Indicator: School safety
Definition
Students feel physically, mentally, and emotionally safe at school or campus (that is, safe from both physical threats and violence, as well as bullying and cyberbullying).
RECOMMENDED METRIC(S)
K–12: Percentage of students reporting high levels of physical, mental, and emotional safety in school climate surveys, such as the U.S. Department of Education ED School Climate Surveys (EDSCLS), the Sense of Safety subscale within the CORE Districts school culture and climate survey, or the School Safety subscale within the Panorama Student Survey
Postsecondary: Percentage of students reporting physical safety and freedom from harassment and discrimination in campus surveys, such as the National Survey of Student Engagement
Type(s) of Data Needed
Administrative data; surveysWhy it matters
School safety is a core component of school and campus climate, both of which are linked to higher attendance and academic achievement. Yet research demonstrates disparities in students’ feelings of safety according to their race and ethnicity. For example, one study found that students in schools serving predominantly Black and Latino populations report feeling less safe and having less positive peer interactions than those at schools with predominantly White and Asian populations, on average. Even within the same schools and homerooms, Black and Latino students report feeling less safe than their White and Asian peers. According to the National Survey of Student Engagement, 1 in 7 Black students and 1 in 10 Indigenous students feel physically unsafe on college campuses, compared to 1 in 17 Asian students and 1 in 20 White or Latino students.
What to know about measurement
Measuring students’ feelings about school or campus safety requires administering student surveys, and a growing number of schools and colleges do so. In a 2020 review of states’ Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans, 16 states were administering or piloting school climate or engagement student surveys. At the postsecondary level, 601 colleges and universities participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement in 2020. Both school and campus climate surveys typically include questions related to students’ feelings of safety. However, different survey instruments may be used. We have identified and suggested tools with an evidence base; however, other instruments may also be appropriate.
The use of different instruments and surveyed grades in K–12 can reduce the comparability of this indicator across contexts. For example, California surveys students in grades 5, 7, 9, and 11, whereas South Carolina surveys students in grades 3–12. More than half of the states using surveys for ESSA administer them to students as early as grade 3, although some researchers caution against surveying young children who may not understand the meaning of the questions. Care should be taken to ensure the instruments used are reliable, valid, and developmentally appropriate. Finally, as with all surveys, data users should pay attention to response rates in interpreting and reporting school or campus climate survey data to ensure respondents are representative of the population of students.
At the postsecondary level, campus safety can be measured more feasibly using data on the number of reported on-campus crimes per 1,000 students, which are publicly available through the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Safety and Security Reporting System. However, administrative records often underreport instances of victimization, so anonymous surveys can be a useful complement to measure perceptions of safety and experiences that students may not have reported to the police.
Source frameworks
This indicator appeared in nine source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our emphasis on physical, mental, and emotional safety is consistent with recommendations from the Alliance for Resource Equity, the National Education Association, and the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment (MCIEA). Although source frameworks focused primarily on school safety in K–12 contexts, we recommend broadening this measure to include postsecondary settings as well.
References
The framework's recommendations are based on syntheses of existing research. Please see the framework report for a list of works cited.