School Survey on Crime and Safety Cognitive Interviews 2014

SSOCS 2016 OMB Cognitive Lab Package (Volume II Appendix)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS SCHOOL SURVEY ON CRIME AND SAFETY PRINCIPAL QUESTIONNAIRE 2014–15
NCES is authorized to conduct the School Survey on Crime and Safety by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA; 20 U.S.C. §9543). Your answers may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573). Reports of the findings from the survey will not identify participating districts, schools, or staff. Individual responses will be combined with those from other participants to produce summary statistics and reports. DRAFT FORM SSOCS-2016-COGLAB (10-30-14)

DEFINITIONS
The following words are bolded and marked by an asterisk (*) wherever they appear in the questionnaire. Please use these definitions as you respond.
Active shooter – an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearm(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims. At school/at your school – activities happening in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities. Unless otherwise specified, this refers to normal school hours or to times when school activities/events were in session. Bullying – any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Community provider – a mental health professional who is not a school district employee. This may include professionals employed by local mental health or social service agencies. Conduct disorder – refers to a group of behavioral and emotional problems that can occur in children and teens. A child with this disorder may display a pattern of disruptive and violent behavior and have problems following rules. Children with conduct disorder may exhibit some of the following behaviors: aggression to people and animals; destruction of property; deceitfulness, lying, or stealing; and serious violations of rules. Counseling – the provision of information, assistance, and guidance to students with behavioral or mental health issues. This is in contrast to counselors who provide only academic counseling or college or career placement. Cyberbullying – occurs when willful and repeated harm is inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, or other electronic devices. Diagnostic assessment – an evaluation conducted by a medical or mental health professional that identifies whether an individual has one or more medical and/or mental health diagnoses. This is in contrast to an educational assessment, which does not focus on clarifying a student’s diagnosis. Evacuation – a procedure that requires all students and staff to leave the building. While evacuating to the school’s field makes sense for a fire drill that only lasts a few minutes, it may not be an appropriate location for a longer period of time. The evacuation plan should encompass relocation procedures and include backup buildings to serve as emergency shelters, such as nearby community centers, religious institutions, businesses, or other schools. Evacuation also includes “reverse evacuation,” a procedure for schools to return students to the building quickly if an incident occurs while students are outside. Firearm/explosive device – any weapon that is designed to (or may readily be converted to) expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. This includes guns, bombs, grenades, mines, rockets, missiles, pipe bombs, or similar devices designed to explode and capable of causing bodily harm or property damage.		Hate crime – a criminal offense or threat against a person, property, or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. Lockdown – a procedure that involves occupants of a school building being directed to remain confined to a room or area within a building with specific procedures to follow. A lockdown may be used for when a crisis occurs outside of the school and an evacuation would be dangerous. A lockdown may also be called for when there is a crisis inside and movement within the school will put students in jeopardy. All exterior doors are locked and students and staff stay in their classrooms. Mental health disorders – collectively all diagnosable mental disorders or health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior (or some combination thereof) associated with distress and/or impaired functioning. Mental health professionals – mental health services are provided by several different professions, each of which has its own training and areas of expertise. Types of professionals who may provide mental health services include: psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioners, psychiatric/mental health nurses, clinical social workers, and professional counselors. Restorative circle – a formal mediation process led by a facilitator that brings affected parties of a problem together to explore what happened, reflect on their roles, find a solution, and ultimately restore harmony to individual relationships and larger community. Reunification plan – a procedure to return students to their homes and family as rapidly as possible. Schools need to have current plans that include names and telephone numbers of family and designated surrogates. Stalking - a course of conduct directed at a specific person that involves repeated visual or physical proximity; nonconsensual communication; verbal, written, or implied threats; or a combination of these actions that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. This includes cyber-stalking (threatening communication or unwanted advances directed at another person using the Internet and other forms of online and computer communications). Shelter-in-place – a procedure similar to a lockdown in that the occupants are to remain on the premises; however, shelter-in-place is designed to use a facility and its indoor atmosphere to temporarily separate people from a hazardous outdoor environment. Everyone would be brought indoors and building personnel would close all windows and doors and shut down the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC). This would create a neutral pressure in the building, meaning the contaminated air would not be drawn into the building. Threat assessment team – a formalized group of persons who meet on a regular basis with the common purpose of identifying, assessing, and managing students who may pose a threat of targeted violence in schools.  Treatment – a clinical service addressed at lessening or eliminating the symptoms of a disorder. In mental health, this may include psychotherapy, medication treatment, and/or counseling.
	SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS: For most questions, please mark the box that best reflects your school’s circumstances. Please mark your response with an "X". For questions that ask for counts or percents, please place an “X” in the None box, rather than leaving the item blank. Definitions are available for many terms on page 2. Defined terms are bolded and marked with an asterisk (*) throughout the survey. Some questions refer to the 2015–16 school year. Please report for the school year to date. Please have this questionnaire filled out by the person most knowledgeable about school crime and policies to provide a safe environment. Paperwork Burden Statement According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this voluntary survey is 1850–0803. The time required to complete this survey is estimated to average 45 minutes, including the time to review instructions, gather the data needed, and complete and review the survey. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate, suggestions for improving this survey, or any comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this survey, please write to: School Survey on Crime and Safety, National Center for Education Statistics, 1990 K Street, N.W., Room 9027, Washington, D.C. 20006.

