PRC Intervention Process Programs needed to prevent violence before it begins Pupil Resources
In accordance with the district’s emphasis on violence prevention, each school’s site based planning committee should incorporate positive strategies for teaching and reinforcing prosocial behavior.
The following resources are available for schools in Newark Public Schools to utilize and make a positive contribution to achieving the goal of safe schools.
THE PUPIL RESOURCE COMMITTEE INTERVENTION PROCESS
The Pupil Resource Committee (PRC) is a school-based, problem solving group whose purpose is to assist teachers with strategies for working with students with learning and/or behavior problems. The PRC seeks creative ways to increase the use of available education resources. Members of the PRC function collaboratively, capitalizing on the strengths of each individual to enhance the total skills of the team.
PRCs should be developed in order to assist pupils who have difficulty achieving success in their education. Educators must accept responsibility for and work together in meeting the needs of these students for the most effective results to be achieved.
All schools can benefit from school-based decision making. PRCs serve as a vehicle to develop or design instructional programs through collaborative problem solving. They also can enhance existing methods of operation within the school to assist students with learning and/or behavior problems.
In particular, assistance by an PRC is valuable because it:
Provides an efficient and effective means of assisting classroom teachers and students.
Provides peer support to teachers.
Provides a vehicle for the faculty to share their expertise in working with a variety of learning and behavioral problems.
Offers structured support and assistance to teachers by providing instructional strategies to promote pupil competence.
Provides teachers with opportunities to develop new skills that can become a permanent part of their repertoire. This may help them address pupil learning problems that will arise in the future.
Enables the school’s instructional program to meet a broader range of pupil needs.
Provides appropriate services to pupils with learning and behavioral problems who require Child Study Team (CST) intervention.
Provides an efficient, flexible, and cost effective problem solving alternative to special education referral within the regular education framework.
PRCs are based upon the following assumptions:
Regular classroom teachers have valuable skills and knowledge to assist students experiencing academic difficulties.
It is more effective to work together than alone.
Teachers benefit from a better understanding of learning problems and become more discriminating in their referrals to CSTs.
A large number of students experience educational problems which do not require special education.
When teachers are given a support system, they can multiply their effectiveness.
PROGRAMS NEED TO PREVENT VIOLENCE BEFORE IT OCCURS
· Students need to learn the skills necessary to manage their behavior and resolve conflicts nonviolently. (i.e. conflict resolution, peer mediation, peer mentoring, social skills training (self control, stress-management, problem-solving, decision making, and communication skills), gang aversion, mentoring, and law related education). Students who lack skills in such areas as communication, negotiation and problem solving have a limited range of alternatives with which to solve interpersonal problems. They do not have the skills, or have not considered resolving conflicts without fighting. Students need structured and formalized training in these skills.
· Modify the students’ social environment which might reinforce violence (i.e. interventions with parents, such as providing them with parenting skills workshops, after school recreation and academic programs). Many times, we as educators must teach the social skills they should learn at home.
· Modify the students’ physical environment - (i.e. metal detectors, more and/or better trained security guards).
· Establish and enforce consistent school discipline polices and procedures that pertain to student behavior.
· Create alternative programs and alternative schools.
· Develop strong and cooperative relationships with outside agencies (i.e. police, mental health, hospitals and universities).
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Conflict resolution programs can supplement existing disciplinary approaches and often serve to prevent negative behaviors that disrupt the school setting in the first place. American culture in general as well as our urban subculture contain many influences that communicate approval or acceptance of coercive and violent responses to conflict. Conflict resolution programs seek to counteract this cultural conditioning by making us all aware of our assumptions about the nature of conflict and conflict resolution, by promoting empathy for those different from ourselves, by teaching both verbal and nonverbal communication skills, by identifying and coping with feelings such as anger and fear, and by practicing nonviolent problem-solving skills such as negotiating, mediating, and group problem-solving.
MEDIATION
Mediation is a process of resolving disputes and conflicts with the help of a neutral third-party, a mediator, who facilitates the process. Mediation allows disputing parties to bring their problem to the mediation table in order to work out their differences cooperatively. Mediation is non-judgmental. The goal is not to determine guilt or innocence, but rather to work out differences constructively. Thus, peer mediators do not pose a threat to other students because they do not represent authority.
Student mediation programs exist in many schools around the country, including some schools in Newark. Starting from grade three, students can be trained as mediators, and they can mediate disputes with students in younger grades, too. A student mediation program sends an important message to students: “In our school we can talk over our differences. We don't have to fight to get justice. Mediation allows us to attack the problem and not the person.” It also teaches students practical communications and problem-solving skills that make the program work.
There are several models for school - based mediation programs. Schools should select the model which is most appropriate to their needs. Indeed, schools sometimes start with one model and modify it over time as their needs and resources change. Whatever the model, the mediation session must be conducted in an area that is relatively quiet to insure confidentiality.
VIOLENCE PREVENTION
1. A comprehensive approach - violence is a complex problem, frequently with many causes. Therefore, programs must address more than one problem area and involve a variety of services.
2. An early start and long term commitment (i.e. teaching students early about making positive choices).
3. Strong leadership and disciplinary policies - disciplinary policies must be clear and consistently applied.
4. Staff development at all levels, not only to handle disruptive students and mediate conflicts, but to incorporate prevention strategies into school activities and curriculum.
5. Parental involvement - parenting skills workshops, training on violence - prevention skills, using parents as volunteers.
6.
Interagency partnerships and community linkages (i.e. linking school
based programs to community groups, such as law enforcement or service agencies)
- given the multiple causes of violence, it must be approached from many sides
so that school personnel, local businesses, law enforcement officers, social
service agencies, and private groups must work cooperatively and collaborate.
7. A culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate approach - students; racial and ethnic values and their developmental levels must be considered in programs and activities.
Human Resources -
Interventions must be designed to assist students in understanding their behavior by analyzing problems, generating alternatives and choosing solutions. Specific personnel will employ various strategies as deemed appropriate for students’ needs.
1. Pupil Personnel Services Staff - via Individual or Group Intervention
· Guidance Counselor
· Learning Consultant
· Psychologist
· Social Worker
· School Nurse
· Substance Abuse Coordinator (SAC)
· School Management Improvement Team
· Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
· Pupil Resource Committee (PRC)
· Committee
2. Curricula
Strategies which may be employed by classroom teachers to promote a positive school climate and to heighten students’ awareness of a variety of acceptable behavioral management options:
· Conflict resolution
· Violence prevention
· Social skills training
3. Extra-Curricula Activities
School based programs and activities which students can access to enhance their educational, personal, and social development.
· Assemblies
· Athletics
· Community Service Clubs
· Diversity Clubs
· Environmental Clubs
· Field trips
· Peer Leadership Groups
· Peer Mediation Groups
· Peer Mentoring Groups
· Recreation Programs
· Reserved Officers Training Corp.
· Special Theme - Based Days
· Student Government
· Tutorial Services
· Violence Prevention Programs
· Others
4. Community Based Organizations/Activities
Programs and activities based outside of the school that students can access to enhance their educational, personal and social development.
· After School
· Mentoring
· Pre-College Programs
· Recreation Programs
· Tutorial Services
· University/College