This report describes the features and examines the effectiveness of the Chicago Public Schools' (CPS') Connect & Redirect to Respect (CRR) program, whose goal is to support students and keep them safe by using information obtained from monitoring students' social media content, so as to identify students who are at risk for aggressive and violent behavior and provide them preventive interventions.
CRR uses specialized staff who proactively monitor social media disputes in order to minimize resulting threats to student safety and reduce arguments that threaten student safety and cause violence. Students identified as at-risk for precipitating conflict and violence meet with a trained adult school staff member, who inquires about issues that trouble them, help them resolve these issues in a constructive way, and connect them with programs and services intended to reduce the risk of violent behavior. Evaluation of the effectiveness of CRR involved researchers meeting with school personnel to discuss the challenges that schools face and their link to student social media activity. The research team then compared outcomes for students in high schools that were involved in the CRR with students in high schools that were not CRR participants. The comparative analysis focused on gun violence, student criminal justice involvement, and academic performance. The evaluation team reports finding "suggestive evidence" that after the full implementation of CRR, students in participating high schools were at lower risk of being shooting victims; experienced fewer misconduct incidents and school suspensions; and attended school for several additional days compared to students in non- participant high schools. 5 tables and 1 figure