Join WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting in San Francisco, CA, November 13–16.
This year’s conference theme is Criminological Research and Education Matters: People, Policy, and Practice in Tumultuous Times.
View details on WestEd’s presentations below.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
2–3:20pm PT, Foothill C – 2nd Level
NIJ Day: Large-Scale Assessments of School Safety Strategies: Implications for Policy and Practice Panel
Concern about safety in schools has become a pervasive issue as policymakers, educators, and parents grapple with the mechanisms and strategies that should be in place to keep students and staff safe. Across approaches, it is imperative that decisions about school safety policy and programming are evidence-based and informed by research. Since 2014, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has made an unprecedented level of investment in research and evaluation studies to improve knowledge on what works to keep K–12 schools and students safe.
This panel highlights findings from three large-scale studies funded by the NIJ, each aimed at understanding different strategies to improve school safety: behavioral threat assessment, police in schools, and state school safety centers. In addition to examining the utility of these strategies in addressing school safety, the panel also explores the practice and policy implications based on the findings from each study.
Individual Panel Presentations
Session Title: School Safety Reform and Student Experiences: A Statewide Study of Behavioral Threat assessment in Texas
Authors: Trevor Fronius and Justine Zimiles
Session Title: Impact of School Police Reform on Student Safety, Behavior, Well-Being, and Disciplinary Outcomes in California
Authors: Arena Lam and Trevor Fronius
Session Title: Using Research to Inform Practice: A Framework for State School Safety Centers
Authors: Ashley Boal, Shawna White, Sarah Russo, Heather Sutherland, Adrienne Washington
Friday, November 15, 2024
2–3:20pm PT, Salon 7 – Lower B2 Level – Area 1
Roundtable: Regression Discontinuity Design in Shaping Future Justice Policy
This roundtable session aims to explore the potential for greater use of the Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) to rigorously evaluate justice policies and interventions.
The session will commence with an introduction to the RDD methodology, emphasizing its unique ability to yield causal inferences by comparing outcomes for individuals just above and below an established threshold. We will review the major categories of RDD studies that have been used in the justice literature, including studies based on risk assessment tools for offenders, studies based on juvenile/adult cutoffs for sentencing, and spatial discontinuity studies. Participants will engage in a critical discussion of the method’s strengths, limitations, challenges, and relevance to policy formation.
The roundtable will conclude by illustrating a roadmap for incorporating RDD in future justice policy research, encouraging evidence-based reforms that are both effective and equitable. The session is designed to foster dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who are committed to developing data-driven criminal justice policies and interventions.
Roundtable Participants
Trevor Fronius, WestEd
Ojmarrh Mitchel, University of California, Irvine
Sean Tanner, WestEd
Steven Belenko, Temple University
Shawn David Bushway, University at Albany
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