Current Search: School Safety (x)
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- Title
- Teachers' Perceptions of Safety Regarding School Shootings.
- Creator
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Olive, Megan, Donley, Amy, Reckdenwald, Amy, Mustaine, Elizabeth, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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As a result of high media attention surrounding school shootings in recent years, it may appear that American public schools are becoming dangerous places (Schildkraut (&) Elsass, 2016; Elsass, Schildkraut, (&) Stafford, 2016; Toppo, 2013). Though schools remain to be one of the safest locations for children, various safety measures are discussed and implemented in schools to combat this perceived problem and ensure the safety of school campuses. Discussions of best safety practices spikes...
Show moreAs a result of high media attention surrounding school shootings in recent years, it may appear that American public schools are becoming dangerous places (Schildkraut (&) Elsass, 2016; Elsass, Schildkraut, (&) Stafford, 2016; Toppo, 2013). Though schools remain to be one of the safest locations for children, various safety measures are discussed and implemented in schools to combat this perceived problem and ensure the safety of school campuses. Discussions of best safety practices spikes directly following a school shooting event from relevant parties, such as school administration, law enforcement agencies, parents, and students, (Crawford (&) Burns, 2015; Chrusciel, Wolfe, Hansen, Rojek, (&) Kaminski, 2014) but little existing literature focuses on teachers, more specifically how safe teachers perceive schools to be with regard to gun violence and school shootings. This study seeks to build upon the small body of literature that currently exists on teachers' perceptions of safety and hopes to introduce new opportunities for research in the future. This study is comprised of 212 teachers throughout Central Florida. The results of this research show that while teachers overall feel very safe teaching at their schools, there are areas they believe can be improved upon. Of the safety measures used to prevent and reduce gun violence at schools, program-based safety measures and School Resource Officers make these teachers feel the safest. These perceptions of safety do not vary from one Central Florida county to the next, as most teachers are largely in agreement as to what measures make them feel safe. It was also revealed that most teachers in the sample are also unsupportive of legislation that would allow classroom teachers to carry firearms on school campuses.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007698, ucf:52449
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007698
- Title
- Improving Traffic Safety at School Zones by Engineering and Operational Countermeasures.
- Creator
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Rahman, Md Hasibur, Abdel-Aty, Mohamed, Lee, JaeYoung, Zaki Hussein, Mohamed, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Safety issues at school zone areas have been one of the most important topics in the traffic safety field. Although many studies have evaluated the effectiveness of various traffic control devices (e.g., sign, flashing beacon, speed monitoring display), there is a lack of studies exploring different roadway countermeasures and the relationship between school-related factors and crashes. In this study, the most crash-prone school zone was identified in Orange and Seminole Counties, Florida,...
Show moreSafety issues at school zone areas have been one of the most important topics in the traffic safety field. Although many studies have evaluated the effectiveness of various traffic control devices (e.g., sign, flashing beacon, speed monitoring display), there is a lack of studies exploring different roadway countermeasures and the relationship between school-related factors and crashes. In this study, the most crash-prone school zone was identified in Orange and Seminole Counties, Florida, based on crash rate. Afterward, a microsimulation network was built in VISSIM environment to test different roadway countermeasures in the school zones. Three different countermeasures: two-step speed reduction (TSR), decreasing the number of driveways (DD), and replacing the two-way left-turn lane (TWLTL) to the raised median (RM) were implemented in the microsimulation. Three surrogate safety measures-: (1) time exposed time to collision (TET), (2) time integrated time to collision (TIT) and (3) time exposed rear-end crash risk index (TERCRI) were utilized in this study as indicators for safety evaluation. The higher value of surrogate safety measures indicates higher crash risk. The results showed that both TSR and DD reduced TET, TIT and TERCRI values significantly compare to the base condition. Moreover, the combination of TSR and DD countermeasures outperformed their individual effectiveness. The One-way ANOVA analysis showed that all the sub-scenarios were significantly different from each other. Sensitivity analysis result has proved that all the sub-scenarios in TSR and DD reduced TET, TIT and TERCRI values significantly for different value of TTC threshold. On the other hand, for converting the TWLTL to RM, the crash risk was higher than the base condition because of the turning movements of vehicle. The results of this study could help transportation planners and decision makers to understand the effect of these countermeasures to improve safety at school zones.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007708, ucf:52409
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007708
- Title
- APPLYING LOG-LINEAR MODELS AND GIS TO STUDY THE SAFETY OF PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS : A CASE STUDY OF ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL CHILDREN.
