Schneider, 2010
Due to rapid changes in security technology, this publication is updated quarterly. It replaces Newer Technologies for School Security, published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management in 2001, and The Appropriate and Effective Use of Security Technologies in U.S. Schools: A Guide for Schools and Law Enforcement Agencies, published by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1999.
School safety is a human concern, one that every school and community must take seriously and strive continually to achieve. It is also a legal concern; schools can be held liable if they do not make good-faith efforts to provide a safe and secure school environment.
By T.R. Dunlap, February 20, 2015.
As we prepare for the EFC’s upcoming webinar entitled ‘Safe Schools by Design’, we hope to convey the importance of students’ perceptions of safety in the design and improvements of school buildings. Perceptions wield great power over the values and behaviors of individuals and communities, and these modes of thinking affect social processes like education. Fundamentally, perceptions, internalized and expressed, produce social norms and guide behavior.
For our purposes, let’s consider the effects of students’ perception of safety in the process of education and in the context of the education facility. There are a number of articles exploring correlations between students’ perceptions of personal safety and academic achievement (Burdick-Will, 2013), behavior (Watt, 1998), and mental health (Nijs et al., 2014). In short, researchers submit that students’ perceptions of jeopardized safety negatively affect academic progress, increase maladaptive and deviant behavior, and increase types and frequency of mental illnesses. In light of these findings, those concerned with education policy, or any stakeholder for that matter, should consider the importance of providing safe spaces for teaching and learning.
It is theorized that perceptions of the immediate physical environment lend themselves to signaling effects that foster social norms and behavior (Keuschnigg & Wolbring, 2015). Furthermore, the often-cited ‘broken window’ theory holds that the appearance of social disorder creates cultural acceptance and expectation of disorder (Kelling & Wilson, 2012). The implications of ‘broken windows’—a metaphor for any environmental attribute that indicates social dysfunction—are demonstrated in the attitudes and behaviors of participants in relation to the physical environment. For example, if a neighborhood has trash all over the sidewalks, it is more probable that participants in this physical environment will add to the trash, believing that littering is a ‘normal’ behavior in this context. Another example: Perhaps a person believes there is greater risk of violence in another part of town; this person is more likely to act cautiously or even aggressively in that particular physical environment. The attributes of an environment are assessed by the human mind to infer (or even invent) information about the social considerations pertaining to the physical context.
We must be concerned with the signaling effect of the education facility’s physical environment. Inadequately designed and improperly maintained education facilities do no favors in fostering positive social norms and elevating students’ motivation to behave well and succeed. Consider beginning with basic questions: Are rooms dimly lit? Is mold or water damage visible? How can we improve the perceptions of the learning environment? As we prepare for the upcoming training on school safety, we are driven by a desire to convey the importance of altering perceptions, upholding positive social norms, and ensuring students that their facilities are safe and secure places to learn.
References
Burdick-Will, J. (2013). School Violent Crime and Academic Achievement in Chicago. Sociology of Education, 86(4), 343–361.
Kelling, G. L., & Wilson, J. Q. (2012). Broken Windows. Atlantic, 310(4).
Keuschnigg, M., & Wolbring, T. (2015). Disorder, social capital, and norm violation: Three field experiments on the broken windows thesis. Rationality & Society, 27(1), 96–126.
Nijs, M., Bun, C., Tempelaar, W., Wit, N., Burger, H., Plevier, C., & Boks, M. (2014). Perceived School Safety is Strongly Associated with Adolescent Mental Health Problems. Community Mental Health Journal, 50(2), 127–134.
Watt, D. R. (1998). I’m in charge here: Exposure to community violence, perceptions of control, and academic and aggressive outcome in inner-city youth. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=pqRLAQAAIAAJ
T. R. Dunlap is a research assistant for George Washington University in the Education Facilities Clearinghouse. After having worked as a foreign language educator, he now researches topics relevant to education facilities and their improvements.
Architects of Achievement. Thoughtfully-designed school buildings—capable of supporting personalized, learning-focused, collaborative, and community-connected teaching and learning—have the power to transform individuals, schools, and the greater community. Momentum for high school reform is building as policymakers, opinion leaders, educators, and the general public recognize what visionary school reformers have known for years: American high schools, designed for a manufacturing economy that no longer exists, are failing to prepare our youth for college, career, and citizenship. Across the nation, large comprehensive high schools are being replaced with smaller, more dynamic learning communities. Our nation’s students are changing. School systems, curriculum and instruction, and facilities must evolve together, to prepare these new learners to lead our nation, and world, into the future. With you, we are honored to be part of this work.
