The National Institute of Justice awarded two Education School professors a $6.1 million research grant Monday. Catherine Bradshaw, associate dean for research and faculty development in the Education School, and Education Prof. Dewey Cornell will use the grant to conduct research on safety in primary and secondary education centers.
$3.6 million from the grant will go toward Bradshaw’s research on “Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports”, or PBIS, which Bradshaw said is meant to be more effective model than the retroactive punishment system in place in most public education institutions.
“Our outcomes of interest are reducing problem behaviors that kids might exhibit in school settings and ultimately the rate of mental health problems among kids,” Bradshaw said.
Cornell will use $2.5 million from the grant to fund his research on threat assessment, in which primary and secondary public education centers identify and determine the seriousness of certain threatening behaviors.
“Threat assessment is a problem-oriented approach to violence prevention that identifies threatening behavior as a signal that a student is in trouble and experiencing a problem that he or she is not able to resolve,” Cornell said in an email. “A threat assessment team will evaluate the seriousness of the student’s threat and take appropriate action to resolve the problem underlying the threat.”
Last year, Virginia became the first state to require that public primary and secondary schools implement the threat assessment approach. This method aims to assure the method of handling a threat is proportional to the seriousness of the threat.
“Many threats are not serious and may involve statements made in anger that soon resolve while others are more serious,” Cornell said. “In the most serious case there may be a combination of mental health services and law enforcement intervention if needed.”
Education School Dean Robert Pianta said though the projects have different approaches, they share a goal of promoting a safe environment in schools.
“The school setting is an important context for social and emotional development as well as academic functioning,” Bradshaw said. “If kids are distracted by bullying and violence and concerns [about] safety they certainly can’t focus on getting high quality instruction.”
Cornell said focusing on programs which allow faculty and staff to promote a safe environment at an early age is more beneficial than reactive security measures alone.
“We cannot rely on fortifying our schools or staffing them with armed guards to assure safety — we need to take a more proactive, preventive approach,” he said.
Research projects intended to improve the feeling of safety in primary and secondary schools can also affect how students perform when they reach a higher education level, such as at a college or university.
“The overall logic here is that if kids feel more safe and supported when they’re in the K-12 setting, that they learn to internalize that feeling of being safe and [gain] a positive orientation towards learning,” Bradshaw said.
The grants are awarded based on the individual proposals of faculty members. Having two faculty members from the same institution awarded the grant is not a common occurrence, Pianta said.
“These grants are very competitive, and they’re awarded on the basis of the best proposals by the best faculty.” Pianta said. “We are fortunate to have what I think is the best faculty in the country in this broader [research] area of school climate.”
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