The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks exposed considerable breakdowns in communications interoperability and information sharing among first responders. Multijurisdictional responses to the active-shooter incidents at the University of Texas in 2010; Sandy Hook Elementary of Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, and the Reynolds High School shooting of Multnomah County, Oregon in 2014 were replete with interoperability failures as well. Recent multijurisdictional response events continue to illuminate difficulties with first-responder interoperability and minimal research exists to promote understanding of the interoperability challenges of university police departments. The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers that impede communications of campus based law enforcement agencies during multiagency or multijurisdictional response. General systems theory and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model provided the conceptual framework for this qualitative case study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 leaders of university public safety agencies in California. Data were collected, inductively coded, and thematically analyzed. Key findings indicate that participants perceived barriers of funding, policy, inclusiveness, and training that affect communications interoperability performance. The positive social change implications from this study include recommendations of policy change for improved interoperability during multiagency or multijurisdictional response which can contribute to increased first-responder safety, more efficient multijurisdictional response, and improved safety of students and society at large.

The purpose of this study was to generate in-depth understanding and descriptions of secondary students' experiences of safety in the public schools. Quantitative research has demonstrated that students self-report feeling unsafe in school (Utah State University: Center for the School of the Future, 2006). School violence is decreasing, yet many school districts have sponsored and implemented heightened security measures. It seems a contradiction, but amidst heightened security secondary public school students self-report feeling unsafe in school. This study investigated this phenomenon to provide rich and detailed data, utilizing a grounded theory approach to qualitative research and design. The perceptions and experiences of secondary students in public school were described in focus groups comprised of eighth grade students. Five central and unifying themes emerged from the data informing how and why secondary students feel safe and unsafe in school. Results indicated that students feel most safe in schools when students have trusting relationships with school personnel and peers and when school adults adhere to procedures and policies and respond in meaningful ways to student concerns.

Abstract Pedestrian /bicycle safety of school children has been a growing menace that has been attracting attention from transportation professionals, school boards, media and the community all over the country. As such there has been a necessity to identify critical variables and assess their importance in pedestrian/bicycle crashes occurring in and around school zones. The current study is an endeavor in this direction. The literature review identified some studies that were conducted on school zone safety related to pedestrian/bicyclist crashes. Most of the studies pertained to crashes with all age groups. There have been few studies with emphasis only on school aged children. In this study we focus on pedestrian age group (4 to 18 years), the time of the day when the school children are expected to be commuting (6:30 AM to 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM to 5:00.PM), the day of week (Monday through Friday) and the days when the school is opened (January 6th to May 31st and August 6th to December 21st). Geographical Information Systems was used to locate buffer zones around schools with higher crash incidence rates. The use of log-linear analysis has culminated in explaining the relationship between various variables and crash incidence or crash frequency Crash data for this study was obtained in the form of crash database and GIS maps from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Orange County School Board respectively. Crash reports were downloaded from the CAR database of the FDOT mainframe website. The crash data was related to the GIS maps to visually depict the proximity of crashes to the school zones and thus identified risky schools and school districts. It was concluded from the spatial analysis that the incidence of crashes was higher at middle schools. In the log-linear analysis different models were i tested to explain the effects of driver characteristics, geometric characteristics and pedestrian characteristics on the crash frequency. It was found that driver age, number of lanes, median type, pedestrian age and speed limit are the critical variables in explaining crash frequency. By examining the levels of the variables that were significantly involved in the crashes we would get an insight on ways to explain and control pedestrian/bicyclists crashes at school zones. It is hoped that this thesis would make an active contribution in improving the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians in and around school zones and make the schools much safer for the children.

Adolescent dating violence occurs in high schools at an alarming rate. To educate adolescents about dating violence, some public high schools have incorporated prevention programs into their curriculum. These programs, which are predicated upon empiricism and behavioral theories, tend to produce limited results. In order to improve prevention programs, it has been suggested that schools should play a larger role in their development and implementation. However, dating violence studies have yet to examine how much school personnel know about adolescent dating violence and prevention strategies. The current study surveyed administrators and instructors at six public high schools in Orange County, Florida about their perceptions of dating violence and attitudes toward dating violence prevention programs. The results indicate that administrators and instructors are fairly knowledgeable about adolescent dating violence, approve of school-based dating violence prevention programs, and are willing to participate in prevention efforts. The results also indicate that administrators' and instructors' sociodemographics have the potential to affect how they feel about dating violence and prevention strategies. Implications of these findings for prevention program development and implementation as well as future research are discussed.

No description available.

