Building school communities and making schools safer.
Item
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Title
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Building school communities and making schools safer.
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Identifier
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AAI3187365
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identifier
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3187365
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Creator
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Gladden, Robert M.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Michelle Fine
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Date
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2005
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social | Education, Administration
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Abstract
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Four characteristics of school climate were hypothesized to foster safer school environments: a commitment by school staff to teach non-violence, high levels of social capital (i.e., respectful relationships) among and between students and teachers, effective instruction, and responsiveness to students' culture and community. These hypotheses were evaluated by examining surveys of Chicago Public School (CPS) eighth graders conducted in 1997 and 1999 and by conducting fieldwork in two urban schools. Analyses of survey data found that teaching non-violence, trusting relationships between staff and students, and an academically challenging curriculum predicted CPS eighth graders feeling safer and fighting less at school in 1997 and improvements in eighth graders' reports of safety and fighting between 1997 and 1999. These cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships persisted even after controlling for violence in students' neighborhoods, students' reports about how connected and safe they felt in their neighborhoods, and students' ability to navigate conflicts. The fieldwork highlighted the need to expand the conceptualization of effective instruction to include the idea of academic mentorship and recognize the importance of including a problem-solving component into a schools' discipline policy. Academic mentorship involves helping students overcome episodes of academic failure or behavioral problems and assisting youth graduate from junior high or high schools with skills they will need to succeed in the next step of their lives. Together these findings establish the ability of schools to inhibit student violence by constructing a strong school climate. Consequently, initiatives to reduce school violence which currently tend to rely on either behavioral or cognitive interventions or stricter discipline policies need to consider how the operation of schools can be modified to make schools safer. The study ends by outlining the processes through which schools can work to build a sense of community that combines high academic and behavioral expectations with support for students academically struggling.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
