Current practice and training in school violence prevention and crisis response procedures: Perceptions of Alabama middle school principals and counselors

The purpose of this study was to identify, for principals and counselors, the safety planning and management practices and desired information to guide training related to school violence prevention and crisis response, and to determine if there are differences in the current practices and perception of needs based on position-affiliated roles, responsibilities and demographic variables. This study employed a causal-comparative approach to address eight research questions. The author-designed survey questionnaire was developed to examine the middle school principals' and counselors' perceptions of training and actual practice of school violence prevention and crisis response efforts.;Survey items were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The data revealed significant differences in the perceptions of principals and counselors related to the current use of school violence prevention strategies associated with policies and plans and direct and indirect services. The data did not reveal significant differences in principals and counselors perceptions of current use of safety procedures, crisis response procedures, school violence prevention training, and crisis response training. Significant differences also were revealed for principals for the demographic variable of grade configuration associated with the current use of safety procedures, direct and indirect services, and crisis response procedures and the variable of student population associated with safety procedures.;Based on the findings of this research, education organizations should develop a model for the training of school administrators in the processes involved with preventing school violence and responding to critical incidents. Secondly, counselors should be apprised of basic safety planning and management issues and concerns regarding school violence prevention and crisis response. The information from this study should be used to assist in the development of a basic school safety curriculum that can be utilized in preparation programs to better inform principals and counselors of the safety issues they face as school administrators. Several studies also should be done in the future to assist in the development of prevention strategies and response procedures.