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Violence
in Schools: Identification, Prevention & Intervention
Strategies Instructor Name: Dr.
Michael Sedler Phone: 509-891-7219 Office
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
PST Monday - Friday Email: michaels@virtualeduc.com Address: Virtual Education
Software 16201
E Indiana Ave, Suite 1450 Spokane, WA
99216 Technical
Support: support@virtualeduc.com Introduction Welcome
to Violence in Schools, an
interactive computer-based instruction course, designed to give you a better
understanding of school violence and increase your interventions
strategies. Violence in Schools
provides a foundational understanding of violence and the motivational
purposes behind aggression. The
correlation with and impact of the media, community and family upon violence
will be investigated. The course
teaches identification and intervention approaches for working with
out-of-control behaviors. In addition,
each student will receive information on available national resources for
both parents and teachers. This course
will help each person to increase his or her understanding of violence, the
motivations behind the use of violence and specific strategies to minimize
the occurrence of violence in a school and community. This computer-based instruction course
is a self-supporting program that provides instruction, structured practice,
and evaluation all on your home or school computer. Technical support information can be found,
in the Help section of your course. Online
or CD-Rom Course Materials Title: Violence
in Schools: Identification, Prevention & Intervention Strategies Instructor:
Dr. Michael Sedler Publisher:
Virtual Education Software, inc.
2000, Revised 2004, Revised 2010 Required Textbook Thomas, R. M. (2009). Violence in America’s Schools: Understanding, Prevention, and
Responses. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Academic Integrity Statement
The
structure and format of most distance-learning courses presume a high level
of personal and academic integrity in completion and submission of coursework. Individuals enrolled in a distance-learning
course are expected to adhere to the following standards of academic conduct.
Academic
Work Academic work submitted by the
individual (such as papers, assignments, reports, tests) shall be the
student’s own work or appropriately attributed, in part or in whole, to its
correct source. Submission of commercially
prepared (or group prepared) materials as if they are one’s own work is
unacceptable. Aiding
Honesty in Others The individual will encourage honesty in
others by refraining from providing materials or information to another
person with knowledge that these materials or information will be used
improperly. Violations of these academic
standards will result in the assignment of a failing grade and subsequent
loss of credit for the course. Level of
Application This
course is designed to be an informational course with application to work and
work-related settings. The
intervention strategies presented in this course may be generalized to all
students (pre-kindergarten through 12th grade) and adults. While an intervention may be geared toward
a specific age population, with minimal modifications an educator should be
able to adapt the strategy for his or her students. Course
Objectives
·
To identify factors contributing to violent behaviors ·
To develop strategies to address school/community violence ·
To effectively intervene, provide safety and minimize violent actions ·
To develop a “school violence” assessment with specific intervention
strategies ·
To assess the climate of the classroom and school, making the
necessary adjustments to increase safety ·
To address preventative methods within the school system for students ·
To write out an action plan for school safety ·
To complete a formal written evaluation of the school’s violence plan
after implementation Course Description Anger management strategies have
become an important topic in schools, businesses, homes and communities. Our society is inundated with classes,
books and counseling programs that explain various ways to “manage anger.” Despite our best attempts, aggression and
violence are still on the rise. We
regularly hear and read from various media sources how dangerous our society
has become, especially our youth population.
This class will focus on developing new ways of handling violence
without getting involved in the typical power struggles. During this course, each person will learn
specific strategies and practical ideas to aid in the reduction of school
violence. Key intervention ideas for
developing a civil climate within each school will be presented, and
identification and recognition of potential violence will be discussed. Included in this approach will be an
emphasis on safety for students and educators. This course is not attempting to be a “cure
all” or “fix it” approach, but will aid educators in their ability to develop
a safer environment in a school and community. In addition, it will help each person feel
more qualified and capable of handling emerging violent behaviors within a
school, home or community setting. The
course is divided into four chapters.
