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…

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 collects data from public school principals about violent and nonviolent crimes in their schools. The survey also collects…

Research shows that school-wide positive behavior supports (SWPBS) can be an effective alternative to traditional reactive, punitive approaches to problem behavior. However, few studies examine the use of the approach as part of a comprehensive school improvement process involving academic as well as behavioral goals, particularly with regard to…

The purpose of this study was to determine how an urban school district's code of conduct aligned with actual school/class behaviors, and how stakeholders perceived the ability of this document to achieve its number one goal: safe and productive learning environments. Twenty participants including students, teachers, parents, and administrators…

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), just over 70 percent of students nationally arrive in high school with reading skills that are below "proficient"--defined as demonstrating competency over challenging subject matter. Of these students, nearly half do not exhibit even partial mastery of the knowledge…

A middle school principal with 17 years of experience as a classroom teacher implemented a practicum designed to develop positive, long-lasting social skills among elementary school students in the intermediate grades. The primary goal of the intervention was to decrease the number of instances in which students used verbal or physical aggression…

The "Discipline That Doesn't Hurt!" parent education curriculum has been taught by approximately 100 trained volunteers to nearly 3,000 parents over the past 4 years. Three different evaluation forms have been created and used, yet none of these instruments have shown whether parents who have completed the series are better able to analyze the…

This project evaluated the effectiveness of school safety interventions to improve student interpersonal relationships and academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of middle school students in a growing, middle class community located in central southeastern Iowa. The issues of school safety were documented by means of student and…

This action research project implemented and evaluated an intervention to reduce inappropriate behavioral incidents among early adolescent students. The targeted population consisted of middle school students in an urban area and high school students in a rural area in the Midwest. The problem of inappropriate behaviors was documented by means of…