Many behavior problems are partly the result of academic failures and frustrations. Safe schools have high behavioral standards and provide students with positive support to achieve these standards. Well-trained teachers with administrative support can create positive environments that promote appropriate behavior and development. Safe schools are strategic schools. They assess needs, develop and implement research-based strategies, and coordinate services to address the needs of all students.
Safe schools view the school as part of the larger community.
They bring in the parents, mental health and other social service agencies, businesses, youth and juvenile justice workers, and other community services and players to build safe schools and communities. This report describes these programs and analyzes what they had in common and why they worked. The report draws upon the findings of the site visits, the analyses of the expert panelists who participated in the site visits, published materials on the programs, and a review of the research literature on effective practices. Wherever possible, the report employs the voices of program participants, as well as those of the expert panelists who participated in the site visits. Finally, the report concludes with a set of underlying principles reflected in each of the programs and schools visited.