The intent of this course is to help each student “walk” through the
process of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation in the arena
of violence. There are numerous
worksheets that all students will be asked to complete for their own
knowledge base. Throughout the course,
role-play situations will be presented to help each person recognize violent
tendencies prior to their development into violent behaviors. The chapters are sequential and should be
completed in the order in which they are presented. At the conclusion of each chapter, the
student will be asked to complete an examination covering the material. This type of approach will help all
students gain a better understanding of what they have learned as they
proceed through the course. Student
Expectations
As a student you will be expected to: ·
Complete all assignments and
activities for the course Violence in Schools. ·
Complete the chapter exam on Assessment
with 70% accuracy or better. ·
Complete the chapter exam on Planning
with 70% accuracy or better. ·
Complete the chapter exam on Implementation
with 70% accuracy or better. ·
Complete the chapter exam on Evaluation
with 70% accuracy or better. ·
Complete all course journal
article and essay writing assignments with the minimum word count shown for
each writing assignment. ·
Complete a final case study
paper. ·
Complete textbook reading
assignment and subsequent exam. ·
Complete a course evaluation
form at the end of the course. Chapter 1: Assessment 1. Introduction 2. Statistics 3. Types 4. Why Escalating Violence,
Part I 5. Why Escalating Violence,
Part II 6. Media 7. Reasons 8. Characteristics 9. Warning Signs 10. Self-Awareness Activity 11. Learned vs. Instinctive 12. Gang Assessment Tools 13. Anger/Aggression Activity 14. Possible Motives Chapter 2: Planning 1. Behavior Response 2. How to Respond 3. Avoiding Power Struggles 4. Tips 5. Controlling Anxiety 6. Control and Direct
Activity Chapter 3: Implementation 1. Action Steps for Students 2. Action Steps for Teachers 3. Action Steps for Parents 4. Actions Steps for Schools
5. Patterns of Aggression 6. Preventing Behavior 7. Making Peace 8. Decision Making Activity 9. Confrontation
Communication 10. Changing Behavior 11. Prevention Strategies 12. Conflict Negotiation 13. Crisis Planning Guidelines 14. Possible Interventions 15. Anger: It Won’t Work Here Chapter 4: Evaluation 1. Case Study 2. Identifying the Threatened 3. Watch Your Language 4. Resources
Examinations
At the end of each chapter, you will
be expected to complete an examination designed to assess your knowledge. You
will also be required to complete an examination to evaluate your
comprehension of the required textbook reading assignment. You may take these exams a total of three
times. Your last score will save, not
the highest score. After your third
attempt, each examination will lock and not allow further access. The average from your chapter exam
scores and textbook exam score will be printed on your certificate. However, this is not your final grade since
your required writing assignments have not been reviewed. Exceptionally written or poorly written
required writing assignments, or violation of the academic integrity policy
in the course syllabus, will affect your grade. As
this is a self-paced computerized instruction program, you may review course
information as often as necessary. You will not be able to exit any
examinations until you have answered all questions. If you try to exit the
exam section before you complete all questions, your information will be
lost. You are expected to complete the entire exam in one sitting. Writing Assignments This course has three required writing components. To save your Critical THinking Questions
& journal article reviews: When you select the
question or article you wish to write on, simple text or text edit will automatically be launched.
When you are finished, simply click SAVE.
You must SAVE before you
write another essay or move on to another part of the course. 1) Essay Requirement: Critical Thinking Questions There is a Critical Thinking Question for each
chapter. You will do research on the question and write a brief essay
relating it to the course content (and your personal experiences when
possible). To view the questions,
click on REQUIRED ESSAY and choose the Critical Thinking Question that you
would like to complete; this will bring up a screen where you may enter your
essay. You must write a minimum of 500
words per essay. You must
SAVE before you write another essay or move on to another part of the course. 2) Essay
Requirement: Journal Articles This task requires you to
write a review of three journal articles of your choice on a topic related to
this course. You may choose your topic
by entering the Key Words (click on the Key Words button) into a search engine
of your choice (Google, Dogpile, Yahoo, etc.). Choose three relevant articles
and write a 200-word review of each. You may also access the ERIC system and
choose a related topic from a journal listed in that system. Or you can access www.scholar.google.com or
www.findarticles.com .Write a critical summary of the information given in
each article, explaining how the information relates to, supports, or refutes
information given in this course. Conclude your paper with your thoughts and
impressions. (200 words per journal article minimum, 400 words maximum.) Be
sure to provide the journal name, volume, date, and any other critical
information to allow the instructor to access and review that article. To write your essays,
click on REQUIRED ESSAY and choose the Journal Article that you would like to
complete; this will bring up a screen where you can write your review. When
you are ready to stop, click SAVE. You may go back at any point to edit your
essays. For more information on the
features of this assignment, please consult the HELP menu. You must
SAVE before you write another essay or move on to another part of the course. 3) Essay
Requirement: Final Case Study Paper - this assignment is completed outside of
the course program and should be
emailed to: grades@virtualeduc.com You are required to complete a final case study paper. Please refer to the course addendum, which
will provide you with the specific requirements for this final case study
paper. Textbook Reading Assignment & Exam This course has one textbook
reading assignment and subsequent exam that you will be required to complete. You are required to read
one textbook (please refer to course addendum for title and author of the
book you are required to read) and then you will take a 25-question examination
to assess your comprehension of the material covered in the book. You may take
this exam a total of three times. Your
last score will save, not the highest score.
After your third attempt, each examination will lock and not allow
further access. To take the exam for this textbook reading
assignment, click on EXAMS and then on TEXTBOOK EXAM. You must score a minimum of 70% on this
exam to pass this course. Instructor
Description Dr.
