Initial Field Test of the SOARS (Student Ownership, Accountability, and Responsibility for School Safety) Framework for High Schools

Abstract

We present outcomes from a field test of a student-centered and technology-driven school safety framework. We describe the framework components rooted in school violence prevention. Results from our field test indicate moderate student and teacher use of the framework components, improvements in student perceptions of school safety, reductions in student reported peer victimization, and reductions in teacher and parent reported inappropriate student behavior. Consumer satisfaction rating were adequate. We present recommendations for implementing a school safety framework emphasizing student voice.

Student Outcomes from the Pilot Test of a Comprehensive School Safety Framework for High Schools: Student Ownership, Accountability, and Responsibility for School Safety (SOARS)

“…This suggests that providing adolescent students with a tool to make their voice heard and introducing them to the core concepts of advocacy and self-advocacy, physical and emotional safety, conflict resolution and accountability promotes their willingness to take ownership of their school's safety. Student buy-in and ownership of school safety is important to encourage adolescent students, who tend to desire autonomy from adults and independent decision-making, to share critical information with those adults they know and are willing to trust (Yeager et al, 2015;Vincent et al, 2022).…”

“…The framework components were iteratively developed based on student feedback (Espelage et al, 2022), user acceptance testing, and field testing with a small number of classrooms (Vincent et al, 2022). At each phase in our development we refined the framework components based on study outcomes.…”