University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee research team has partnered with the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) over the past six years to address problems of school violence and its prevention.

Milwaukee’s public schools serve students with diverse academic and behavioral needs, and school staff are becoming increasingly involved in technologically complex classroom efforts. Teachers and administrators are faced with many demands, including coordinating and carrying out efforts to reduce disciplinary issues and problems ranging from noncompliant behavior to more serious violent student behavior.

During the first five years as part of the Hamilton Fish Institute research partnership, UWM researchers conducted a needs assessment and implemented a program that focused on teacher support. The primary goal of the Classroom Organization and Management Program (COMP) was for teachers to improve overall instructional and behavioral management skills through planning, implementing and maintaining effective classroom practices. This program had positive results across several measures, including reduction and change in the nature of office referrals, as well as a significant change in victimization by common aggression among students. The research can serve to point the way to important elements in an overall comprehensive strategy for addressing violence prevention and problems of violence in Milwaukee Public Schools.

Having determined a need for students to develop an understanding of the causes and nature of violence and to learn strategies for its prevention, UWM researchers evaluated the effectiveness of the Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents during the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 school years.

The Violence Prevention Curriculum is being implemented at two target high schools to ninth grade students. A 10-segment curriculum is being provided to these students over an eight-week period during selected classes. These students will be tracked and evaluated over a two-year period.

In addition, information developed during the evaluation will be used to identify students at the target high school with chronic disciplinary problems and to determine whether referral to counseling services is warranted. Students referred to counseling will be tracked and distinguished during analysis. Researchers will also evaluate and examine the schools' security plans, spatial arrangement, physical design features and operation of security personnel.

Project Management

Co-Principal Investigator
Rick Lovell, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator
Carl Pope, Ph.D.

Project Manager
Ellen Lafouge