Terry T-K Huang, PhD, MPH, CPH; Dina Sorensen, MArch; Steven Davis, AIA; Leah Frerichs, MS; Jeri Brittin, MM; Joseph Celentano, AIA; Kelly Callahan, AIA; Matthew J. Trowbridge, MD, MPH, 2013.
We developed a new tool, Healthy Eating Design Guidelines for School Architecture, to provide practitioners in architecture and public health with a practical set of spatially organized and theory-based strategies for making school environments more conducive to learning about and practicing healthy eating by optimizing physical resources and learning spaces. The design guidelines, developed through multidisciplinary collaboration, cover 10 domains of the school food environment (eg, cafeteria, kitchen, garden) and 5 core healthy eating design principles. A school redesign project in Dillwyn, Virginia, used the tool to improve the schools’ ability to adopt a healthy nutrition curriculum and promote healthy eating. The new tool, now in a pilot version, is expected to evolve as its components are tested and evaluated through public health and design research.
National Education Association, National Education Association. When crisis strikes, the daily lessons imparted in classrooms and on school grounds across the nation take on even more importance. In addition to academic subjects, our children learn respect and resilience and feel the daily embrace of school staff’s love and care. As educators, we are committed to keeping schools safe and supporting children and their families. That is why we developed this easy-to-use crisis guide, created by educators for educators. This publication is a shorter version of the more comprehensive online guide, which includes tools, templates and case studies.
National School Safety Center, 1998. The National School Safety Center offers the following checklist derived from tracking school-associated violent deaths in the United States from July 1992 to the present. Follow this link to the School Associated Violent Deaths Report. After studying common characteristics of youngsters who have caused such deaths, NSSC has identified the following behaviors, which could indicate a youth's potential for harming him/herself or others.
National Association of Psychologists, 2006. High profile acts of violence, particularly in schools, can confuse and frighten children who may feel in danger or worry that their friends or loved-ones are at risk. They will look to adults for information and guidance on how to react. Parents and school personnel can help children feel safe by establishing a sense of normalcy and security and talking with them about their fears.
By Angel Ford, February 6, 2015.
Citizens that care about students might come to a consensus that safe and healthy school buildings are an important consideration of education. According to Webster’s Dictionary, safety is “the condition of being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss,” and healthy is “good for and conducive to health” (Merriam-Webster).
When including safety and health into an effective definition of school design, it would mean to plan and make decisions about school facilities (both in new construction and existing buildings) to ensure students, teachers, staff, and visitors will be safe from hurt, injury, or loss and will be in an environment that is good for their health.
We wouldn’t knowingly send children into structurally unsafe buildings with crumbling roofs or walls that are falling down; however, some conditions that affect health and safety are less obvious such as poor indoor air quality and/or mold, toxic building materials from years ago or in some instances inadequate climate control
Some schools have elements that are in need of repair and some even have elements that are beyond repair. This should not be the case. We need to do better for our students. Parents should be confident that the buildings where their children learn are designed or redesigned in line with best practices for safety and health.
Outside of the initial concerns for safety and health is the idea that these poor conditions can affect student motivation and thus student achievement.
Maslow’s theory of motivation shows it is important to ensure that people are in environments that meet basic human needs, with the physiological (health) needs and the need for safety being foundational (Maslow, 1943).
Meeting these basic needs does not guarantee that students will be motivated to learn; however, any area where educators can remove known obstacles the path to learning is more likely. When basic needs are not met, “The urge to write poetry… the interest in American history… become of secondary importance.” (Maslow, 1943, p. 3).
If the basic needs of students are not being met, then time and energy must be used tending to those needs before time and energy can be spent on academics. If students are too cold or too hot, they may not be able to focus (Earthman, 2004; Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2007 ). If the classroom is not well lighted, is overcrowded or unsafe in anyway, the focus of the students may not be on the lessons (Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2007). If a building even feels unsafe to the students because of broken fixtures, graffiti, etc., the students may be unable to concentrate on the academic goals in front of them.
