Kevin Jennings Assistant Deputy Secretary Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools

Kevin JenningsAssistant Deputy Secretary Office of Safe and Drug Free SchoolsDepartment of Education

U.S. Department of EducationFederal Education Priorities and Creating Safe

SchoolsAnnual Convention of the NYS Congress of

Parents and TeachersNew York State PTANovember 12, 2010

Buffalo, NY

What’s the goal at ED?

President Obama: “Produce a higher

percentage of college graduates than any other country in the world by the end of the next decade.”

Sources: The College Board, Education Pays 2010, Figure 1.1; U.S. Census Bureau, 2009; Internal Revenue Service, 2008; Davis et al., 2009; calculations by the authors

More Education, Longer Life

Source: National Longitudinal Mortality Study, 1988-1998

The US is Falling Behind in HS Graduation Rates

Approximate percentage of persons with high school or equivalent qualifications in the age group 25-64

1 27

13 1

1. Year of reference 2004.2. Including some ISCED 3C short

programs3. Year of reference 2003.

Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Education at a Glance 2008

High School Graduation Rates among OECD nations, 2007

Note: 1995 graduation rates are calculated on a gross basis whereas 2007 are calculated as net graduation rates (for countries with available data).1. Year of reference 2006.Countries are ranked in descending order of the upper secondary graduation rates in 2007.Source: Education at a Glance 2009: OECD Indicators. Table A2.2. (www.oecd.org/edu/eag2009).

U.S. : Higher Ed Leader in the Sixties, the Laggard Today

Percent of Adults with an Associate Degree or Higher by Age Group - U.S. & Leading OECD Countries

Source: OECD, Education at a Glance 2008

New York Lags the Nation in Graduation RatesAveraged Freshman Graduation Rate, School Year 2007-2008

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data. "NCES Common Core of Data State Dropout and Completion Data File." School Year 2007–08, Version 1b. Retrieved at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/graduates/tables/table_01.asp

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Asian/Pacific Islander

White American Indian/Alaska

Native

Black Hispanic

New York Achievement GapAveraged Freshman Graduation Rate, by race/ethnicity: 2007 -2008

National Center for Education Statistics. (2010). Public School Graduates and Dropouts From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2007-2008. NCES 2010-341.

Where does the Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools fit in?

It’s simple.

Students can’t learn if they don’t feel safe.

Period.

Success? It’s a Basic Equation

(Safe Schools)(Healthy Students)=Academic Success

In a Truly Safe School Every Student Feels Like…

They Belong.

They are Valued.

They Feel Physically and Emotionally Safe.

Substance Use

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Louisiana - #1 in the country New York - #11 in the country

Utah- #42 in the country

New York Students are Drinkers% of students who currently drink alcohol

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (4 June 2010). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance- United States 2009. Surveillance Summaries, MMWR 2010;59 (No. SS-5)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

North Dakota - #1 in the country

New York - #22 in the country

Utah- #41 in the country

New York Students Engage in High Risk Drinking% of students who binge drink


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

New Mexico - #1 in the country


Utah - #42 in the country

New York Students Use Marijuana% of students who currently use marijuana


Physical Safety

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Arkansas -#1 in the country New York - #18 in the country

South Dakota - #41 in the country

New York Students are Afraid to go to SchoolPercentage of high school students who did not go to school because they felt unsafe at

school or on their way to or from school


0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Wyoming- #1 in the country New York - #28 in the country

New Jersey - #41 in the country

Weapons are Fairly Rare in New York Schools% of students who carried a weapon on school property


0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Arkansas- #1 in the country New York - #23 in the country

Pennsylvania - #39 in the country

Weapons are Fairly Rare in New York SchoolsPercentage of high school students who were threatened or injured with a weapon on

school property


0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

New Mexico - #1 in the country


North Dakota - #41 in the country

Fighting in Not Rare in New York SchoolsPercentage of high school students who were in a physical fight on school property


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Wyoming- #1 in the country New York - #25 in the country

Florida - #34 in the country

Bullying is Fairly Common in New York SchoolsPercentage of High School Students who Were Bullied on School Property


Who Bullies, Who Gets Bullied, Who Enables: Understanding Roles

in Bullying

Some Groups are Singled Out for Harassment

Question: “At your school, how often are students bullied, called names or harassed for the following reasons?”

