Commentary
The school climate movement can build on the lessons
and experiences of Safe and Drug Free Schools
THE STORY SO FAR:
The Obama Administration has asked Congress for $100 million to fund school climate initiatives within the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities.
By Doug Hall
10.28.2009
There are more than 11 million students in grades 6, 7 and 8 in the United States. Pride Survey data show that one in three of them (36%) has been threatened with physical harm by another student, and one in five (22%) has been hurt.
These statistics suggest that as many as 4 million middle school students have received threats, and 2.5 million have actually been hurt by another student who hit, slapped or kicked them.
It’s hard to see how these numbers don’t adversely affect learning – in a big way.
Nearly one in five middle school students say they never feel safe in the school bathroom (17%), on the school bus (18%), on the playground (18%) and in the school parking lot (22%).
An astounding 8% say they never feel safe in the classroom. Only 55% say they feel safe in the classroom a lot of the time.
These statistics are even more damning because fear and harm disproportionately affect younger students, ages 11 to 14. Among sixth graders, 24% report that a student hit, slapped or kicked them, compared to 13% of twelfth graders.
Last week the U.S. Department of Education assembled a group of national experts on school climate to address what must be done to turn around these and other appalling numbers. There was a general consensus that physical safety alone does not define a good learning environment, that other factors like connectedness, interpersonal relationships, student supports, fairness, and opportunities also play important roles.
The meeting was convened by Kevin Jennings, the assistant deputy secretary for Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities. Mr. Jennings wore a lapel pin with a photograph of 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover who, after being pushed around and taunted by his classmates at school, hanged himself with an electrical cord.
Many of us have fought hard to save the state grants portion of the Safe and Drug Free Schools. We have heard Washington tell us that something new, bigger and better is in the offing. I have been utterly unconvinced. But attending the meeting in Washington last week, I began to see possibilities – bright, shiny possibilities.
The group discussed the importance of empowering young people – of giving students their “voice.” The Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment Survey, sometimes thought of as “just a drug survey,” asks students whether they “have lots of chances to help decide things like class activities and rules.” More than half of the students (53%) felt they did not have such opportunities.
Regarding connectedness, nearly one-third of Arkansas students (28%) said they often or almost always hate being in school. Questions on the Arkansas survey come from the Communities That Care “drug survey, ” which thousands of schools and communities administer.
Participants at the school climate meeting proposed that both “physical safety” and “emotional safety” partly define school climate. The data at the top of this commentary come from the Pride Survey for Grades 6-12, also defined by some as “just a drug survey.”
The Office of National Drug Control Policy lists some 42 statewide “drug surveys” and some 21 national and multi-community “drug surveys” that measure many – but not all – aspects of school climate. Admittedly, some state surveys do better than others in drilling down to the building level and providing strong psychometric properties.
Jennings said a contractor for the Department of Education is in the process of inventorying these surveys. That is a terrific start.
For years, Pride Surveys has urged the alcohol and drug field to make its work pertinent to school administrators whose primary mission is academic achievement, not behavioral health. For our part, we have identified 107 student survey items that directly address school climate, and several hundred other questions for teachers and parents.
Those of us who have labored in alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention know that our work produces much more than simple ATOD outcomes.
Tucson psychologist Dennis Embry told the Washington meeting, “A good school climate creates wellbeing in students, teachers, staff, families and their communities in which all exhibit positive, social competencies that result in good physical and mental health, learning success, wellness, safety and civility, and productivity.”
That sounds like the job description of a Safe and Drug Free Schools coordinator.
I regret the loss of the Safe and Drug Free Schools infrastructure (read: the careers of honest, passionate, hardworking people). But for the first time in months, I’m optimistic about the future of our field. The school climate movement is coming. We will fit in nicely.
Doug Hall is the president of International Survey Associates/Pride Surveys
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School safety data mentioned in this article can be found in the 2009 Pride Survey National Summary.