In collaboration with RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, Dr. Thompson evaluated the effectiveness of CSSI, a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant-funded initiative. CSSI assesses the effectiveness of the student-focused school safety programs and the comprehensive school safety strategies SCS uses to reduce violence and behavior problems in schools.
A mixed-methods design and a randomized intervention trial were used to analyze the effectiveness of two types of interventions—student-focused school safety programs and comprehensive school safety strategies—the school district used to reduce violence and behavior problems in schools relative to a set of control schools receiving “treatment as usual.”
The specific student outcomes of interest were absenteeism, frequency and severity of office referrals, and frequency of suspensions and expulsions of the students attending the schools assigned to the treatment versus the control groups. Findings from the study helped the district identify the type and level of interventions most effective at improving the behavioral outcomes of students attending schools with high rates of violence-related conduct problems.