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School Security

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Essay
Preventing Violence in Schools: How to Encourage Students to Report Threats
One of the most consistent findings in research on school shootings is that someone knew an attack was possible but didn't report it. There are ways schools can encourage students to come forward when they see or hear something concerning: tip lines, training, and a lot more trust.
Mar 9, 2023
Report
Challenges in Implementing Physical Security Measures in K–12 Schools
Creating safe and secure environments is essential to supporting effective teaching and learning in America's classrooms. What are the most common challenges to physical security planning in schools?
Jun 3, 2021

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Commentary
Ways to Help Students Report Threats to Their School
When students or others don't know how to report a threat or aren't willing to do so, important opportunities to protect students may be missed. Schools receive little guidance about how to implement an effective reporting program or how to build a robust reporting culture. A recent research effort helps to fill this gap, highlighting seven key implications for school safety planning.
Sep 29, 2022
Blog
Diversity in the Military, Telemedicine Abortion, China and Taiwan: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the benefits of increasing and maintaining diversity in the armed forces, the challenges of telemedicine abortion, whether Indo-Pacific countries are backing China or Taiwan, and more.
Aug 26, 2022
Report
Supporting Individual Willingness to Report School Safety Concerns
What can states, districts, and schools do to encourage people—especially students—to report threats of school violence so that preventive action can be taken?
Aug 25, 2022
Report
Seeking Balance in the Provision of Technical Assistance: Insights from the National Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety
The authors examine the first three years of operation for the Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety (CISELSS) and offer insights that might help guide efforts to continuously improve CISELSS's provision of supports.
Nov 9, 2021
Blog
China's Ambitions, Origins of the Coronavirus, Income Inequality: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on China’s quest for global primacy, understanding the coronavirus origin story, how parents feel about sending their children back to school, and more.
Jun 11, 2021
Blog
Sexual Assault in the Military, School Security, Mental Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the risk of sexual assault to sexual minorities in the U.S. military, making treatment more accessible to people struggling with opioid addiction, countering Russian propaganda, and more.
Jun 4, 2021
Report
A Systems Approach to Physical Security in K–12 Schools
Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center researchers present a systems approach to school safety in which physical security elements integrate to provide benefits with minimal negative effects on schools' missions, operations, and climates.
Jun 3, 2021
Journal Article
Making Schools Safer And/Or Escalating Disciplinary Response: A Study of Police Officers in North Carolina Schools
In this study, we try to understand the causal role that school resource officers play in school safety and the day-to-day practice of school discipline by using incident-level administrative data from North Carolina public schools.
Apr 13, 2021
Commentary
Coronavirus Will Necessitate Changes in Schools When They Reopen
Schools will likely need to modify their practices so that their teachers, staff, and students maintain social distancing standards whenever they reopen. If a federal agency would create guidance, then educators could focus on teaching students.
Apr 16, 2020
Report
Secondary Educators Consider Discipline Reform a Priority
One quarter of principals and 31 percent of teachers surveyed identified discipline reform as one of the top three most important interventions needed in their secondary schools. And those in high-poverty schools were more likely than those in low-poverty schools to do so.
Apr 9, 2020
Commentary
How Can the U.S. Do a Better Job of Keeping Kids Safe at School?
Many proposals to improve school safety promote the use of technology, such as metal detectors and video cameras. How effective are these devices? The evidence is mixed.
Mar 26, 2018
Journal Article
School-Based Interventions for Reducing Disciplinary School Exclusion
The evidence suggests that school-based interventions are effective at reducing school exclusion immediately after, and for a few months after, the intervention.
Mar 15, 2018
Commentary
How to Bring Facts into the Gun Policy Debate
As debate continues to rage over the causes and prevention of gun violence, it's worth asking how science can help lawmakers and the public resolve longstanding disagreements that have stood in the way of solutions.
Mar 9, 2018
Commentary
Body Cameras on Teachers Are Not the Answer to Classroom Management
Teachers at two schools in England are wearing body cameras as part of a pilot program aimed at stopping classroom disruption. How they use the cameras could be counter-productive and may even escalate disruptive situations.
Feb 13, 2017
Research Brief
Can Technology Make Schools Safer?
Concerns about violence have led many schools to seek out safety technologies such as metal detectors, anonymous “tip lines,” and video surveillance systems. How effective are these at helping schools prevent and respond to threats and acts of violence?
Aug 22, 2016
Report
The Role of Technology in Improving School Safety
School violence can damage both kids' future outcomes and the culture and performance of the school. Safety technologies are one of many approaches to prevent and respond to the problem. What role might they play?
Apr 14, 2016
Commentary
How Terrorist Threats Against LA and New York Schools Exposed Weaknesses
The handling of terrorist threats on Los Angeles and New York City schools calls into question the ability of national and local government to coordinate a terrorist crisis involving two or more cities.
Dec 23, 2015
Commentary
Not Every Tragedy Has a Solution
Published commentary by RAND staff: Not Every Tragedy Has a Solution, in Washingtonpost.com.
Apr 18, 2007

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RAND Topic:
School Security

Topic Synonyms:
School Safety;
Student Safety

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Melissa Kay Diliberti

Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Melissa Kay Diliberti is an assistant policy researcher at RAND and a Ph.D. candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She analyzes data from RAND's American Educator Panels to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic is changing the U.S. education system. Her research interests include domestic…
Pauline Moore

Political Scientist

Pauline Moore is a political scientist at the RAND Corporation and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research focuses on violent extremism, targeted violence, terrorism and counterterrorism, and safety and security in K-12 schools. She is the author of The…

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