DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38804.v1
title: Nashville Longitudinal Study of Youth Safety and Wellbeing, Tennessee, 2009-2022
title: Version 1

description: The Nashville Longitudinal Study of Youth Safety and Wellbeing (NLSYSW) was created to provide multi-level, multi-sector, longitudinal data on key ecological and developmental factors that impact youth violence and school safety. The data collected for this study include longitudinal survey and administrative data on disciplinary referrals and sanctions, social emotional competencies, school climate, community violence exposure, and attitudes toward violence from students in grades kindergarten through 12 in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) school district. In addition, this collection includes measures of several ecological influences, including school environment (e.g., programs/interventions offered, climate, and school safety) and neighborhood context (e.g., neighborhood economic structure, assets and resources, crime, gun violence, and housing) that can be linked to student data via neighborhood. The data provided spans the period of 2009 through 2022, with most intense coverage of 2018 through 2021.
These data have been utilized by an interdisciplinary team of researchers, educators, city government officials, police, juvenile courts, and youth development workers to support school and community initiatives related to understanding a) the role of neighborhood exposure to violence and disadvantage on students' norms/attitudes, behaviors, and achievement, b) the role of school climate and access to resources in moderating neighborhood and student risk factors, c) the neighborhood, school, and individual factors that influence students' social and emotional competence, and d) the neighborhood, school, and student factors that affect racial/ethnic disparities in office disciplinary referrals and the use of exclusionary discipline.
Demographic information at the student-level includes grade, gender, and race/ethnicity. At the school building-level,
White, Black, and Hispanic staff percentages are provided.
description: The purpose of this project was to create a multi-level, multi-sector, longitudinal dataset to facilitate studies of the complex interaction of ecological and developmental factors that increase risk or protect children and adolescents from poor outcomes. The overarching research questions for this study focused on youth violence and school safety:

Does neighborhood exposure to crime and violence affect students' norms/attitudes towards school, their development of social and emotional competence, or the number and type of behavior problems (including referrals for drug use and aggressive behavior)?
Can positive school climate, social emotional programs, or access to school and community supports moderate the effects of neighborhood disadvantage on poor social emotional competence and behavior problem outcomes?
Does neighborhood disorganization lead to school disorganization and poor school climate? Does neighborhood disorganization increase students' risk of being referred to law enforcement for school misbehavior?
How are school and neighborhood disadvantage associated with racial/ethnic disparities in office disciplinary referrals and the use of exclusionary discipline?