School Practices and Programs
1. During the 2014–15 school year, was it a practice of your school to do the following? If your school changed its practices during the school year, please answer regarding your most recent practice. Check “Yes” or “No” on each line.
				YES	NO
	a.	Require visitors to sign or check in and wear badges	xxx	1	2
	b.	Require metal detector checks on students every day	xxx	1	2
c.		Equip classrooms with locks so that doors can be locked from the inside	xxx	1	2
d.		Have “panic buttons” or silent alarms that directly connect to law enforcement in the event of an incident	xxx	1	2

2. Does your school have a written plan on actions to be performed in the event of an emergency that describes the following procedures? If yes, has your school drilled students on the use of this procedure during the 2014–15 school year?
				Have a written plan?		If “Yes,” has your school drilled students on the plan during the 2015–16
				YES	NO		YES	NO
	a.	Evacuation*	xxx	1	2	xxx	1	2
	b.	Lockdown*	xxx	1	2	xxx	1	2
	c.	Shelter-in-place*	xxx	1	2	xxx	1	2
	d.	Reunification plan*	xxx	1	2	xxx	1	2

3. Do your school’s emergency plans (as identified item 2) address the following crisis scenarios?
				YES	NO
	a.	Active shooter*	xxx	1	2
	b.	Natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes or tornadoes)	xxx	1	2
	c.	Hostages	xxx	1	2
	d.	Bomb threats or incidents	xxx	1	2
	e.	Chemical, biological, or radiological threats or incidents (e.g., release of mustard gas, anthrax, smallpox, or radioactive materials)	xxx	1	2
	f.	Suicide threat or incident	xxx	1	2
	h.	Pandemic flu	xxx	1	2

*Please use the definitions as provided on page 2.

4. During the 2014–15 school year, did your school have any formal programs intended to prevent or reduce violence* that included the following components for students? If a program has multiple components, answer "Yes" for each that applies. Check "Yes" or "No" on each line.
				YES	NO
	a.	Prevention curriculum, instruction, or training for students (e.g., conflict resolution, anti-bullying*, dating violence prevention)	xxx	1	2
	b.	Behavioral or behavior modification intervention for students (including the use of positive reinforcements)	xxx	1	2
c.		Student involvement in peer mediation	xxx	1	2
d.		Student court to address student conduct problems or minor offenses	xxx	1	2
e.		Student involvement in restorative circles* (e.g., “peace circles,” “talking circles,” “conflict circles”)	xxx	1	2
f.		Social emotional learning (SEL) training for students (e.g., social skills, anger management, mindfulness)	xxx	1	2

5. During the 2014–15 school year, did your school have any recognized student groups with the following purposes? Check "Yes" or "No" on each line.
				YES	NO
	a.	Acceptance of LGBTQ students (e.g., Gay-Straight Alliance)	xxx	1	2
	b.	Acceptance of students with disabilities (e.g., Best Buddies)	xxx	1	2
	c.	Acceptance of cultural diversity	xxx	1	2

*Please use the definitions as provided on page 2.

