rutgers University, NJ
Michael J. Furlong, , Associate Professor, University of CA-Santa Barbara
Susan Gorin, Executive Director, National Association of School Psychologists, Bethesda, MD
Denise Gottfredson, Director, National Center for Justice , University of Maryland
Beatrix Hamburg, Professor, Cornell Medical Center, NY
Norris Haynes, Director, Yale University Child Study Center
DJ Ida, Director, Asian Pacific Development Center, Denver, CO
Yvonne Johnson, Parent, Washington, D.C.
Gil Kerlikowske, Former Police Commissioner, Buffalo, NY
Paul Kingery, Director, Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community Violence, Arlington, VA
Howard Knoff, Professor, University of South Florida
Judith Lee Ladd, President, American School Counselors Association, Arlington, VA
Brenda Muhammad, Founder , Mothers of Murdered Sons & Daughters, Atlanta, GA
Ron Nelson, Associate Professor, Arizona State University
Dennis Nowicki, Police Chief, Charlotte, NC
Scott Poland, Director, Psychological Services, Cyprus-Fairbanks ISD, Houston, TX
Gale Porter, Director , East Baltimore (MD) Mental Health Partnership
Elsa Quiroga, Student, University of California-Berkeley
Michael Rosenberg, Professor, John Hopkins University
Mary Schwab-Stone, Associate Professor, Yale University Child Study Center
Peter Sheras, Associate Director, Virginia Youth Violence Project, University of Virginia
Russell Skiba, Professor, University of Indiana
Leslie Skinner, Assistant Professor, Temple University
Jeff Sprague, Co-Director, Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, University of Oregon
Betty Stockton, School Psychologist, Jonesboro, AR
Richard Verdugo, Senior Policy Analyst, National Education Association, Washington, DC
Hill Walker, Co-Director, Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, University of Oregon
The following represented federal agencies on the panel:
ResourcesRenee Bradley, U.S. Department of Education
Betty Chemers, U.S. Department of Justice
Lou Danielson, U.S. Department of Education
Kellie Dressler, U.S. Department of Justice
David Frank, U.S. Department of Education
Cathy Girouard, U.S. Department of Education
Tom V. Hanley, U.S. Department of Education
Tom Hehir, U.S. Department of Education
Kelly Henderson, U.S. Department of Education
Judith Heumann, U.S. Department of Education
Peter Jensen, National Institute of Mental Health
Tim Johnson, U.S. Department of Justice
William Modzeleski, U.S. Department of Education
Juan Ramos, National Institute of Mental Health
Donna Ray, U.S. Department of Justice
Diane Sondheimer, Center for Mental Health Services
Sara Strizzi, U.S. Department of Education
Kevin Sullivan, U.S. Department of Education
Gerald Tirozzi, U.S. Department of Education
Joanne Wiggins, U.S. Department of Education
Clarissa Wittenberg, National Institute of Mental Health
U.S. Department of Education, www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice , American Institutes for Research, 1000 Thomas Jefferson St., NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., http://cecp.air.org/
U.S. Department of Justice, http://www.usdoj.gov/
National Association of School Psychologists, 4340 East West Highway, Suite 402, Bethesda, MD 20814, www.naspweb.org
National Institute of Mental Health, http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
Center for Mental Health Services, Knowledge Exchange Network, http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov.
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