Please see the P.I. Codebooks for additional details regarding the specific study purpose for each dataset.
description: The NLSYSW was organized into four data collection working groups focused on MNPS administrative data, MNPS survey data, contextual data, and youth mapping data. There were also two data management working groups: data anonymization and data archiving. Data collection working groups completed most of their work before providing the resulting datasets to the data management working groups.
The NLSYSW is a longitudinal study with data at four ecological levels: (1) student-level data collected via surveys and administrative records; (2) teacher/school staff data collected via surveys; (3) teacher/school staff administrative records and school data aggregated at the building-level; and (4) neighborhood/community data collected via census records, city and state administrative records, national databases, and youth observations. The data included spans the period of 2009-2022, with most intense coverage of 2018-2021. The research team curated variables from each source to facilitate linkages across the datasets. For example, dates in each data file have been aggregated to academic year and locations have been aggregated to neighborhood to help analysts match time periods or geographic areas across data sources. Throughout the datasets, variable YEAR represents the ending year of the school year (SY), with the exception of dataset 8, City Planning Data (DPC), for which YEAR represents calendar year. Please see the Linking Keys and Consistent Measures sections of the User Guide for detailed information regarding the availability of these features in the data files.
Please see the P.I. Codebooks for detailed descriptions of the study design procedures utilized for each dataset.
description: Response Rates: Response rates are not applicable for all datasets.
<strong>Student Neighborhood and Wellbeing Survey Data (DS3):</strong> The survey response rates were approximately 75 percent in SY2019, 62 percent in SY2020, and 42 percent in SY2021. Response rates were lowest at high schools. The SY2020 administration was adversely impacted by widespread Internet connectivity issues in the school district at that time.
<strong>Student School Climate Survey Data (DS4):</strong> The estimated survey response rates were 79 percent in SY2019, 84 percent in SY2020, and 42 percent in SY2021. Response rates were unusually low in SY2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a corresponding lighter emphasis on promoting the survey in the school district. In all years, response rates were lowest at high schools.
description: <strong>Administrative Data (DS1, DS2):</strong> For school district data, a 40 percent random sample was drawn from the entire student population for grades 4 through 10 for SY2019. The random sample was stratified on the gender (GEND) and race/ethnicity (RACE) variables. Students attending traditional schools were included. Once the 2019 sample was drawn, complete student data for years 2009 through 2022 were assembled for the sample. One school (SCHL) per student (STUD) per year (YEAR) is included in the dataset. If a student attended more than one school per year, the school they attended the longest was included. If there was a tie for longest school attended, the most recent school was included in the dataset.
The <strong>Student Neighborhood and Wellbeing Survey Data (DS3)</strong> sample was drawn from the from the same 40 percent random sample of MNPS students as the administrative data. Surveys were administered to students in grades 3-12. An elementary version of the survey was assigned to students in grades 3-6, and a secondary version was assigned to students in grades 7-12. To encourage participation, schools were awarded a small stipend for administering the survey if a majority of their students participated. 
The <strong>Student School Climate Survey Data (DS4)</strong> sample was drawn from the from the same 40 percent random sample of MNPS students as the administrative data. In SY2019 and SY2020, the surveys were administered to students in grades 3-12, and in SY2021, the survey was administered to middle and high school students in grades 5-12. An elementary version of the survey was administered by elementary schools (which typically serve students in grades K-4) and a secondary version was administered by middle and high schools (typically, grades 5-12). Schools with atypical grade configurations (for example, grades K-12) administered the elementary version of the survey.
The <strong>Staff School Climate Survey Data (DS5)</strong> was administered annually (SY2019 through SY2021) to teachers and staff in MNPS district-operated schools.
<strong>Youth Mapping Data (DS11, DS12):</strong> The youth mapping program collected data from high school students living in the area who were recruited using convenience sampling. Data were provided by 323 youth in three cohorts between 2018 and 2021.
<strong>Youth Wellness Data (DS13, DS14):</strong> The Youth Wellness Survey and Mapping Team members, along with staff at a partner nonprofit organization, planned convenience sampling procedures jointly during the 2020-2021 school year. The sample was recruited from classrooms in which a place-based community development and action research curriculum was being implemented, from youth-serving organizations, and through team members' peer networks. Inclusion criteria included being a young person between ages 12 and 24 residing in the county.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Student Administrative Data (APS)
DS2: School Administrative Data (ABB)
DS3: Student Neighborhood and Wellbeing Survey Data (SPS_NW)
DS4: Student School Climate Survey Data (SPS_SC)
DS5: Staff School Climate Survey Data (SPT_SC)
DS6: 211 Resources Data (DER)
DS7: Crime Incident Data (CEC)
DS8: City Planning Data (DPC)
DS9: Gun Violence Data (GEC_GPC)
DS10: American Community Survey Data (ANC)
DS11: Youth Mapping Place-Level Data (MES)
DS12: Youth Mapping Student-Level Data (MPS)
DS13: Youth Wellness Survey and Mapping Youth-Level Data (NPS)
DS14: Youth Wellness Survey and Mapping Place-Level Data (NES)
description: Primary and secondary public schools, students, teachers/staff, and neighborhoods in metropolitan Nashville, Tennessee.
description: mixed mode<strong>Publications:</strong> At the request of the data producers and their district partners, any publication made from these data should use the terminology "urban district in a southeastern state" instead of naming Nashville.<strong>File naming: </strong> Letters in parentheses at the end of each dataset name represent the data source, level, and survey instrument or topic of the data. Please see the Naming Conventions section of the User Guide for a detailed description of the data file naming formula utilized throughout this collection.