Michael Sedler
has presented seminars and classes throughout the Pacific Northwest and Contacting the Instructor You
may contact the instructor by emailing Dr. Sedler at michaels@virtualeduc.com
or by calling him at 509-891-7219, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00
p.m. PST. Phone messages will be answered within 24 hours. Phone conferences will be limited to ten minutes per student,
per day, given that this is a self-paced instructional program. Please do not
contact the instructor about technical problems, course glitches, or other
issues that involve the operation of the course. Technical Questions
If you have questions or problems
related to the operation of this course, please try everything twice. If the
problem persists please check our support pages for FAQs and known issues at
www.virtualeduc.com and also the Help section of your course. If you need personal assistance then
email support@virtualeduc.com or
call (509) 891-7219. When contacting
technical support, please know your course version number (it is located at
the bottom left side of the Welcome Screen) and your operating system, and be
seated in front of the computer at the time of your call. Minimum
Computer Requirements Please
refer to VESi’s website: www.virtualeduc.com
or contact VESi if you have further questions about the compatibility of your
operating system. Refer to the addendum regarding Grading Criteria, Course
Completion Information, Items to be Submitted, and how to submit your
completed information. Bibliography
(Suggested Readings) Burstyn,
Joan, Bender, Geoff, Casella, Ronnie, Gordon, Howard W., Guerra, Domingo,
Luschen, Kristen, et al. (2001). Preventing
violence in schools. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. In-depth look at school violence programs.
(grades K-12) www.routledge.com Conoley, Jane, & Goldstein, Arnold. (2004). School violence intervention. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Analysis of school violence and proactive interventions. (grades K-12) www.guilford.com 800-365-7006. Cornell,
Dewey. (2006). School violence: Fears
vs. facts. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Case studies used to illustrate assessment
and interventions. (grades K-12) www.routledge.com Dorn,
Mike, Thomas, Gregory, Wong, Marleen, & Shepherd, Sonayia. (2004). Jane’s safe school planning guide for all
hazards. Jane’s Information
Group. A general planning guide to
various problems, disasters, and school concerns. (grades K-12; adult) www.janes.com Fishbaugh,
Mary Susan, Berkeley, Terry T., & Schroth, Gwen. (Eds.). (2002). Ensuring safe school environments.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Research findings and information on school violence. (grades
K-12) www.routledge.com Garbarino,
James, & Delara, Ellen. (2003). And
words can hurt forever: How to protect adolescents from bullying,
harassment, and violence. Free Press. (grades 7-12) www.freepress.net
877-888-1533. Gerler,
Edwin. (2004). Handbook of school violence. New York, NY: Haworth Press. General presentation of interventions and
strategies. (grades K-12) www.haworthpress.com 800-429-6784. Jones,
T. (2001). Effective responses to
school violence. C.C. Thomas
Publishing. Discusses security issues and needs in schools. (grades
5-12) www.ccthomas.com 800-258-8980. Langman,
Peter. (2009). Why kids kill. New
York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Case studies of ten school shooters and what
created the shooting scenarios, along with intervention ideas. (grades 7-12) www.palgrave-usa.com (888) 330-8477. Lassiter,
William, & Perry, Danya. (2009). Preventing
violence and crimes in America’s schools. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger
Publishers. A clear approach to what
works and what doesn’t in preventing violence. (grades K-12) www.praeger.com 800-225-5800. Lieberman,
Joseph. School shootings. (2008).
New York, NY: Kensington Publishing. Studies the life of Kip Kinkel and
offers insights into prevention and intervention. (grades 7-12). www.kensingtonbooks.com (800) 221-2647 Prothrow-Stith, Deborah, Oliver, Jon, & Chery, Joseph. (2005). Peacezone Curriculum Series. Champaign, IL: Research Press. Program for teaching social relationships. (grades K-8) www.researchpress.com (800) 519-2707. Sexton-Radek,
Kathy. (2004). Violence in schools.
Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Academic explanation of the history and treatment of violence in
schools. (grades K-12) www.praeger.com 800- 225-5800 Simmons,
Rachel. (2005). Odd girl out: The
hidden culture of aggression in girls. New York, NY: Harcourt Books. Understanding the culture of aggression in
girls. (grades 7-12) www.harcourtbooks.com 800-543-1918. Thomas,
R. Murray. (2008). Violence in
America’s schools. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Discusses escalation in violence,
motivation, and interventions. (grades 7-12)
800- 225-5800 www.rowmanlittlefield.com (800) 462-6420. Course content
is updated every three years. Due to this update timeline, some URL links may
no longer be active or may have changed. Please type the title of the
organization into the command line of any Internet browser search window and
you will be able to find whether the URL link is still active or any new link
to the corresponding organization's web home page. Updated 9/15/11 JN |
