Wide Scope, Questionable Quality: Three Reports from the Study on School Violence and Prevention, Executive Summary

• NCJ Number: 198358
• Author(s): Scott Crosse; Michele Burr; David Cantor; Carol A. Hagen; Irene Hantman; Michael J. Mason; Amy J. Siler; Adrienne von Glatz; Mareena McKinley Wright
• Date Published: August 2002
• Length: 25 pages
• Contract Number(s): EA96055001
• Sponsoring Agency: Gang Intelligence Strategy Committee
• Corporate Author: Westat
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; US Dept of Education (Publication Ctr)
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Report (Summary)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: See NCJ-198359 through NCJ-198361 for additional reports; downloaded December 27, 2002.

Annotation

This report presents a summary of findings from a three-part Study on School Violence and Prevention conducted by the U.S. Department of Education and National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice investigating the extent of problem behavior in schools across the United States and various aspects of delinquency prevention efforts and strategies in schools.

Abstract

During the 1997-1998 United States school year, the U.S. Department of Education in collaboration with the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice conducted an extensive study examining the extent of problem behavior in the Nation’s schools and those efforts undertaken to reduce and prevent problem behavior. The study was conducted in three parts: (1) Wide Scope, Questionable Quality: Drug and Violence Prevention Efforts in American Schools; (2) A Closer Look at Drug and Violence Prevention Efforts in American Schools; and (3) School Crime Patterns: A National Profile of U.S. Public High Schools Using Rates of Crime Reported to Police. This executive summary provides a summary of the three reports. The first report indicates that schools are implementing a wide range of prevention and disciplinary activities to address problem behavior. However, the quality of many of these activities is seen as needing improvement. With higher rates of discipline problems identified in middle schools, it is suggested that greater attention is warranted in middle schools. Program planning is another area identified as an area where improvement would be greatly beneficial. A greater emphasis on monitoring the implementation of prevention activities aid in ensuring they remain consistent with program models. In the second report, an intensive level examination was conducted of 40 schools on what they were doing to promote school safety. The areas covered consisted of the extent of the problem, prevention efforts used by schools, planning processes used by schools, and the results of efforts undertaken. Overall, results showed that the vast majority of the schools had relatively low levels of serious crime. In the third and final report, a profile was presented on violence in U.S. public high schools based on an analysis of data from a U.S. Department of Education survey of school principals on the number and types of crimes reported to police for the 1996-1997 school year. Results indicate that the characteristics of high-violence schools differed markedly from the other schools. High schools with the highest levels of violence tended to be located in urban areas and had a high percentage of minority students. They were also located in areas with high social disadvantage and residential mobility. It is recommended that methods to prevent school violence be tailored to the level and type of crime problems that schools are experiencing.