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Annual Report to the Florida Department of Education

The Florida Safe and Drug-Free SchoolsQuality Data Management Project

2005-2006

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y

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This 2005-2006 Annual Report to the

Florida Department of Education was

produced by the Safe and Drug-Free

Schools Quality Data Management

Project, which is a special project

operated by the College of Criminology

and Criminal Justice at Florida State

University. The project is funded by

the Florida Department of Education,

Ofce of Safe Schools, through the U.S.

Department of Educations Grants to

States to Improve Management of Drug

and Violence Prevention Programs.

For additional information on thispublication, please contact:

Safe and Drug-Free Schools Quality DataManagement ProjectFlorida State University Center forCriminology and Public Policy ResearchPhone: 850-414-8355Fax: 850-414-8357www.criminologycenter.fsu.edu

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1The Florida Safe and Drug-Free Schools Quality Data Management

With this Executive Summaryand the publication of the2005-2006 Annual Report tothe Florida Department of Education(Florida DOE), the Florida Safe and Drug-Free Schools Quality Data ManagementProject (SDFS-QDM) completes itsrst year of operation. Over this year,signicant progress has been made inthe assessment of current state- and

local-level management and reportingsystems that collect data on violence andsubstance use within Floridas publicschools.

Aiding in Floridas effort to implementNCLB and the requirements of theUniform Management and Information

Reporting System (UMIRS) built intoNCLB, several activities were undertakenon the part of SDFS-QDM project staff.These efforts included a detailed reviewof the School Environmental Safety Incident

Reporting (SESIR) System that Floridauses to report incidents of violence andsubstance use in its schools to the U.S.Department of Education (USDOE).

Additionally, district and regionalworkshops designed to train schoolpersonnel in the accurate recordingof those incidents were carried out at

several different times. Other projectactivities included the piloting of a self-report middle school youth survey andthe drafting of a high school self-reportsurvey, both of which measure keyindicators of school safety, violence,and substance use. Finally, SDFS-QDM staff initiated an assessment of

Executive Summary

The Florida Safe and Drug-Free Schools Quality Data Management Project

20052006 Annual Report to the Florida Department of Education

Introduction

the data being collected by the FloridaOfce of Drug Control (FODC) as itpertains to community-based preventionorganizations receiving SDFS funding.

These project activities contributeto the continuous improvement of dataquality in several ways. Particular tothe SESIR system, ongoing training andtechnical assistance provided to schooladministrators and personnel, as wellas the analysis of system processes,promotes greater accuracy in ofciallycollected data. In addition to the datacollected through the SESIR system,self-report surveys, such as the FloridaYouth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS),have provided data to school districts onyouth violence and substance use. Withthe completion of the Florida MiddleSchool Needs Assessment Survey pilotand the development of the FloridaSchool Environment Survey (FSES) forhigh school students, administratorswill have the capacity to collect data onschool violence and substance use at theschool level. This will allow for internalassessment of a particular schoolsneeds as opposed to district-wide dataobtained through the FYSAS. Further,the development of a web-based tracking

system for community-based preventionorganizations receiving SDFS funding willincrease the capability of the FODC toensure that funded programs are targetingthe problems that they initially intendedto address.

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2 2005-2006 Annual Report

SESIR Trainingn Several regional SESIR trainings were

delivered across the state by projectstaff to school personnel and schoolresource ofcers (SROs). Feedbackfrom attendees indicated the trainingsgreatly improved their knowledgeof the SESIR system and how toaccurately interpret whether student

behaviors qualied as SESIR incidents.n SDFS district coordinators indicated

that face-to-face SESIR training was farmore effective than training deliveredthrough the Internet or provided onCD-ROM.

SESIR Data Qualityn Based on a survey administered to

SDFS district coordinators, severalmajor barriers to accurately reportingdata on incidents of violence andsubstance abuse were identied:l Administrators inability to

accurately and consistentlyinterpret whether student behaviorsmet SESIR incident denitions.

l Ambiguous or unclear incidentdescriptions on incident referralforms.

l Ineffective processes for regulartraining on SESIR denitions tokeep up with personnel turnover.

n A review of incident referral formsfrom several school districts revealedsubstantial variation among schoolsin the consistency of informationcollected.

n Software system reviews of SESIR datacollection programs revealed a varietyof issues relating to the data inputprocess:

l

Limited functionality of data inputscreens.l A high degree of variability among

software systems concerning qualityassurance checks.

l Incomplete menus that fail to allowusers to select from the full range ofavailable incidents and related dataelements.

Student Self-Report Surveysn A state-supported survey instrument is

not available to measure the incidenceof violence and substance use at theschool level in Florida schools.

n A pilot survey administered to Floridamiddle-school students using a handwritten and Web-based format revealedthat web-based self-report surveysare currently not feasible given thecomputer infrastructure and resourcesavailable in Florida schools.

