Preventing Youth Violence Through Building Equitable Communities

The CRP component of the intervention targets pedagogy, curriculum, and potential teacher biases and discriminatory behavior. This component will consist of two intensive 4-hour workshops delivered by Morton and Billingsley in each school's first intervention year as well as one-hour annual boosters (Backpacks for Success and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy). All teachers and school administrators will participate in the workshops. The purpose of Backpacks for Success is to increase participants' awareness of structural racism, empathy for students, and motivation to change, while identifying equity targets and strategies to reach those targets. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy comprises classroom based strategies to promote equity, including use of culturally responsive curriculum, language, attitudes, and actions, with the goal of reducing interpersonal and cultural racism. Ongoing group coaching sessions will provide a space for peer support and learning around increasing CRP.

We will implement SWPBS according to the equity-focused framework established by the Center on PBIS, with an increased emphasis on community integration. SWPBS involves creating a school team of 6-10 people, including at least one administrator, teachers, and staff members. We will include at least three community stakeholders on each C-SWPBS team to integrate the culture of the community, reducing institutional and cultural racism. Community stakeholders may be parents or other invested members of the local community not employed by the school district. The school climate specialists serve on the C-SWPBS team and provide consultation for the management of violence incidents and mental health concerns.