School divisions have spent billions of dollars on school safety upgrades since the events at Columbine (Cox and Rich, 2018). However, the research on the effectiveness of policies and safety upgrades has been inconsistent. Further, research dedicated to teacher perceptions of school is limited. An in-depth examination of how teachers perceive safety policies and practices could assist school leaders in the creation of safe working spaces for their teachers. The purpose of the study was to identify factors that influence teacher perceptions of safety within the school environment. This study was an extension of Leonard's (2016) study entitled What School Factors Influence Teachers' Perceptions of Safety in Their Classrooms and Schools? This mixed-methods study surveyed 559 teachers in a medium-sized Virginia school division and had 353 participants. The survey tool consisted of qualitative and quantitative elements designed to measure teacher perceptions of safety regarding physical characteristics of school facilities, collegial relationships, school administrator practices, and the principal's adherence to school division safety policies. Descriptive tables for each survey question were created. The tables highlighted statistical trends gathered from the quantitative portion of the study and lists of common perceptions observed from the thematic analysis process. Potential relationships between perceptions of safety, school facilities, gender, years of experience, and teaching assignments were highlighted. The study indicated that physical and visible security measured impacted teacher perceptions of safety. Teachers identified that locked exterior doors, the presence of school resource officers, and security cameras positively impacted their perceptions of safety. The school environment had an impact on perceptions of teacher safety. Teachers determined that colleague support impacted perceptions of safety positively. In addition, school administrators' practices influenced teacher perceptions of safety. Teachers conveyed that principal visibility, administration support, and open communication enhanced their perception of safety. Further, teachers highlighted the importance of their awareness of school and district safety policies, and the existence of crisis plans at the school and division level. Moreover, the majority of teachers' perceptions of safety were not negatively impacted by student behavior or the potential of outside intruder threats. Thus, the researcher determined that, overall, teachers perceived that they felt safe at school. / Doctor of Education / School divisions have spent billions of dollars on school safety upgrades since the events at Columbine (Cox and Rich, 2018). However, the research on the effectiveness of policies and safety upgrades has varied. Further, research dedicated to teacher perceptions of school is limited. An in-depth examination of how teachers perceive safety policies and practices could assist school leaders in the creation of safe working spaces for their teachers. The purpose of the study was to identify factors that influence teacher perceptions of safety within the school environment. This study was an extension of Leonard's (2016) study entitled What School Factors Influence Teachers' Perceptions of Safety in Their Classrooms and Schools? The researcher surveyed 559 teachers in a medium-sized Virginia school division and had 353 participants. The survey consisted of qualitative and quantitative elements designed to measure teacher perceptions of safety regarding physical characteristics of school facilities, collegial relationships, school administrator practices, and the principal's adherence to school division safety policies. A summary table for each survey question was created. The tables highlighted statistical trends gathered from the quantitative portion of the study and lists of common perceptions observed within the qualitative questions responses. Potential relationships between perceptions of safety, school facilities, gender, years of experience, and teaching assignments were highlighted. The researcher determined that physical and visible security measured impacted teacher perceptions of safety. Teachers identified that locked exterior doors, the presence of school resource officers, and security cameras positively impacted their perceptions of safety. The school environment had an impact on perceptions of teacher safety. Teachers determined that colleague support positively impacted perceptions of safety. In addition, school administrators' practices influenced teacher perceptions of safety. Teachers conveyed that principal visibility, administration support, and open communication enhanced their perception of safety. Further, teachers highlighted the importance of their awareness of school and district safety policies, and the existence of crisis plans at the school and division level. Moreover, the majority of teachers' perceptions of safety were not negatively impacted by student behavior or the potential of outside intruder threats. Thus, the researcher determined that, overall, teachers felt safe at school.

There is "no one-size-fits-all solution" to school safety (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, 2022. p. 7). The growing number of school shootings and health problems at schools raise serious questions about the dimensions of school safety that should be measured. Prior extensive surveys measuring elementary student's views of safety in relation to relevant safety issues have not been conducted. There were four objectives for this study: 1) to investigate relevant dimensions of school safety and understand safety procedures that are currently in use; 2) to formulate and organize questions that would be approved to gauge elementary students' perceptions about school safety; 3) to assess validity and reliability of expert's perceived school safety relevancy scores of the SPSS Scale's items and theoretical dimensions of school safety; and 4) to determine whether school guardians and law enforcement share the same concerns about school safety. A preliminary analysis using Q-Method was run which led to approximately 27% reduction of items; differences in officer and teacher ratings were found. The primary task called for law enforcement and school guardians' expert judgement on relevancy and suitability of the SPSS Scale. A series of tests were performed to examine the scores to assess the validity and reliability of the safety expert's ratings. A Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to evaluate target hardening to ascertain whether the safety experts have similar concerns regarding school safety. Findings concluded that there were no statistically significant differences among the experts' ratings of the items; they share the same view. Strong reliability was shown in the close correlation between the expert's judgments of the scale items and the theoretical constructs of school safety. The SPSS Scale's applicability to comprehensively evaluate school safety was raised by agreement over themes discovered on the relevant but unreported school safety issues.