Community-Based Organization(CBO) Datan A review of the process through which

CBO programming data are collectedrevealed that the data are availablein narrative form only, obscuringcategorization and summarization ofprograms receiving SDFS funding.

n There is no systematic method bywhich to compare CBO self-evaluationsand process data with originallyintended strategies and methodsproposed by CBOs in their SDFS grantapplications.

Findings

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3The Florida Safe and Drug-Free Schools Quality Data Management

Literature Review on Violence andSubstance Abusen Many researchers have found early

bullying behavior to be predictive ofdelinquent and criminal careers.

n Community characteristics have been linked to levels of school violence andshould be considered in preventiondecision-making.

n The school environment should beconsidered in prevention efforts as wellas programming aimed at individualstudent behaviors.

n Regarding prevention and interventionprogramming, it is not merelythe content that determines itseffectiveness but also the deliverymethod.

n Improving the delity of programimplementation is just as importantfor successful outcomes as alteringthe type of prevention programmingalready being administered.

n School disciplinary practices may haveunintended, negative consequences,

both for the individual student and forthe school environment as a whole.

Future Directionn Continuation and expansion of face

to face SESIR training and technicalassistance efforts, including trainthe trainer sessions directed at SDFScoordinators and school personnel, toimprove the accuracy and quality ofdata reporting in Florida schools.

n Improvement of the homogeneity ofdistrict referral forms to reduce the

likelihood of data input errors in thedata collection systems currently usedto report SESIR data to USDOE.

n Based on project ndings, startingin the 2006-2007 school year Floridaschools will begin reporting studentsunexcused absences to improve theaccuracy of truancy information.

n Development and distribution ofschool-level self-report surveys inFlorida schools to enable local leveladministrators to appropriately addressthe prevention and interventionprogramming needs in their schools.

n Development of a web-based datacollection system for CBO SDFSgrant awardees that will allow for thesystematic monitoring of programcharacteristics and implementationprogress.

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4 2005-2006 Annual Report

T his 2005-2006 Annual Reportmarks the completion of therst year of SDFS-QDM projectactivities. It presents results of an overallassessment of the data systems anddata needs in Florida as they relate tothe incidence of crime, violence, anddisruption in Floridas public schoolsand the prevention programs in placeto address these issues. Activities inyears two and three of the project will

be guided by these ndings and seekto overcome the barriers to qualitydata that were uncovered during theassessment phase. This will be achieved

by improving Floridas data collectionssystems, incorporating rigorous analysesof Florida DOE and self-report surveydata, and developing a method forquickly gathering important informationfrom CBOs receiving SDFS funding. The

result of these activities will provideFlorida DOE, the Florida Ofce of DrugControl, and other decision-makers witha comprehensive study of the science andpractice of prevention and the use of datafor prevention planning.

Conclusion

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A branch of the College ofCriminology and Criminal Justice,the FSU Center for Criminologyand Public Policy Research expands theinuence of scholarship in the publicpolicy arena and promotes evidence-

based policy-making and practice at thestate and national levels.The Centers primary goal is to supportdata collection and research initiativeswith application to crime and justicepolicy that promotes social justice. Itworks to achieve the following objectives:n Conduct rigorous, policy-relevant

empirical research.n Disseminate knowledge to

policymakers, practitioners, andcitizens.

n Contribute to the eld of criminologywith theoretically relevant andmethodologically sound research

published in leading academic journals.The Center staff has advanced degrees inmany disciplines, including criminology,criminal justice, statistics, sociology,political science, public administration,and education. They collaborate withresearchers and policymakers nationwide

and maintain relationships with severalfederal and state agencies as well as local-

level stakeholders in the prevention, juvenile justice education, and criminal justice communities. Through its data-sharing agreements, the Center hascreated a library of rich data les anda methodology for linking those leswith Center-collected data to answera multitude of research and policyquestions.

As an interdisciplinary academicinstitution engaged in real-worldresearch, the FSU Center for Criminologyand Public Policy Research fosters aunique intellectual and collaborativeenvironment in which Center staff bringtheir practical project experience into theclassroom and College faculty bring theirtheoretical perspectives and expertise tothe research activities of the Center. The

Center also offers valuable opportunitiesfor graduate students to gain a diversearray of experience and perspectiveswhile training to be tomorrows leadersin academia, policymaking, and criminal

justice practice.

The Center for Criminologyand Public Policy Research

Changing lives through policy-relevant research.

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www.criminologycenter.fsu.edu

The Florida Safe and Drug-Free SchoolsQuality Data Management Project