The Safety App: Changing the Way Administrators “See” Their School

Many schools are challenged by high rates of crime, aggressive behavior and student disruption. Neighborhood-based theory and research suggests that enviromental conditions can have an influence on individual's decisions to engage in crime and violence. Similarly, studies that ask students to map the locations of violence at schools have identified "unowned" locations to be particular hotspots for violence. Due to this connection between the physical environment and violence, our research team developed an observational measure of the physical environment, the School Assessment for Environmental Typography (SAfETy). The assessment includes questions derived from social disorganization theory and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design in the domains of appearance, disorder, and surveillance. Work using an administration of this measure by trained observers has provided strong support for a connection between the physical environment of the school and student involvement in violence.

Data from the SAfETy have been shared with over 150 school administrators who find it novel and powerful. Due to this interest, we are developing an Administrator Walkthrough version of the SAfETy, which is substantially shorter and created to be similar to other school-improvement tools used by administrators. Focus groups with administrators highlighted the importance of encouraging administrator ownership of the physical environment as it was often not seen as their jurisdiction (i.e., a district or community issue) as well as encouraging the development of an action plan. Initial evaluation of the tool with 20 administrators indicate that it has been well received, with administrators reporting that it helps them "see" their school in a new way. Unfortunately, the fact that the tool is paper-based has limited its use.

A School SAfETy app has been developed to facilitate ease of administration. Additionally, the use of technology has improved the presentation of summary information and tools such as machine learning are being incorporated to help prioritize problems. This presentation will demonstrate the capabilities of the app as well as present data from a pilot of the app with 40 school administrators. Pilot data will focus both on user experience with the app (i.e., ease of use, reasons for use, results of use) as well as discuss the feasibility of app-based technology for administrators.