JPRC

What do we learn from data on homicides of school-aged youth?

School Safety

What do we learn from data on homicides of school-aged youth?

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The HEDCO Institute at the University of Oregon published this article on October 3, 2024 that amplifies data reported by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. The tragic multiple casualty shootings at schools such as the September 2024 massacre at a high school in Georgia, creates anxiety over the safety of children and staff at school. In this article, the authors delve into data on homicides of school-aged children and report results that some find counterintuitive to the news cycle. Homicides of children at school (including afterschool and sporting events) represent a small fraction (1-2%) of total youth homicides; most youths are victims of homicide outside of schools (i.e., on the streets, in their homes, and at other venues). These findings prompt a call for evidence-based community-based and school-based strategies addressing youth violence broadly.

A revised version of this article, entitled Look for solutions beyond school grounds to address youth homicides, was published on October 28, 2024 by EdSource. Published since 1977, EdSource is the leading independent news source on California education.

Recommendations to Improve State School Safety Centers

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Our team developed a framework that identifies a series of best practices based on our National Institute of Justice–funded comprehensive evaluation of state school safety centers (SSSCs). The guide offers insights to enhance the focus of SSSCs, their structure, and the support services they provide.

School Safety Audit in California

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The JPRC School Safety team is conducting a comprehensive safety and security audit of a large California school district, assessing the realities on the ground and comparing it with industry best practices. The team’s work includes onsite physical security audits of each campus and a review of district policy and procedure, to culminate in a report for district administration about the findings. When used as part of a comprehensive school safety program—which in turn is part of an overall school health and management system—this type of information can be instrumental for informing needs and gaps in funding, resources, training, policies, procedures, and staffing. This work adds to the JPRC’s growing portfolio in school safety.

What Do We Know About State School Safety Centers?

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This article in the Fall 2024 issue of Translational Criminology provides a brisk overview of the National Institute of Justice-funded evaluation of State School Safety Centers (SSSCs). That study focused on describing the structure, services, and stakeholder views of SSSCs. The research found that most SSSCs provided technical assistance, training, and resource development. While many educators are aware of and use SSSCs, the evaluation underscored a need for improvements in staffing, resources, and outreach. The study identifies promising practices and emphasizes ongoing research to ascertain the efficacy of SSSCs in enhancing school safety.

Policing schools in the USA: An evidence summary and future research agenda

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Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice has published an article by Trevor Fronius, Trent Baskerville and Anthony Petrosino entitled, “Policing schools in the USA: An evidence summary and future research agenda.” The article discusses some of the recent trends and highlights evidence from several systematic reviews of evidence on the effects of school policing, including a large-scale effort for the Campbell Collaboration. A more recent evaluation published since the reviews were done is also discussed. Finally, the article highlights a report to Congress by the National Institute of Justice and concludes with policy implications and a future agenda for research. This paper is part of a special issue in honor of JPRC Adviser, David Weisburd.

Restorative Justice Practices in U.S. Schools (2011-2015)

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Restorative justice is an approach to offending behavior that focuses on repairing harm and restoring relationships, rather than just punishing the perpetrator. Schools are increasingly adopting restorative justice to address concerns about overuse of exclusionary punishment of students.

Given this popularity of restorative justice, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded WestEd to provide a more comprehensive picture of restorative justice in elementary and secondary schools nationwide. WestEd produced multiple descriptive and complementary pieces of research:

  • A comprehensive literature review of restorative justice in the schools to identify conceptual models, document issues, and any empirical research that had been reported, and provide clues to identifying persons and schools involved in current implementation. The review focused on key issues in implementation of restorative justice, describing the main conceptual and program models, and synthesizing empirical results.
  • An environmental scan of schools and districts to identify restorative justice approaches in the field. The research team identified the variety of restorative justice programs in schools. Specifically, the team conducted interviews with leading experts and key informants, and conducted an online survey of program staff in the field to gather quantitative data to complement findings from the interviews.

The results of these research tasks informed future research and practice regarding restorative justice in schools in the United States.