Project Activities
The project used two national datasets: the
School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey and the
School Survey on Crime & Safety. These datasets were used to explore the patterns of visible security measures used in schools and their association with middle- and high-school students' outcomes. Researchers first explored the different patterns of visible security measure use in U.S. middle- and high schools. After identifying different security use patterns, researchers then examined how schools' use of such security measures were associated with student outcomes—namely, perceived school safety, attendance, achievement, educational expectations, antisocial behavior, weapon use, and drug use at school. By identifying patterns of visible security measure use, researchers examined whether various combinations of visible security measures (e.g., security personnel and metal detectors vs. security personnel only) were differentially associated with student outcomes. Finally, researchers explored the conditions under which school security measures may have had the largest effects and examined whether school context characteristics (e.g., urbanicity, grade span) moderated the relationship between security measures and student outcomes.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The project analyzed cross-sectional data from two large national surveys—the School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey and the School Survey on Crime & Safety (SSOCS).
Sample
The SCS was a cross-sectional survey of 12- through 18-year-old students in the United States. The analytic sample included over 40,000 student-reported responses collected at 5 time-points (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007). The SSOCS was a cross-sectional survey of principals and administrators of schools in the United States. The analytic sample included over 6,000 principal- and administrator-reported responses collected at 4 time points (1999/00, 2003/04, 2005/06, 2007/08).
Factors
This exploratory study helped identify those school security approaches worth further refinement and empirical investigation and suggested future use of school security measures that may have been most beneficial to students' academic and behavioral outcomes.
Research design and methods
The analyses occurred in two stages. The first stage of analysis involved an in-depth exploration of patterns of visible security measure utilization in schools which included the identification of different patterns of security measure use that may have typified most U.S. middle- and high-schools. Latent class analysis was used to identify and describe the most common patterns of visible security measure utilization in schools. Because schools were not randomly assigned to groups with different security use patterns, propensity scores were used to create equivalent groups given other observable characteristics. The second stage of analysis involved use of generalized linear models to explore the ways that security use patterns were associated with student outcomes, and the moderating effects of school context characteristics on those relationships.
Control condition
Due to the nature of this research design, there was no control condition.
Key measures
The School Crime Supplement included student-reported items on perceptions of school safety, academic achievement (attendance, course grades, and academic expectations [do you expect to attend school after high school?]), behavior (aggression/violence victimization, property crime, weapon presence, and drug presence), and use of visible security measures in the school. The School Survey on Crime & Safety included administrator-reported items on student academic achievement (attendance, percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests, and percent of students likely to go to college), student behavior (aggression/violence, property crime, weapon presence, and drug presence), and use of visible security measures in the school.
Data analytic strategy
Data from the two samples was analyzed separately, but results were compared and presented in parallel to determine the consistency and generalizability of findings. Latent class analysis (LCA) models were used and different groups of schools that used similar patterns of visible security measures were identified. The next phase of the analysis compared student outcomes for the LCA groups using generalized propensity score methods to equate the multiple nonrandomized groups. Generalized linear models were used to analyze the associations between security use patterns and student outcomes, with regression models estimated separately for each of the key outcomes of interest. Separate regression models were also run to assess the potential moderating effects of school characteristics (e.g., urbanicity) on those relationships.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Publications:
Fisher, B.W., and Tanner-Smith, E.E. (2015). Examining School Security Measures as Moderators of the Association Between Homophobic Victimization and School Avoidance. Journal of School Violence, 15(2): 234-257.
Fisher, B. W., Gardella, J. H., & Tanner-Smith, E. E. (2019). Social control in schools: The relationships between school security measures and informal social control mechanisms. Journal of school violence, 18(3), 347-361.
Gardella, J H., Tanner-Smith, E.E., and Fisher, B.W. (2016). Academic Consequences of Multiple Victimization and the Role of School Security Measures. American Journal of Community Psychology, 58(1-2), 36-46.
Steinka-Fry, K.T., Fisher, B.W., and Tanner-Smith, E.E. (2016). Visible School Security Measures across Diverse Middle and High School Settings: Typologies and Predictors. Journal of Applied Security Research, 11(4), 422-436.
Tanner-Smith, E.E., and Fisher, B.W. (2016). Visible School Security Measures and Student Academic Performance, Attendance, and Postsecondary Aspirations. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(1): 195-210.
Tanner-Smith, E.E., Fisher, B.W., Addington, L.A., and Gardella, J.H. (2017). Adding Security, but Subtracting Safety? Exploring Schools' Use of Multiple Visible Security Measures. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 1-18.
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigator: Lipsey, Mark
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