School Security Staff

6. During the 2014–15 school year, did you have any School Resource Officers (career law enforcement officers with arrest authority, who have specialized training and are assigned to work in collaboration with school organizations) or other sworn law enforcement officers present at your school* at least once a week?

• Do not include security guards or other security personnel who are not sworn law enforcement in your response to this item; information on additional security staff is gathered in NEW ITEM 12.

xxx 1 Yes

2 No – GO TO ITEM 11 ON PAGE 7.

7. During the 2014–15 school year, did your school have a School Resource Officer or other sworn law enforcement officer present for all school hours every day that school was in session?

• Include officers who are used as temporary coverage while regularly assigned officers are performing duties external to the school (such as attending court) or during these officers’ personal leave time.

• Check “No” if your school does not have officer coverage while regularly assigned officers are performing duties external to the school (such as attending court) or during these officers’ personal leave time.

• Do not include security guards or other security personnel who are not sworn law enforcement in your response to this item; information on additional security staff is gathered in item 12.

xxx 1 Yes

2 No

8. Did these School Resource Officers or other sworn law enforcement officers participate in the following activities at your school*? Do not include security guards or other security personnel who are not sworn law enforcement in your response to this item; information on additional security staff is gathered in item 12. Check “Yes” or “No” on each line.

School Resource officers

Other sworn law enforcement officers

YES

NO

YES

NO

a.

Motor vehicle traffic control

xxx

1

2

xxx

1

2

b.

Recording or reporting discipline problems

xxx

1

2

xxx

1

2

c.

Providing information to school authorities about the legal definitions of behavior for recording or reporting purposes

xxx

1

2

xxx

1

2

9. During the 2014–15 school year, did your school or school district have any formalized policies or written documents (e.g., Memorandum of Use, Memorandum of Agreement) that outlined the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of School Resource Officers or other sworn law enforcement officers at school?

xxx 1 Yes

2 No - GO TO ITEM 11 ON PAGE 7.

*Please use the definitions as provided on page 2.

10. Did these written documents or policies include language defining the role of School Resource Officers or other sworn law enforcement officers at school in the following areas? Check “Yes,” “No,” or “Don’t know” on each line.
					YES		NO		Don’t know
	a.	Student discipline		xxx		1		2		3
	b.	Use of physical restraints (e.g. handcuffs, Tasers, Mace, pepper spray, or other physical or chemical restraints)		xxx		1		2		3
	c.	Use of firearms*		xxx		1		2		3
	d.	Making arrests on school grounds		xxx		1		2		3
	e.	Reporting of criminal offenses to a law enforcement agency		xxx		1		2		3

11. During the 2014–15 school year, were there any probation or parole officers present at your school* at least once a week?

xxx 1 Yes

2 No

12. Aside from School Resource Officers or other sworn law enforcement officers, how many additional security guards or security personnel were present in your school at least once a week during the 2014–15 school year? If a security guard or other security personnel works full-time across various schools in the district, please count this person as “part-time” for your school. If none, please place an “X” in the None box.
				Number at your school*
		Security guards or security personnel i. Full-Time	xxx		None
		ii. Part-Time	xxx		None

13. Please record the number of arrests that occurred at your school during the 2014–15 school year. Please include all arrests that occurred at school*, regardless of whether a student or non-student was arrested.

• If none, please place an “X” in the None box.

xxx Number of arrests

None

*Please use the definitions as provided on page 2.

