SC Awarded Safe and Supportive Schools grant
October 8, 2010
New state initiative awarded funding to measure school safety, improve learning environment
WASHINGTON, DC – October 8, 2010 – The South Carolina School ClimateInitiative – a new plan to measure school safety and improve thelearning environment at low-performing schools – has earned a $1.6million share of nearly $39 million in federal grants for 11 statesacross the country.
In the past five weeks, South Carolina has won five competitive grantsworth $75 million. The grants are aimed at a broad range ofinitiatives, including creating performance incentives for classroomteachers, developing new charter schools and reducing teen pregnancyrates.
The Palmetto State’s latest award of $1,685,180 represents first-yearfunding for a four-year, $11.7 million project. Further allocations are
contingent on congressional action, federal officials said.
The initiative aims to meet the U.S. Department of Education’s Safe andSupportive Schools goal of creating safe and drug-free learningenvironments while increasing academic success for students.
“Our project will develop a school climate score that looks at a broadrange of learning conditions within individual schools, includingsafety and behavior,” said State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex.“Identifying those where the school environment is at-risk means we canintervene sooner to help students.”
South Carolina is one of three states now collecting school climatesurvey data from parents, teachers and students every year in grades 5,8 and 11 for inclusion on state report cards. This information –combined with other data including truancy rates, suspensions,expulsions and crime – can serve as a foundation for gauging how theseconditions are tied to the lack of student growth in a school.
“We anticipate that about 40 schools will have learning climate scoresin the highest-need category for intensive support, training andtechnical assistance,” Rex said. “They’ll have many commoncharacteristics such as high poverty, low graduation rates, highdropout rates and struggles with basic academics.”
Working with the state Department of Education and other state andlocal partners in the project, participating schools will create acomprehensive Learning Environment Action Plan for improvement, lookingat such elements as:
- clarity and enforcement of school rules, policies and procedures influencing learning conditions;
- strategies and resources to prevent youth violence and substance use;
- school management and organization for better delivery of services to students; and
- assistance in choosing and using a schoolwide discipline strategy such as Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports or CHAMPS.
Additionally, four intervention specialists will provide directassistance to schools in these targeted areas: behavior, life skills,bullying/Internet safety and alcohol/substance abuse prevention. Thegoal is that 85 percent of students at schools in the project will showimproved academic and behavior results.
“If we can accomplish this kind of climate change, we’ll have animportant template for resolving needs at some of our most chronicallyunder-performing schools,” Rex said. “It will enable districts,schools and communities to not only identify schools struggling tocreate a safe, supportive learning environment, but also help lead aturnaround in the educational experience for young people in our state.”
The School Climate Initiative will have a state-level advisory councilthat will meet quarterly to guide planning, shaping, implementing andrefining the project. In addition to representatives from numerous SDEoffices, council members will come from agencies and organizationsincluding SC Kids Count, the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, theSouth Carolina Association of School Administrators, the statedepartments of Health and Environmental Control, Juvenile Justice,Public Safety, Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services and the AttorneyGeneral’s Office.
