What Schools Do to Prevent Problem Behavior and Promote Safe Environments

Abstract This article reports results from a survey conducted in a probability sample of U.S. public, private, and Catholic schools to obtain information about the nature and extent of activity to prevent problem behavior. Principals of 848 schools (66%) completed an initial questionnaire to identify prevention activities and arrangements; principals of 635 schools (50%) completed a second questionnaire to describe discipline practices. Results imply that schools engage in a large number of activities ranging from security and surveillance, through school climate change, to counseling and curricular or instructional programs. Most schools have strict rules about dangerous behaviors. Suspension is used extensively to respond to student misconduct, yet many schools fail to use the full range of available responses to desirable and undesirable behavior, and the consistency of responses is not always high. There is room for improvement in the area of school discipline management, but making rules stricter or increasing the use of suspension and expulsion appear unnecessary. Many of the activities in which schools are engaged to promote safety and prevent problem behavior have not been the subject of evaluation, so research provides little information about the effectiveness of what schools now do. The large quantity of prevention practices undertaken in the typical school raises the question of whether so many different activities can be carried out in a high quality fashion.