Evaluation of a Principal Training Program to Promote Safe and Civil Schools, Oklahoma, 2017-2022 (ICPSR 39076)

Version Date: Apr 29, 2026

Cite this study |

Principal Investigator(s):
Keith C. Herman, University of Missouri

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39076.v1

Version V1

Slide tabs to view more

Summary

The Principal and School Climate project was a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funded study in participating schools across the state of Oklahoma investigating the efficacy of Safe and Civil School Leadership (SCSL) with an additional program called START on Time (START). START was a training program for school principals teaching them skills to foster a safe and positive learning environment for students. This training program consisted of student support as well as resources for principals to use efficacious and data-driven discipline with students. Although first developed over a decade ago, there have been no evidence-based studies investigating the central role principals play within school environments.

Citation

Herman, Keith C. Evaluation of a Principal Training Program to Promote Safe and Civil Schools, Oklahoma, 2017-2022. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-04-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39076.v1

Export Citation:

  • RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
  • EndNote

Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2016-CK-BX-0004)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

State

Restrictions

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Hide

Time Period(s)

2017 -- 2021

Date of Collection

2017 -- 2022
Hide

Study Purpose

The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Safe and Civil School Leadership (SCSL) plus START on Time (START) to improve school climate and safety by promoting effective school leadership skills and a unified approach to school-wide hallway management. The specific objectives of the proposed study were (1) to evaluate, utilizing a delayed treatment randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, whether the SCSL plus START program leads to improved leadership skills, school climate, and school safety as evidenced by reduced victimization and bullying/teasing and increased perceptions of safety in comparison to a business as usual (control) condition; and (2) to identify mediators of observed effects on the primary outcome, school safety, based on the researchers' theory of change. These mediators included improved leadership skills, use of data, climate (disciplinary structure and support), aggressive attitudes, and student compliance.

Study Design

Researchers used a group randomized design. Forty-three principals from schools throughout Oklahoma were randomly assigned to receive Safe and Civil School Leadership (SCSL) plus START on Time (START) or business as usual conditions. Data on primary outcomes and putative mechanisms were collected at baseline and 6 month, 1 year, and 2 year follow-up.

Sample

Researchers used a group randomized design. Forty-three principals from schools throughout Oklahoma were randomly assigned to receive Safe and Civil School Leadership (SCSL) plus START on Time (START) or business as usual conditions.

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend / Repeated Cross-section

Universe

School personnel and students in Oklahoma from 2017-2021.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individuals

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

Variables in the data files collected information related to the prevalence of teasing and bullying, victimization, school climate, disciplinary structure, academic expectations, student support, student perceptions of school safety, aggressive attitudes, and use of data.

Response Rates

DS1 (Assistant Principal Data File) and DS2 (Principal Data File) : The valid response rate was 99.3 percent.

DS4 (Student Data File): The valid response rate was 75.5 percent.

DS5 (Teacher Data File): The valid response rate was 81.9 percent.

Presence of Common Scales

Prevalence of Teasing and Bullying. The prevalence of teasing and bullying in a school was measured with a five-item scale.

Victimization index based on Gottfredson's (1999) research

Authoritative School Climate (ASC) Survey

Disciplinary Structure items were derived from the Experience of School Rules scale from the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCES, 2005).

Academic Expectations

Student Support items were derived from the Willingness to Seek Help scale (Bandyopadhyay, Cornell, and Konold, 2009) and the School Climate Module of the California Healthy Kids Survey (WestEd, 2013).

Student Perceptions of School Safety items were taken from the U.S. Department of Education (2016) School Climate Survey (EDSCLS).

Aggressive Attitudes item were derived from the aggressive attitudes scale (F. L. Huang et al., 2014)

Trends Climate Survey

Use of Data

Hide

Original Release Date

2026-04-29

Version History

2026-04-29 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Created variable labels and/or value labels.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Hide

Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.