- Creator
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Chundi, Sai Srinivas, Mohamed, Abdel Aty, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Abstract Pedestrian /bicycle safety of school children has been a growing menace that has been attracting attention from transportation professionals, school boards, media and the community all over the country. As such there has been a necessity to identify critical variables and assess their importance in pedestrian/bicycle crashes occurring in and around school zones. The current study is an endeavor in this direction. The literature review identified some studies that were conducted on...
Show moreAbstract Pedestrian /bicycle safety of school children has been a growing menace that has been attracting attention from transportation professionals, school boards, media and the community all over the country. As such there has been a necessity to identify critical variables and assess their importance in pedestrian/bicycle crashes occurring in and around school zones. The current study is an endeavor in this direction. The literature review identified some studies that were conducted on school zone safety related to pedestrian/bicyclist crashes. Most of the studies pertained to crashes with all age groups. There have been few studies with emphasis only on school aged children. In this study we focus on pedestrian age group (4 to 18 years), the time of the day when the school children are expected to be commuting (6:30 AM to 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM to 5:00.PM), the day of week (Monday through Friday) and the days when the school is opened (January 6th to May 31st and August 6th to December 21st). Geographical Information Systems was used to locate buffer zones around schools with higher crash incidence rates. The use of log-linear analysis has culminated in explaining the relationship between various variables and crash incidence or crash frequency Crash data for this study was obtained in the form of crash database and GIS maps from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Orange County School Board respectively. Crash reports were downloaded from the CAR database of the FDOT mainframe website. The crash data was related to the GIS maps to visually depict the proximity of crashes to the school zones and thus identified risky schools and school districts. It was concluded from the spatial analysis that the incidence of crashes was higher at middle schools. In the log-linear analysis different models were i tested to explain the effects of driver characteristics, geometric characteristics and pedestrian characteristics on the crash frequency. It was found that driver age, number of lanes, median type, pedestrian age and speed limit are the critical variables in explaining crash frequency. By examining the levels of the variables that were significantly involved in the crashes we would get an insight on ways to explain and control pedestrian/bicyclists crashes at school zones. It is hoped that this thesis would make an active contribution in improving the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians in and around school zones and make the schools much safer for the children.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000885, ucf:46643
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000885
- Title
- THE RESPONSE OF ADMINISTRATORS AND INSTRUCTORS IN THE ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL SYSTEM TO DATING VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAMS: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION.
- Creator
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Crisafi, Denise, Jasinski, Jana, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Adolescent dating violence occurs in high schools at an alarming rate. To educate adolescents about dating violence, some public high schools have incorporated prevention programs into their curriculum. These programs, which are predicated upon empiricism and behavioral theories, tend to produce limited results. In order to improve prevention programs, it has been suggested that schools should play a larger role in their development and implementation. However, dating violence studies have...
Show moreAdolescent dating violence occurs in high schools at an alarming rate. To educate adolescents about dating violence, some public high schools have incorporated prevention programs into their curriculum. These programs, which are predicated upon empiricism and behavioral theories, tend to produce limited results. In order to improve prevention programs, it has been suggested that schools should play a larger role in their development and implementation. However, dating violence studies have yet to examine how much school personnel know about adolescent dating violence and prevention strategies. The current study surveyed administrators and instructors at six public high schools in Orange County, Florida about their perceptions of dating violence and attitudes toward dating violence prevention programs. The results indicate that administrators and instructors are fairly knowledgeable about adolescent dating violence, approve of school-based dating violence prevention programs, and are willing to participate in prevention efforts. The results also indicate that administratorsÃÂ' and instructorsÃÂ' sociodemographics have the potential to affect how they feel about dating violence and prevention strategies. Implications of these findings for prevention program development and implementation as well as future research are discussed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003107, ucf:48626
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003107
- Title
- Principals' Perceptions and Self-efficacy in Relation to School Security.
- Creator
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Jones, Julian, Taylor, Rosemarye, Doherty, Walter, Kennedy, Mary, Wolf, Ross, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Principals in the nation's schools have been tasked with managing crisis incidents that may occur with students and others on their campuses on a daily basis. The purposes of this study were to determine the differences, if any, that existed in Central Florida public school principals' perceptions regarding school security, their perceived confidence to address critical crisis incidents on their campuses, their perceptions of the likelihood critical incidents would occur, their perceptions of...
