Research And ResultsResearch Confirms School Climate is Key to Educational SuccessIn their analysis of data from more than 1800 schools over 3 years, researchers with the California Healthy Students Research Project (CHSRP) found a “strong correlation” between school climate and academic achievement. Students in the schools with the best climate (lowest exposure to bullying and violence, most caring relationships and opportunities for meaningful participation, and highest expectations) performed in the highest quintile on state tests. This relationship held true across all quintiles, even after controlling for school demographic factors like ethnicity, parental income, and parents’ level of education. To learn more, download CA Healthy Students Research Project Brief. Evaluation Confirms Effectiveness of Safe School Ambassadors ProgramA multi-year evaluation conducted in partnership with Texas State University, San Marcos and the University of Georgia, Athens, and completed in 2011 found several statistically significant outcomes:
Secret Service & Other Studies Find Connectedness is Critical To Safe and High-Performing SchoolsStudies of thousands of youth have shown that school connectedness is a predictor of healthy behaviors, high achievement, and school safety. For example, connected students are more likely to alert a teacher or principal if they hear a fellow student “wants to do something dangerous,” according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association. In a study of 37 school shootings spanning 26 years, the Secret Service found that bystanders who came forward with information were influenced by positive relationships they had with school staff. What is connectedness? When students say they feel close to people at school, that they belong and feel safe, and staff members treat students fairly and with respect. It is a product of the school climate. More Students Best Positioned to Improve School ClimateSchool climate? It’s visceral, palpable. It’s the social-emotional tone of a school – how the people inside it treat and interact with each other – and it influences everything from student behavior to teacher morale to test scores. Five sets of factors influence the climate of a school:
These five determinants provide school leaders with a framework for improving school climate. Research and field experience has shown that students are the most powerful and effective resource, readily available but greatly underutilized. More Research Supports Safe School Ambassadors ProgramOther students witness 85% of bullying incidents, and researchers have found that these bystanders hold the key to stopping bullying and violence. But most of the time, they don’t intervene or tell adults. Why? They fear retaliation or being the next target. They don’t know what to say or do and fear they’ll make it worse. And they figure adults won’t believe them or won’t actually solve the problem. But when peers DO intervene, the bullying stops in 57% of situations. See what else the research shows.
Bullying - What’s the Problem?Find out more about the extent and costs of bullying and other forms of peer mistreatment:
$10 Billion Later – How Much Safer Are Our Schools?Since Columbine, more than $10 billion has been invested in an “outside-in” approach to school safety, one that is:
What are the results? Principles in PracticeThe Safe School Ambassadors program uses principles of social change to harness student power to stop bullying and violence. More Results of the Safe School Ambassadors ProgramImplemented in over 950 schools throughout North America. More than 60,000 Ambassadors trained. Results include:
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