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School Security
Yuan Liao, Shane Jones, Shana Maddox, Kelsie Prengel
Arizona State University

1. How does this information provide insight into how Middle School students learn?
School security expenditures have increased immensely, especially after highly
publicized school shootings. Much of the policy decisions are based in fear. Little research has
been done into the effects of the new levels of security. This thesis attempts to gain insight into
the impact that security spending has on the achievement of students. Limited budget always get
school in torn, with that being said, middle school students need to figure out a cost-effective
way to learn how to balance the effective school achievement and the safety of school. The
presentation provides a comprehensive way for student to reinforce their knowledge under the
pre-emergent situations. Besides that, the presentation introduced the three-way cooperation:
teacher-student-school.
Middle school students might learn that large sum of national budget less likely to trickle
down to the particular school or rural school districts. Although the state grant programs and
budget are important, school can not rely on that simply because national/state spending flows
into particular school depending on the the reality, and every school district situation varies.
Again, up until now, most school security-related policy decisions are based in fear, not facts.
With more research into the effects of security spending on student achievement, future policy
can have a more reliable support.
2. How can this information allow us to be better instructors for Middle School learners?
Campus security in our schools vary immensely. While some schools have no security
other than gates to cover entrances and exits, others have security guards, SROs or even metal
detectors. But unless all schools implement metal detectors, schools are at risk for many threats
because of the ease of access into the schools as well as the ease of bringing in weapons. We as
educators and district leaders need to find a solution to help keep our students safe. This year

alone, 55 shootings have happened on school campuses around the nation. Although they vary
from preschool to college, it is still a threat to those in middle school, because we have the
opportunity to try and fix the problem early on to avoid potential threats come middle school,
high school and college. It is important to begin early and teach students about bullying and to
keep ourselves aware of children who may have these issues. Being that many of these attacks on
schools are because of one student bullying another.
If we keep ourselves in touch with students and reach out to them regardless of the
situation, we may be able to save lives down the road. We also need to teach our students coping
mechanisms and how to deal with stress, depression and to be someone they can reach out to in a
time of need. Educators have the power to provide a safe place for students of all kinds, and if
we put emphasis on these things at an early age, we may be able to help these numbers fall
down. No matter what the security reason, being that its an attack on the school, a fire that
accidentally broke out, an evacuation drill or just the way we as teachers are trained in these
situations, we need to understand that this is important in keeping our schools and students safe.
3. How does this impact our understanding of successful Middle School learning environments?
With recent school security breaches more pressure is put on schools, administrators, and
districts to make schools a safer place for students and teachers. Although there have been major
pushes in school security over the past couple of years there is still many schools that do not
have the means to protect their school from future security problems. Putting students in an
unsafe environment can have a negative effect on academic success. One study by Johanna R.
Lacoe investigates the correlation between academic success and student safety. In Mrs. Lacoes
study she uses longitudinal dataset of survey responses from more than 80 percent of New York
City middle school students. This study took survey results from approximately 340,000 middle

school students in 700 different schools. The results of this survey showed that minority and lowincome students were more likely to feel unsafe in school. These results show that school safety
may be a driving force behind ethnic achievement gaps. The results of this study suggest that
unsafe environments may cause a decline in academic achievement because students will be
absent more and be less focused on class work.
Schools can longer stand by they need to take action to create a school environment
where all students will be able to be successful. The first step in creating a more nurturing
environment for these students is to ensure the safety of every student. This will allow the
ethnicity achievement gap to be reduced and allow students to excel academically. More quality
reviews of schools need to be done to establish that students are safe from outside and inside
sources. More research should be done to determine successful school and classroom level
interventions. Case studies should be generated in schools that promote safety among students to
see if there is an impact on students performance.
One of the most important aspects of safety is preparedness. Running safety drills and
having a safety plan is how schools keep students safe. Arizona teachers are required to complete
training every year on fire and lockdown procedures. Schools are also required to hold two of
each type of drill per school year. As teachers we are responsible for these kids as soon as they
step on campus, we need to be prepared to protect these kids to the best of our ability. Like they
always say practice makes perfect and we are better safe than sorry. Being well aware of how the
safety procedures work makes us better teachers because we are more likely to save our students.

References
Lacoe, J. (2012). Too Scared to Learn? The Academic Consequences of Feeling Unsafe at
School. 1-37.
List of School Shooting in the United States. (2015, November 29). Retrieved November 30,
2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States
Marlin, M. (2015). Security Spending in Schools as an Independent Variable in an Education
Production Function. 1-19.
Nevada middle school shooter left 2 suicide notes: Cops. (2014, May 14). Retrieved November
30, 2015, from http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nevada-middle-school-shooter-left2-suicide-notes-cops-article-1.1791820
52 school shootings so far this year leave 30 dead, 53 injured. (2015, October 10). Retrieved
November 30, 2015, from https://www.rt.com/usa/318169-school-shootings-statistics-year/