Show morePrincipals in the nation's schools have been tasked with managing crisis incidents that may occur with students and others on their campuses on a daily basis. The purposes of this study were to determine the differences, if any, that existed in Central Florida public school principals' perceptions regarding school security, their perceived confidence to address critical crisis incidents on their campuses, their perceptions of the likelihood critical incidents would occur, their perceptions of interaction with law enforcement, the critical incidents they fear the most, and their perceptions of factors impacting the incidents they fear the most. Principal subgroup mean responses to the Principal Safety and Security Perceptions Survey in the three areas of Bandura's (1997) triadic reciprocal causation were examined in the context of principals' gender, longevity, student enrollment, grade configuration, free and reduced lunch rate, presence of a law enforcement officer, and presence of a security plan. Findings revealed significant differences between categorical groups of principals in multiple areas. It was determined that significant differences in principals' perceptions warrant further study. Recommendations for practice include security policy development and practical application of noted trends.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005636, ucf:50217
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005636
- Title
- DOES KNOWLEDGE PREDICT FEAR: PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF MASS SCHOOL SHOOTINGS AND STUDENTS FEAR OF CRIME ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS.
- Creator
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Rosenbaum, Emily, Donley , Amy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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On April 16, 2007, 32 students and faculty were killed on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus, making this incident the deadliest mass school shooting in United States history. Other school shootings, such as the infamous Columbine High School shootings and the more recent Northern Illinois State shootings, have become popular topics in today's social media (Kaminski et al, 2010; Reese 2009). Due to these events, schools and universities have become interested in...
Show moreOn April 16, 2007, 32 students and faculty were killed on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus, making this incident the deadliest mass school shooting in United States history. Other school shootings, such as the infamous Columbine High School shootings and the more recent Northern Illinois State shootings, have become popular topics in today's social media (Kaminski et al, 2010; Reese 2009). Due to these events, schools and universities have become interested in the safety of their students as well as the students overall feelings towards crime while on their campus. New research studies have taken an interest in students' overall fear of crime and how this fear is impacted by variables including sex of the student and the time of day (Kaminski et al. 2010; Murray 2001). Though these studies have found who is more fearful of crime and which types of crime are feared most among their samples, these studies and others do not take into account whether the student is aware of shooting incidents that have occurred on college campuses around the country. The current study addresses this gap. The purpose of this study is to measure whether a University of Central Florida student's knowledge of mass school shootings influences their own levels of fear regarding crime and criminal victimization. Using an anonymous online survey, data from students at the University of Central Florida was collected and analyzed. The survey used quiz style questioning to gauge a students' overall knowledge on mass school shootings. Other questions such as demographics fear of various types of crime, and fear of different locations on campus were also asked. This research addresses which areas of the University of Central Florida that students fear most (such as the Parking Garages), whether a student who lives in off campus housing is more fearful then a student who lives on campus, and whether having more knowledge of mass school shootings cause more fear of crime in students then those with less knowledge, and do students with more knowledge feel that they will be victimized more. This research hopes to help the University of Central Florida's Counseling center and well as the UCF Police Department to help understand students fears and needs to help create a safer learning environment and help those students in need in addition to adding to the overall literature on fear of crime.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFH0004380, ucf:44989
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004380
- Title
- A multimedia pedestrian safety program and school infrastructure: Finding the connection to pedestrian risk-taking attitudes and perceptions of pedestrian behavior.
- Creator
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Scott, Diana, Hoffman, Bobby, Sivo, Stephen, Porter, Robert, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Approximately 47,700 pedestrians were killed between the years of 2000 - 2009. School buses are one of the safest modes of transportation (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2004). However, the Central Florida school district eliminated bus transportation within the 2-mile radius from schools just last year. Children must prepare for an alternative mode of transportation; walking and biking. The purpose of this research was two-fold. First to develop an online safety training...
Show moreApproximately 47,700 pedestrians were killed between the years of 2000 - 2009. School buses are one of the safest modes of transportation (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2004). However, the Central Florida school district eliminated bus transportation within the 2-mile radius from schools just last year. Children must prepare for an alternative mode of transportation; walking and biking. The purpose of this research was two-fold. First to develop an online safety training program for elementary school children; and second, a self-report questionnaire was constructed and piloted to measure how safety training and school infrastructure affects students' pedestrian risk-taking attitudes and risk perceptions to avoid the dangers of walking and biking to and from school. A 2x2 Factorial Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to test two categorical independent variables (safety awareness training, school infrastructure) for each of the two continuous dependent variables (pedestrian risk-taking attitudes and risk perceptions of pedestrian behavior). Using data from the pilot study, the researcher developed, self-reported questionnaires demonstrated that there was a significant difference between schools. Those receiving the training had lower mean scores in risk-taking attitudes than those who did not receive the training. Regardless of intervention, School 2 (complete infrastructure) takes fewer risks than School 1(incomplete infrastructure). The mean difference between groups was not statistically significant.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005248, ucf:50590
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005248