A. Hausman et al., EVALUATION OF COMPREHENSIVE VIOLENCE PREVENTION EDUCATION - EFFECTS ON STUDENT BEHAVIOR, Journal of adolescent health, 19(2), 1996, pp. 104-110
Purpose: This study evaluates the impact on student behavior of violen
ce prevention education in school settings. Methods: School records we
re obtained for three panels (1985, 1986, and 1987) of urban public hi
gh school students (n = 1,523) who were nonrandomly assigned to three
different conditions of school-based violence prevention education: (1
) in a class-specific comprehensive educational intervention, (2) as p
art of a school-wide violence prevention initiative, and (3) no exposu
re. Changes in suspension status from sophomore to junior year were tr
acked within exposure groups and the risk of junior year suspension wa
s compared across exposure groups, controlling for age, gender, race,
absenteeism, and previous year suspension. Results: The class-specific
exposure, compared to a not-exposed group from the same school showed
a significant 71% reduction in suspension rates (RR = .286, CI .12, .
66). The school-wide exposure school shows reductions in and maintenan
ce of very low rates of junior year suspension in each cohort year, al
though these are not always statistically significantly different from
not-exposed groups. Conclusion: Results indicate that violence preven
tion education can reduce negative school behaviors, particularly when
other supportive curricula and activities are added.