Staff Training
14. During the 2014–15 school year, did your school or school district provide any of the following for classroom teachers or aides? Check “Yes” or “No” on each line.
				YES	NO
a.		Training in school-wide discipline policies and practices related to bullying*	xxx	1	2
b.		Training in school wide discipline policies and practices specifically related to cyberbullying*	xxx	1	2
	c.	Training in intervention and referral strategies for students displaying signs of mental health issues (e.g. depression, mood disorders, ADHD)	xxx	1	2

Number of Incidents
15. Please record the number of incidents that occurred at school* during the 2014–15 school year for the offenses listed below. (NOTE: The number in column 1 should be greater than or equal to the number in column 2). If none, please place an “X” in the None box. Please provide information on: The number of incidents, not the number of victims or offenders. Recorded incidents, regardless of whether any disciplinary action was taken. Recorded incidents, regardless of whether students or non-students were involved. Incidents occurring before, during, or after normal school hours.
					Column 1		Column 2
					Total number of recorded incidents		Number reported to police or other law enforcement
		a.	Stalking*	xxx	None	xxx	None

16. During the 2014–15 school year, how many hate-crimes* occurred at your school*? If none, please place an “X” in the None box.
xxx	Number of hate-crimes* None – GO TO ITEM 18 ON PAGE 9.

17. Were any of these hate-crimes* motivated by the offender’s bias against the following characteristics? Check “Yes” or “No” on each line Check “Yes” or “No” on each line.
						YES		NO
a.			Race or color	xxx			1		2
b.			National origin or ethnicity	xxx			1		2
c.			Gender	xxx			1		2
d.			Religion	xxx			1		2
e.			Disability	xxx			1		2
f.			Sexual orientation or gender identity (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning)	xxx			1		2

School Mental Health Services

18. During the 2014–15 school year, were the following mental health services available to students under the official responsibilities of a licensed mental health professional*? If so, please indicate the location and provider for each mental health service that was available to students. If the service was available to students, mark “yes,” regardless of whether the service was used this school year. Check “Yes” or “No” for each type of service.

MARK ALL THAT APPLY

Service was available

At school* by school or district employee

At school* by community provider* as part of a relationship with the school/school district

Outside of the school by a community provider* as part of a relationship with the school/school district

Outside of the school with a provider as a referral of the school/school district

YES

NO

a.

Pre-diagnostic counseling*

xxx

1

2

xxx

1

xxx

2

xxx

3

xxx

4

b.

Diagnostic assessment* for mental health disorders*

xxx

1

2

xxx

1

xxx

2

xxx

3

xxx

4

c.

Treatment* for mental health disorders*

xxx

1

2

xxx

1

xxx

2

xxx

3

xxx

4

19. During the 2014–15 school year, were all students who exhibited conduct disorder* behaviors evaluated by a mental health professional* to identify coexisting mental health disorders*?

xxx 1 Yes

2 No

20. During the 2014–15 school year, did your school have a threat assessment team* or any other formal group of persons to identify students who might be a potential risk for violent or harmful behavior (towards themselves or others)?

xxx 1 Yes

2 No – GO TO ITEM 22 ON PAGE 10.

21. During the 2014–15 school year, how often did your school’s threat assessment team* formally meet?

• Check one response.

xxx 1 Weekly

2 Monthly

3 Occasionally

4 Never

*Please use the definitions as provided on page 2.

22. During the 2013–14 school year, to what extent did the following factors limit your school’s efforts to provide or refer students for mental health services? Check one response on each line.
				Limits in major way	Limits in minor way	Does not limit
	a.	Inadequate access to licensed mental health professionals	xxx	1	2	3
	b.	Inadequate funding	xxx	1	2	3
	c.	Potential legal issues for school or districts (e.g., malpractice, insufficient supervision)	xxx	1	2	3
	d.	Lack of parental support in addressing their children’s mental health issues	xxx	1	2	3
	e.	Written or unwritten policies regarding the school’s potential liability to pay for these services	xxx	1	2	3
	f.	Reluctance to label students with mental health disorders* to avoid stigmatizing the child	xxx	1	2	3

*Please use the definitions as provided on page 2