Source: From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America 2005

Rivers, I., Poteat, V.P., Noret, N., Ashurt, N. (2009). Observing Bullying at School: The Mental Health Implication of Witness Status. School Psychology Quarterly. 24:4, 211-223.


What Characterizes a Bully?

• High rates of “externalizing behavior”- Having behaviors consistent with ADD, ADHD, Oppositional/Defiant Disorder, or Conduct Disorder

- Being Highly Aggressive

• Having negative perceptions of “others”: people unlike themselves

Cook, C. R., Williams, K.R., Guerra, N.G., Kim, T.E.m & Sadek, S. (2010). Predictors of bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic investigation. School Psychology Quarterly, 25(2), 65-83.

What Characterizes a Victim?

•Low Social Competence-Lack basic social skills

- Unable to easily make friends

• Peer Rejection


What Characterizes a Bully-Victim?

A bully-victim is someone who is both the perpetrator and the target of bullying

behavior

• Bully-victims show similarly low-levels of social competency as only-victims.

• Bully-victims are more easily influenced by their peers than only-victims.


AssistantsReinforce

rsOutsiders Defenders


Witnesses

Role of Bystanders in Instances of Bullying

Why the Problem Persists…and What We Can do

Teachers and Students Make a Difference

In classrooms where both students and teachers had strong attitudes and

actions against bullying and aggression rates of aggression were

1/3 to ½ of classes where peers alone (and not teachers) had strong attitudes against aggression

Henry, D., Guerra, N., Huessmann, R., Tolan, P., VanAcker, R., & Eron, L. (2000). Normative influences on aggression in urban elementary school classrooms. Amerian Journal of Community Psychology, 28(1), 59-81.

Peer Intervention Works, but Isn’t Common

Of bullying episodes in which peers intervened, 57% of the interventions were effective (i.e., the bullying stopped within 10 seconds).

Peers intervene in only 11-19% of all bullying incidents.

Source: Hawkins, Pepler and Craig 2001

Petrosino, A., Guckenburg, S., DeVoe, J. and Hanson, T. (2010). What characteristics of bullying, bullying victims, and schools are associated with increased reporting of bullying to school officials? (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2010- No.092). Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Education Laboratory Northeast and Islands. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.



Every School Should…

Every Teacher Should…

Every Student Should…

Source: HRSA Stop Bullying Now!

Every Parent Should…

Source: HRSA Stop Bullying Now!

Cyber Bullying

Today’s Teens Love Technology Percentage of teens who…

Source: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Victimization Perpetration

“Sexting” is CommonPercentage of teens sending or posting sexually suggestive

messages (text, email, IM)


Peer Pressure?Percentage of teens who said pressure from a member of the

opposite sex is a reason to send sexy messages or images


Vegas Syndrome

61% of teens “strongly” and “somewhat agree” that

“People my age are more forward/aggressive using

sexy messages and pictures/video than they are

in real life”


Talk to your kids about what they are doing in cyberspace.

Know who your kids are communicating with.

Consider limitations on electronic communication.

Be aware of what your teens are posting publicly.

Set expectations.

Every Parent Should…


What’s the Washington Agenda?

Tie Safe Schools into Ed Reform Agenda

Build robust data systems

that track student progress

and improve practice.Safe Schools: Measure school safety with the

same rigor we measure academic progress

What Gets Measured is What Gets Done

Safe and Supportive Schools (s3) Model:A New Approach to K-12 School Safety

Draft s3 Model. Please do not circulate without consent from the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. Please contact Kristen Harper ([email protected]) with questions or

concerns.

Winners of Safe and Supportive Schools Grants

ArizonaCaliforniaIowaLouisianaKansasMarylandMichiganSouth CarolinaTennesseeWest VirginiaWisconsin

Carl Joseph Walker Hoover

1998-2009

Pheobe Prince10th Grade

South Hadley, MA1994 – January

2010

Carl Joseph Walker Hoover

6th GradeSpringfield, MA

1998 – April 2009

Christian Taylor9th Grade

Richmond, VA1994 – May 2010

Tyler ClementiCollege Freshman

Ridgewood, NJ1992 – September

2010

Asher Brown8th GradeHarris, TX

1997 – September 2010

Seth Walsh8th Grade

Tehachapi, CA1997 – September

2010

Justin Aaberg10th GradeAnoka, MN

1995 – July 2010

Hope Witsell8th GradeRuskin, FL

1996 – September 2009

Keep in Touch!

[email protected]

Documents

Kevin Jennings Assistant Deputy Secretary Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools