Pixel International Conferences

Without crime-free school environments students cannot learn properly, and school staff are likely to be distracted from providing effective instruction. Given the recent school shootings and their aftermath in the United States, ensuring the well-being of students at school continues to receive substantive attention. In today’s schools effective student protection provisions have never been more important, and they are assumed to be the foundation of any school’s success (Hamlin, 2017). Arguably, one method of changing the school-related crime “culture” is for school districts to implement different types of school organization via (a) charter schools, and (b) schools using Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) programming. Charter public schools are similar to traditional public schools in that they are funded through state education taxes, but do not have the same rules and regulations that encumber customary public schools (e.g., providing meals and transportation; having licensed teachers). There are presently over 7,000 charter schools operating in the U.S. On the other hand, PBIS is a three-tiered school organization framework (see below) to assist in classroom and school-related behavior management. It includes assessment, a wide range of evidence-based interventions, and data-based decision making aimed at improving student behavior, enhancing social-emotional learning, and preventing pupils’ problem behavior. There are nearly 26,000 schools implementing PBIS in U.S. at present. The requirements for each of the three PBIS implementation levels in the state of North Carolina (the site of this research) are extensive and are found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o9srvNCBoHyfXhNyj0AEa32yvBhecc5I/view. The purpose of this study was to compare five different types of school organization and the effects that such structure had on (a) 16 different types of student crime committed at school, and (b) subsequent school-related short-term student suspensions. The data originated with all the public schools (n = 2,590) in North Carolina (the 9th largest state of 50 in the U.S.) during the 2015-2016 school year (the most recent available to the researchers): traditional schools (n =1,838), charter schools (n = 157), and public schools with one of three levels of implementation of PBIS programming (Green Ribbon schools, n = 269; Model schools, n = 211; Exemplar schools n = 115). In brief, results showed that PBIS and charter schools experienced significantly lower school-related crime than did traditional public schools in five of the 16 different types of school crime measured. Moreover, charter schools demonstrated significantly lower short-term suspension rates of any type of school organization. Effect sizes, educational administration, and school crime implications will be provided in the presentation.

Keywords: crime, violence, suspensions, schools

References:

 
[1] Hamlin, D. (2017). Are charter schools safer in deindustrialized cities with high rates of crime? Testing hypotheses in Detroit. American Educational Research Journal, 54, 725-756. doi:10.3102/0002831217705060