A Multi-District Analysis of School Safety in School Districts Awarded STOP School Violence Grants in Fiscal Years 2018–2023

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has invested over $100 million in grants to school districts since 2018 under the Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act of 2018. However, little is known about what has been accomplished under these grants or the effect on school violence, exclusionary discipline, or discipline disparities. To help build this knowledge base, RTI International will conduct an implementation and outcome study of BJA STOP grants made to school districts.  

The implementation study will use information from grantee applications and reports to BJA and primary data (surveys and interviews) to answer the following research questions. What types and combinations of interventions were proposed under STOP grants? To what extent did grantees complete the interventions as planned during the grant? If applicable, to what extent are these or related interventions still in place now? (If not, why not?) What types of grants, districts, and circumstances were associated with high levels of reported intervention implementation? What key implementation challenges, facilitators, and lessons learned were identified?

The outcome study will use data from the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection and data that some states make available online to answer the following research questions. How did school violence, exclusionary discipline, and disciplinary disparities change in STOP grant districts compared with similar non-STOP grant districts? In supplemental analysis, did certain types of STOP grantees (e.g., type of intervention; implementation level) show better relative changes than other STOP grantees?

The study will include a multipronged dissemination campaign to communicate the results to a wide range of audiences to showcase promising practices for improving school safety and equity. Dissemination will include an interactive data dashboard, products for school safety practitioners and administrators, a webinar and RTI podcasts, and publications and conference presentations for practitioners and researchers.  

This single evaluation will produce knowledge exceeding that which can be gained through multiple studies of individual grants or interventions. Findings will provide the school safety community with information on the types of interventions that were successfully implemented in different types of districts, the challenges and barriers encountered, and the types of interventions that led to better outcomes. The study will inform BJA regarding which types of grants successfully implemented proposed interventions and what supports might be needed to bolster implementation. It will also help BJA understand how its STOP grant portfolio effected change in school safety and discipline outcomes.