Looking at the importance of school environments through the lens of Maslow’s theory of motivation, there may be some evidence that without meeting basic needs it could be difficult for students to make an effort to concentrate their attention on developing academic patterns and digesting the academic materials they are being presented.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Schools in poor conditions have the potential to affect student achievement through changing students’ moment to moment motivation. Students shouldn’t be in survival mode. If they are, we cannot expect them to thrive.
Keeping the work of Maslow in mind, designing and maintaining schools for safety and health must be high priorities. These are the most basic needs of our students and crucial to their learning environment.
Keep following The Educational Facilities Clearinghouse (efc-staging.edstudies.net) as we expand our information on Safety by Design for schools. The motivation and academic achievement of students depend on having physical environments conducive to learning.
References
Earthman, G. I. (2004). Prioritization of 31 criteria for school building adequacy. Baltimore, MD: American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Maryland.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396.
Uline, C. & Tschannen-Moran, M. (2007). The walls speak: The interplay of quality facilities, school climate, and student achievement. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(1), 55-73.
http://www.researchhistory.org/2012/06/16/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs/
Angel Ford is a research assistant with Education Facilities Clearinghouse, where she is actively involved in research and content management of the EFC Website. She is also pursuing her Doctorate in Education with her dissertation topic to be in the area of educational facilities.
By Linda Lemasters, January 23, 2015
New car, old car? An antique Mustang or a brand new Camaro? Which is the safest? My husband and I had a ’67 Mustang; it was a great little car. Most of us would admit, however, that the new Camaro—with the latest in airbags, backup cameras, anti-lock brakes and stabilization, blind spot alerts, and many more bells and whistles—is the safest. The same can be said of new school buildings. Newer schools are perceived to be the safest. Nearly all newer schools have systems that assist in controlling access to the building and grounds during school hours, have the most up-to-date camera systems to monitor inside and out of the facility, have the latest HVAC systems that control indoor air quality, have no contaminants in the building materials, have the latest in fire and smoke safety, have the latest in technology for alert systems, are totally handicap accessible, and have “Columbine” locks that permit teachers to secure their rooms from inside the classroom. We could go on and on.
The most disheartening in all of this: all of our children cannot go to school in new buildings. Not all can go to schools that have been remodeled or retrofitted. What can be done to make your older school safe with little or no expense? Please note, this list is not all inclusive, but all schools can have:
As you read, you most likely are thinking of a half-dozen more ideas, which I have not listed. The idea is, however, a school or a local school agency (LEA) does not need to use the excuse of “no money” to make the places where our children learn more safe. In addition, schools with adequate funding need to make sure they pay attention to some of these suggestions. School disasters, safety problems, unhealthy schools are not simply relegated to poorer LEAs.
In summary, schools become safer when we “think safety” all of the time and not get upset when we have to get a badge in the school office to visit our child’s classroom or when we are asked to park in a particular area to provide safe ingress and egress of the school site. School safety is not just the job of the administration and teachers; it is the community’s job. There are many things we all can do that cost little or nothing to make the places where children learn safe.
Watch the blog site in a few weeks. The topic will be safety by design: new construction, retrofits, and remodeling. Remember the first part of our blog—new car, old car? Do we buy a new Camaro, or retrofit and remodel the antique Mustang to improve its safety?
References and resources:
http://www.dhs.gov/school-safety
http://www.districtadministration.com/article/designing-safe-facilities
http://www.dropoutprevention.org/effective-strategies/safe-learning-environments
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/school.htm
http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/index.aspx
http://www.ncpc.org/cms-upload/ncpc/File/BSSToolkit_Complete.pdf
http://www.pta.org/safetytoolkit
http://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/at-school/build-safe-environment/
http://www.wikihow.com/Provide-a-Safe-Environment-at-Preschool
http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/handbook.pdf
Linda Lemasters, Director, Education Facilities Clearinghouse
Linda is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development of The George Washington University, where she teaches graduate level coursework, advises students, and directs student research. Her areas of expertise and research include educational planning, facilities management, and women CEOs. She actively conducts research concerning the effects of the facility on the student and teacher, publishes within her field, and has written or edited numerous books including School Maintenance & Renovation: Administrator Policies, Practices, and Economics and book chapters including a recent chapter, Places Where Children Play, published July, 2014 in Marketing the Green School: Form, Function, and the Future.
