National Forum on Education Statistics - Crime, Violence and Discipline Task Force

Crime, Violence and Discipline Task Force

Purpose: The Crime, Violence & Discipline Task Force has completed its task and produced the publications Safety in Numbers: Collecting and Using Crime, Violence and Discipline Data to Make a Difference in Schools and To Help Promote a Violence-Free School Environment (Safety in Numbers Brochure).

Final Letter of Recommendation

Dear Forum members,

We are pleased to release Safety in Numbers: Collecting and Using Crime, Violence, and Disciplinary Incident Data to Make a Difference in Schools. Safety in Numbers is a new handbook from the National Forum on Education Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.

Safety in Numbers presents recommendations from the Forum's Crime Violence and Discipline Task Force on collecting and utilizing discipline data to support learning by improving clear definitions for essential school crime, violence and discipline data elements. Safety in Numbers emphasizes the importance of schools using incident data to help:

Improve overall school safety,
Replace hunches with facts,
Address specific safety or discipline issues,
Determine whether goals are being met,
Establish the need for additional school safety resources,
Enhance effective prevention programs,
Modify ineffective discipline practices, and
Answer community questions regarding the results of their investment in education.

While Safety in Numbers provides valuable information to help improve school safety, the Task Force recommends that the following additional steps be taken to strengthen the value of collected data:

Federal, state, and local education agencies maximize the use of the data they collect by developing training procedures and materials to improve recognizing, reporting, categorizing, and recording of incidents.
State and local education agencies develop detailed strategies and provide guidance for using incident data related to their unique concerns.
The Forum and NCES assess in the fall of 2004 the use and utility of the Safety in Numbers handbook.

On behalf of the Crime, Violence and Discipline Task Force, we thank you for the opportunity to work on this project.

Sincerely,

Annette Barwick	Bill Smith
Co-Chair, Crime, Violence, and Discipline Task Force	Co-Chair, Crime, Violence, and Discipline Task Force

Co-Chairs: Annette Barwick, Hillsborough County (FL) School District, Bill Smith, Sioux Falls (SD) School District

NCES Staff: Ghedam Bairu