School violence prevention project receives DOE grant

Aided by a federal grant, an Indiana University Bloomington professor will be working closely with two Indiana school districts to help their schools develop comprehensive programs to prevent school violence.

Skiba

Russell Skiba, associate professor at the IU School of Education, along with collaborator Reece Peterson of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, received a three-year grant of $200,000 annually from the U.S. Department of Education as part of its program called Projects of National Significance.

Ten schools in Indiana and Nebraska will be involved. Locally, the project will work with five schools (two high schools, two middle schools and one elementary school) in two districts, Richland-Bean Blossom and SpencerOwen.

Skiba, a proponent of preventive strategies to quell school violence, has been on the faculty of the School of Education since 1987. A member of the school's Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, he also is director of the IU Institute for Child Study, a clinic of the school psychology program serving children with learning and behavioral problems, as well as their families. He was a member of the expert panel that helped draft the White House response to school violence, "Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools."

"It has become clear that the threat of school violence cuts across class, locale or special education status," he said. Although there is currently tremendous pressure to implement zero-tolerance strategies such as metal detectors and expulsion, he said such methods alone cannot foster a school climate that can prevent violence.

"A broader perspective, stressing comprehensive planning, prevention and parent/community involvement, is necessary if schools are to develop effective strategies to address the disruptive behavior of all students, including those with disabilities, and prevent further tragedy in our nation's schools," he said.

During the course of the project, Skiba and Peterson will develop a guide to school safety and discipline to be distributed to the participating schools. In the first year of the project, teachers, parents and administrators will use the guide to assess their schools' responses to disruptive or violent behavior and then select strategies for implementation. In the second year, the schools will implement those plans while monitoring the effect of the changes on behavior. In the third year, the guide will be distributed to a second group of national test sites for further evaluation.

Ultimately, Skiba hopes the completed guide will provide a blueprint for developing safer and more responsive schools for all students.

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