Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative (SS/HSI) Evaluation

In an effort to make schools safer and help protect students from violent behavior and drug & alcohol use, the Clinton Administration allocated $100 million in grants to 54 communities. The goal of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative (SS/HSI) is to link school systems with community-based services and prevention activities into one community-wide approach to violence prevention and healthy child development.

Pinellas County, Florida was awarded 2.5 million in grant monies over three years. Dept. of Child & Family Studies staff provided support to Pinellas County during the grant writing process. Tom Massey, Kathi Armstrong and Michael Boroughs wrote up the evaluation component of the grant, and they will and head up the evaluation team. They work closely with the Pinellas schools, community partners and agencies, individual schools and their administrators and the national evaluators during the extent of the SS/HSI evaluation project.

Safe Schools/Healthy Students Evaluation Technical Reports

Henson, K., McCash, L., Massey, O. (2003). Evaluation of the Early Childhood Consultation Services and Partnership Programs, Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-9. Ninth in the Series “Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/Health Students Initiative”.

The Early Childhood Consultation Services and Partnership Programs were partially funded by the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative grant to Pinellas County, Florida to provide mental health and educative services for children from birth to fifth grade and their families who would not otherwise receive services in the community or school. Early Childhood Consultation Services focuses on educating parents, school staff, and community services staff about the issues of families with children from birth to age five. The Partnership program is intended to strengthen the connections among families, community, and schools by providing mental health services for elementary school students and their families.

This report reveals findings from the evaluation of both programs. Results indicated that the brief Early Childhood Program intervention increased children’s social skills, decreased children’s problem behaviors and improved parent and child interactions in the home environment. Low to moderate increases in the emotional and behavioral strengths of the participants as reported by their parents were found following treatment in the Partnership Program.

Boroughs, MS, Massey, O.T., & Armstrong, K. (2002). The Cohort Study: A Longitudinal Evaluation of OCIP and Chill Out. Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-8. Eighth in the Series "Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/ Healthy Students Initiative".

Two in-school interventions were evaluated as part of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative grant to Pinellas County Schools. OCIP is an alternative to suspension, which essentially couples counseling with academic help for students with issues of defiance or other non-violent issues. Chill Out is a middle school program that utilizes the second step curriculum to reduce violence in middle schools.

Both programs were evaluated using a methodology that compared the program participants with a comparison group that was created using behavioral characteristics as well as demographic information. Disciplinary referrals were used as the outcome variable to measure change over time.

Santoro, G., Massey, O., & Armstrong, K. (2002). Perceptions of School Safety: Year 2 of the School Safety Survey. Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-7. Seventh in the Series "Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative".

A rating scale entitled the School Safety Survey (SSS) was developed to identify staff perceptions of school-based issues that contribute to feelings of safety at school. Additionally, the proposed structure and validity of the rating scale were investigated.

Results indicated that school staff perceived that level of parental involvement and teasing among students were the largest factors compromising school safety. Eighty-four percent of respondents indicated a belief that their schools were either safe or very safe. Insufficient parental support was reported to be more problematic at elementary and high school levels, while inappropriate child behaviors (e.g., teasing, bullying) were more problematic at the middle school level.

Uzzell, D., Massey, O., & Armstrong, K. (2002). Learning Between the Lines: A Qualitative Analysis of Focus Groups on School Safety. Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-6. Sixth in the Series "Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative".

This study was conducted in order to gain information regarding the experience of safety in the schools as perceived by students, staff, and parents in Pinellas County. Information collected would serve to provide a better understanding of issues confronting students, and how these issues shaped their behavior. In addition, it was felt that the perceptions of teachers and parents may offer further insights into the experiences of students, particularly with regard to how their perceptions shape the opinions of the students themselves.

Armstrong, K., & Massey, O. (2002). Building a Safe School: Evaluation Findings from the Clearview Avenue Elementary School. Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-5. Fifth in the Series "Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative".

An in-depth evaluation was completed with Clearview Avenue Elementary School in response to a request from the school’s administration in order to guide them in their efforts to provide a safer learning environment for their students. Data were analyzed including pre and post administration of the School Safety Survey, focus groups completed with students, staff and parents, interviews carried out with key informants, record reviews, and other observational data.

Henson, K., Massey, O., & Armstrong, K. (2002). Student Perceptions of School Safety: Results of the 2001 Omnibus Survey. Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-4. Fourth in the Series "Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative".

Pinellas County, Florida began the Omnibus project in 1989 to collect data about students from kindergarten to graduation. Evaluators submitted questions about student perceptions of school safety to the Omnibus committee for addition to the 2001 survey. Omnibus surveys were completed by 2413 students from fifteen high schools.

Bullying and teasing were reported most often with over 40% of students witnessing or experiencing teasing or bullying on a daily basis. Weapons, gang activity and drugs sales in school were reported with low frequency. An analysis by sex revealed that male students reported seeing or experiencing acts of violence or aggression significantly more often than female students.

Santoro, G., Armstrong, K., & Massey, O. (2002). An Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Prosocial Approach to Social Skills Instruction. Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-3. Third in the Series "Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative". An Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Prosocial Approach.

Social skills specialists trained 70 elementary school teachers serving 1300 students from pre-kindergarten through third grade. Teachers conducted daily social skills lessons with their classes using the "Stop and Think" problem solving process and collected data on class progress. Data were collected using an evaluation tool including ten social skills selected for their alignment with the behavior, social growth, and conduct element of school report cards. Overall, teachers rated improved social skills in students over the course of the year. Data also indicated that teachers believed that social skills instruction had simplified classroom management, helped to improve student behavior, and had generalized to other settings outside of the classroom.

Perry, A., Massey, O., & Armstrong, K. (2002). Families and Schools Together (FAST): An Evaluation of Program Effectiveness with Elementary School Children. Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-2. Second in the Series "Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/ Healthy Students Initiative".

Families and Schools Together (FAST) is designed to intervene early in the development of at-risk children in order to strengthen child and family resources. Several locally developed and standardized instruments were used to assess outcomes for student participants and their families. Significant improvements were found on a comparison of pretest-posttest measures of family cohesiveness, formal and informal connections, and personal assets. These results suggest family activities increased due to program participation.

Tucker, J., Henson, K., Santoro, G., Massey, O., & Armstrong, K. (2002). The Violence Prevention/Social Skills Needs Assessment Survey: Year 1 of the School Safety Survey. Tampa, FL: The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. FMHI Publication #207-1. First in the Series "Evaluation of the Pinellas County Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative".

The School Safety Survey (SSS) was developed to investigate the beliefs of counseling staff about the safety of their school environment with the ultimate goal of enhancing current programs and strategies dealing with safety in the schools. Results revealed that counselors generally had a positive perception of safety in their schools. Teasing among students, bullying, and verbal threats were reported as the most serious problems. No significant differences were found between primary and secondary school counselors in their overall rating of school safety.