History and Future of School Safety Research

Abstract

This article summarizes the accomplishments of research on school safety in the past quarter century, identifies important gaps, and indicates promising directions for further progress. Although closely related, there are distinguishable bodies of research on physical and psychological safety. Physical safety research concerns the prevention of violent attacks through security measures, school discipline, and threat assessment. Psychological safety is focused on protecting students from less severe, but serious, acts of peer aggression such as harassment and bullying, and includes research on multitiered programs and school climate. This article recognizes substantial support for some school safety practices while emphasizing the need for research on other widely used practices. School safety research has much to offer school psychologists in fostering physically and psychologically safe schools that produce students who develop into well-educated and responsible citizens.

Impact Statement

This article reviews a quarter century of research on school safety in order to identify both successful and unsuccessful strategies for keeping schools physically and psychological safe for students. School security measures and a zero tolerance approach to discipline have yielded little evidence of effectiveness and can have negative consequences for students. More promising alternatives that emphasize prevention include school threat assessment, multitiered programs concerned with positive behavioral interventions and social–emotional learning, and maintenance of a supportive and structured school climate.

Keywords:

• school safety
• school violence
• school climate

ASSOCIATE EDITOR:

• Tyler Renshaw

Acknowledgments

To broaden our perspective in planning this article, we queried 30 school safety scholars for their opinions on the most important advances in school safety research over the past 25 years and the most important future directions/challenges for school safety research. We are grateful for their thoughtful comments and suggestions, but accept all responsibility for the content of this article.

DISCLOSURE

Dr. Cornell discloses that he is the primary developer of the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dewey G. Cornell

Dewey G. Cornell, PhD, holds the Virgil Ward Chair in Education in the School of Education and Human Services at the University of Virginia. He trains school and clinical psychologists and he conducts research on bullying, the assessment of school climate and safety, and school threat assessment as a violence prevention strategy.

Matthew J. Mayer

Matthew J. Mayer, PhD, is an associate professor in educational psychology at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. He trains special education teachers and doctoral students in special education. His research focuses on preventing school violence and promoting school safety, leveraging transdisciplinary research.

Michael L. Sulkowski

Michael L. Sulkowski, PhD, is an associate professor in school psychology and a clinical associate professor in psychiatry at the University of Arizona. His research focuses on social connection, student well-being, and fostering safe and supportive school environments, particularly for at-risk students.