Using data from the 2017-18 and 2020-21 Civil Rights Data Collection, we document dis-parities in exposure to disciplinary staff across US high schools and geographic levels. Black and Hispanic students are exposed to 1.1 and 0.8 more disciplinary personnel than White students, respectively, which is equivalent to roughly twice the total average…

With heightened concerns regarding securing schools against random acts of school violence such as school shootings, school leaders have implemented many safety measures including arming schools with school security officers. As with any change, there can be unintended consequences, for example, school security officers may improve school safety…

Despite growing concerns about the harmful effects of "hardening" schools through increased police and surveillance on school campuses, little research has examined trends in financial resources allocated to these programs, practices, and personnel. This study contributes to the literature by analyzing trends and patterns in school…

Why are many urban universities' relationships with their surrounding communities fraught despite university efforts at community engagement? Relationships between the factors underlying university-driven neighborhood change remain largely unexplored. In this article, I take the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) as a case study and examine the…

Since the 1950s, police presence in American schools has increased in the form of school resource officers (SROs). Some schools have elected to staff SROs on their school grounds, while others have chosen to avoid police presence at their school site. It is poorly understood how school administrators make decisions about staffing SROs in their…

Scholars and policymakers recommend that colleges and universities with publicly accessible threat assessment team (TAT) policies enhance campus safety. While many universities have TAT policies in place, external assessors usually have not thoroughly evaluated the actual content of those policies. A gap exists in the applied research literature…

School resources officers (SROs) have increasingly become a staple in United States K-12 schools, and research on their roles and efficacy is prevalent. However, policy recommendations, when left unexamined, may perpetuate majoritarian narratives that harm marginalized students. This project investigates the majoritarian and counternarratives…

As school safety has become a growing concern for U.S. schools, school leaders have adopted various approaches to strengthen school security. Some experts argue that this might increase the frequency of interactions with law enforcement and the likelihood of youth ending up in the criminal justice system, and that school security ultimately does…

The recent increase in school shootings has brought about an urgency to renew efforts to understand and reduce them. In this article, the Division for Emotional and Behavioral Health reviews what is known about school shootings, including data related to incidence and shooter profiles. In addition, we describe responses to shootings, accompanied…

Using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), this report presents findings both on crime and violence in U.S. public schools and on the practices and programs schools have used to promote school safety. SSOCS is managed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of…

The school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) describes in shorthand the problematic relationship between some students' school experiences and their subsequent incarceration. One summer, in response to vocal concerned parents, a suburban school board adopted a zero-tolerance policy for smoking and vaping. Through the combined effects of the zero-tolerance…