School Climate

"School Climate" is the final element of a comprehensive school safety plan.  Creating a positive school climate fosters a student's feeling of belonging and is critical for learning to take place.  This has a direct affect on the safety and security of schools.   Below are training opportunities and other resources related to School Climate offered by the School Safety Center.

Aspire - Youth Outreach for a Safe and Drug-Free Tennessee

The Aspire project recruits and trains teams of high school students from across the state to take a leadership role in reducing youth drug use and violence in their school or community.  The application process for new teams opens during the late spring of the school year.   For more information, please contact Melia Arnold, Tennessee Commission on National and Community Service at (615) 253-6314 or Melia.Arnold@state.tn.us.

More Information

Lions-Quest Service-Learning Training

Service-learning is an innovative teaching strategy that combines volunteer service and classroom instruction. Workshops will be provided in various locations across the state to equip teachers with the skills and materials necessary to effectively incorporate service-learning into their classrooms. High school educators will receive everything necessary to meet the state’s standards and curriculum frameworks for course code 9395, “Success Skills through Service-Learning.” Lions Quest International will train and provide materials valued at $500 at no cost to Tennessee educators through a grant from the Lions Clubs International Foundation and the Department of Education.

Click here to download the registration form for Skills for Adolescence/Growing (K-8).
Click here to download the registration form for Skills for Action (9-12).

For more information, please visit www.volunteertennessee.net and click on Lions-Quest Service-Learning Training or contact Meredith Freeman, Lions-Quest Service-Learning Coordinator at (615) 741-9242 or Meredith.Freeman@state.tn.us.

Life Skills Training

Recognized by the US Department of Education as an exemplary prevention program and recommended by the Center for Disease Control, LifeSkills Training (LST) is one of the most successful proven prevention strategies in the country - based on over 20 years of research.  Studies testing the effectiveness of LST show it reduces the prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use by up to 87% when implemented with fidelity.

The LST program is aligned with universal learning standards and is taught in sequence over three years. Level 1, taught in 6th grade, consists of 15 lessons (plus 3 optional violence prevention lessons). Level 2, taught in 7th grade, consists of 10 lessons (plus 2 optional violence prevention lessons). Level 3, taught in 8th grade consists of 5 lessons (plus 2 optional violence prevention lessons). 

Team training is available and prepares participants to deliver all three levels.  Schools planning to implement LifeSkills should send a team of 3-5 (teachers, counselors, or other classroom personnel) representing each grade to the one-day training. School Resource Officers and Safe and Drug-Free School Coordinators are also encouraged to attend as part of the team.  Teams must acquire their principal’s approval and commit to implementation fidelity. Many schools choose to deliver LST in Health, Science or Social Studies, but the curriculum works equally well in Language Arts, Guidance, and exploratory/elective courses. Afterschool programs funded through 21st Century or LEAPs are also invited to participate, as well as Alternative Educators.  Schools already participating in LST are allowed to send additional teachers to the training.  Each participant will be provided one teacher manual and one classroom set of (30) student workbooks appropriate to the grade level at which they plan to deliver LST.

If your school has not been trained before, there is a Team Registration form. If your school is already trained and you would like to send one or two teachers to be certified, there is an Individual Registration form. To inquire about LifeSkills registration, training and Technical Assistance, or student materials, please contact Lori Ungurait at (615) 253-6382 or by e-mail at lori.ungurait@tennessee.edu.

Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

The Tennessee Department of Education, in collaboration with STARS Nashville and Clemson University, is pleased to announce the availability of certification training for the Olweus Bullying Prevention (OBP) Program.  The Olweus Program is heavily researched and recognized around the world as the premier bullying prevention program.

Twenty applicants will be selected to receive the training, materials and ongoing consultation necessary to become a certified OBP trainer.  Prior training experience and a two-year commitment to local implementation are required.

Normally, the cost of the certification training is approximately $3,900 per person; however, federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools funding will absorb approximately 85% of this amount.  A local match of $750 per trainee will be required.  Local, state Safe Schools Act or federal Title IV funds may be utilized to meet the local match requirement.

Detailed information and an application package can be found at www.starsnashville.org.  Applications must be received on or before November 14, 2008, in order to be considered.

Other Resources

Center for the Prevention of School Violence

Cyber Bullying

i-Safe Inc.

National Crime Prevention Council

UVA Youth Violence Project

Positive Behavioral Support

Positive behavioral support emphasizes a school-wide system of support that includes proactive strategies for defining, teaching, and supporting appropriate student behaviors to create positive school environments. Instead of using a patchwork of individual behavioral management plans, a continuum of positive behavior support for all students within a school is implemented in areas including the classroom and non-classroom settings (such as hallways, restrooms). Positive behavior support is an application of a behaviorally-based systems approach to enhance the capacity of schools, families, and communities to design effective environments that improve the link between research-validated practices and the environments in which teaching and learning occurs. Attention is focused on creating and sustaining primary (school-wide), secondary (classroom), and tertiary (individual) systems of support that improve lifestyle results (personal, health, social, family, work, recreation) for all children and youth by making problem behavior less effective, efficient, and relevant, and desired behavior more functional. For more information on this program, click on the following link http://web.utk.edu/~swpbs/.

Questions regarding this program may be directed to Mike Herrmann at (615) 741-8468 or Mike.Herrmann@state.tn.us.

Upcoming Training Events!!!

School Climate Questionnaire

(For use with students in upper elementary grades and higher)