A safe school is defined as a physically and emotionally safe environment where faculty and staff, members of the community, and students perceive that they are safe. School safety is an important topic for both school administrators and architects who design schools. Previous research into the physical environment of a school has explored its impact on student achievement and, to a lesser extent, school climate and school safety. Overall, research into the relationship between a physical environment of a school and its influence on the perception of safety is inadequate. The study sought to determine what were the design elements that principals and architects believed promoted a safe elementary school. The main research question for the study was, "What are the design elements that principals and architects believe influence a safe elementary school?" The study replicated the methodology of Walton's study (2011) called Physical Design for Safe Schools. Walton focused on perceptions of high school principals and architects who were involved in designing and building schools. Walton's study concluded that safety was an important issue to principals and architects. Specifically, each group identified supervision, technology and cameras, and controlling access to school buildings as important to school safety. The groups also identified restrooms and locker rooms as the two most problematic areas of a school building due to inability to supervise. Data for the study were gathered through qualitative methods and utilized a phenomenological approach to exploring data. Principals from elementary schools built before 1999, principals from elementary schools built since 2011, and architects with experience designing elementary schools were included as participants in the study. Participants were asked five to nine semi-structured and open-ended questions relevant to the design elements and physical features associated with school buildings. Results of the study found that the physical design of a school building was viewed as having an influence on safety in schools. The two common themes from all three groups were access control and visibility. Sub-themes were the importance of preparation for emergencies, perceptions of inequality in funding for school safety measures, the prevalence of technology that has created greater opportunities to keep schools safe, and the need for balance between safety and aesthetics when designing schools. / Ed. D. / “A safe school is defined as a physically and emotionally safe environment where faculty and staff, members of the community, and students perceive that they are safe. The study sought to determine what were the design elements that principals and architects believed promoted a safe elementary school. The main research question for the study was, “What are the design elements that principals and architects believe influence a safe elementary school?” The study concluded that safety was an important issue to principals and architects. Results of the study found that the physical design of a school building was viewed as having an influence on safety in schools. The two common themes discussed were access control and visibility. Sub-themes were the importance of preparation for emergencies, perceptions of inequality in funding for school safety measures, the prevalence of technology that has created greater opportunities to keep schools safe, and the need for balance between safety and aesthetics when designing schools."

xiv, 104 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Student safety on school property continues to be a priority for educators. Pediatric research reveals that student injuries sustained while riding the school bus may be more than three times the number actually reported by transportation departments. These studies further indicate that a major factor contributing to injuries is inappropriate student behavior while riding a school bus. This dissertation involved the creation of a behavior management program for students who ride the school bus. The behavior management program (Bus PBS) was derived from the established and well researched school-based universal prevention, Positive Behavior Support (PBS). The core features of the Bus PBS program included, (1) active support and involvement by the School Administrator and the Transportation Director, (2) school-wide expectations reworded for use on the school bus, (3) students received direct instruction regarding behavioral expectations on the school bus, (4) drivers received a 1.5 hour training in the classroom and 3 days of on-board coaching during the intervention phase, and (5) drivers were encouraged to greet students by name as they entered the bus, provide formal rewards to recognize correct student behavior, and deliver a continuum of clear consequences for student problem behavior. The study was conducted with three typical school buses in a moderate-sized West Coast city. The research question under consideration asked if the presence of Bus PBS was functionally related to student behavior on the school bus. Using a single subject multiple baseline design across three buses, direct observation data were collected on (a) fidelity of bus driver implementation of the program and (b) student problem behavior. Results indicated that bus drivers were able to implement the intervention with moderate to high fidelity, and implementation of Bus PBS was functionally related to improved student behavior. Student problem behavior on the school bus during the Bus PBS program was 37% lower than baseline levels. Discussion is provided about the clinical and research implications of the results. / Advisers: Horner, Robert H., Merrell, Kenneth W.

Schools, families, and neighborhoods can support the development of happy, healthy children and adolescents. However, a majority of children in the United States also experience adversity in their early lives that can have deleterious effects on their cognitive and socioemotional development. Measuring and modeling early adversity is fundamental to understanding development as it occurs through interactions with schools, families and neighborhoods. As outlined by Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model of human development, proximal and distal forces shape development, and cannot be isolated when relating measures of the developmental context to outcomes for individuals. For schools and other social programs to support students from high adversity backgrounds, the nature and structure of adversity and contextual influences must be measured and modeled in a robust manner. The three distinct papers in this dissertation describe the construction and evaluation of measurements for adversity, family conflict, neighborhood quality, and school safety, along with models that relate these elements to each other and cognitive outcomes in childhood and adolescence. Structural equation modeling is used to investigate the latent variables generated to measure the constructs and the nature of their relationships. The studies use nationally representative data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to create and test the theoretically driven models. The first study constructs and tests latent variables aligned with the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) framework in order to generate a continuous and theoretically coherent measurement of adversity. The second study uses this ACEs measurement along with measures of family conflict and neighborhood quality to generate and test path models informed by the bioecological theory of development. The third study applies these measures of developmental constructs to the study of safety in schools and identifies the differential function of school safety for children with varying levels of adversity to better understand the potential for school-based interventions. Results from these studies indicate the utility of a latent variable approach to measuring adversity, and the viability of path analysis for the study of how ACEs, family conflict and neighborhood quality influence cognitive outcomes. Additionally, results provide evidence for the necessity of varied and networked developmental supports for children from highly adverse beginnings, above those that may be available through reforms to school safety. Taken together, these studies provide a rich portrait of childhood development incorporating multiple contextual influences, and add to our understanding of what schools can and cannot do to support children.