School Safety Training - Criterion-based?

There are numerous companies and numerous school safety programs out there, especially in the area of Active Shooter Intervention.  The last couple of blogs have been taking a look at various elements in school safety training, research and continuity of training.  Now let's look at criterion-referenced training.

Many quality training programs lack a component that is prevalent throughout education; the use of Goals, Objectives and Assessment.  One educational model that incorporates these elements is Criterion-Referenced Instruction (CRI).  This model was developed by Dr. Robert F. Mager (More research!), and is used by many professional educators to develop their lesson plans, and their curriculum.  To be sure, there are other models in use, but they do have common elements; What overall goal is being attempted? What are the standards to be assessed?  How will the assessment be conducted?

Having sat through quite a few different training programs and classes for school safety, the only ones I know that has followed these educational guidelines is FEMA.  To be able to get a certificate from the Emergency Management Institute, you have to complete the modules (goals and standards) and then successfully pass a final exam (assessed to a criterion).

Let's take a look at how an Active Shooter response lesson might look using this criterion.

There are numerous goals to set when considering how to respond to an Active Shooter Incident in your building.  I teach the use of the Window of Life to help people assess their actions during the critical opening seconds of any crisis.  The steps are: Protect yourself; protect others; protect your facility; notify public safety.  Since this addresses those critical first moments, let's establish a goal for its use.

Mager established a method to analyze goals.
1. Write down the goal in brief phrases or single words.
2. Write down the performance that, if achieved, would provide confirmation that the goal was achieved.
3. Delete any duplications or unwanted items. If there are items in 1 and 2 that are too abstract (fuzzy), rewrite to make more specific.
4. Write a complete statement for each desired behavior or performance. Describe the nature, quality, or amount considered acceptable.
5. Test the statements against the original goals in no. 1. If a student demonstrated the stated performances, would you be willing to say that he has achieved the goal? when the answer is yes, the analysis is complete.

When writing goals, use concrete language to describe measurable behaviors.  Some terms to use include: To write, to recite, to identify, to differentiate, to solve, to construct, to list, to compare, to contrast, to demonstrate.

Using all this, let's establish a goal.
1. Use the proper action steps during the first 30 seconds.
2. Staff and students are secured, and prepared for further action.
3. N/A
4. Upon recognition of an Active Shooter Incident, the student will take proper action steps, in 100% compliance with the Window of Life.
5. N/A

Using this, we go from an orientation, which is the common approach of a lot of school safety training, to describing discrete, measurable skills that can let the instructor know that their students understand what they have taught.

In today's world of liability issue, this can be huge.  An instructor who can document that his/her students met a criterion will be in much better shape than an instructor who says, "They attended my class."  This can be especially true of "Train the Trainer" certification.  The question now is, if you are a 'certified' instructor, what does that mean?  To an educator, that means that an instructor has demonstrated mastery of the skills for which they are instructing.

If the overall goal is to instruct educators on how to save lives, then shouldn't we find out if they can after they've been instructed?

Next: Who's Being Trained?

School Shooting "Response " Options, Part II

Responding to School Active Shooter Incidents (ASI's)

In yesterday's blog, several issues with the ALICE approach were identified.  There are hidden financial costs due to Workman's Comp claims that, nation-wide, likely run into the millions.  Some schools that have replaced their emergency plans with ALICE.  The presentation approach used by ALICE is not true, criterion-based training, meaning that no effort is made to determine how well attendees have learned the material.  ALICE proposes that school personnel, and in certain circumstances students, engage in Close-Quarter Combat (CQC), which the Marine Corps defines as "physical confrontation between two or more combatants."

In thousands of assessments across the country, Safe Havens International personnel have found that school staff, some of whom have received ALICE and other 'proactive response' training, are responding improperly when faced with gun situations that are not ASI's.

There are possible serious liability issues with the implementation of ALICE, especially in its current state.  In a recent article of a school board in California advocating this approach, a member of the administrative staff said, "It also means a bad call could put lives at risk, but Lilga said that should not affect staff decisions. She said they are covered by Good Samaritan laws, which prevents people from being liable for civil damages if they act in good faith to help in emergency situations." 

This statement may not likely survive court scrutiny.  If a school trains an employee and the employee then makes a bad decision, even in good faith, then liability may still be conferred upon the school, if not the employee.

Analysis

The question then becomes, if ALICE and other 'proactive response' options are of concern, what are the alternatives?

1.  Use the All Hazards Approach, in which a school conducts regular risk and threat assessments, mitigates and prepares for identified risks/threats, coordinates their activities with local first responders, uses the National Incident Management System and the Incident Command System to respond and recover from any incident.  Under this approach, preparedness for an ASI would be one protocol among many in a school's emergency plan.

2. Use The Window of Life, a process for approaching the first 30 seconds of an incident, the critical time in which a situation can be won or lost by the decisions made.  Safe Havens International has a short, free video on The Window of Life.  A free, downloadable poster can also be found on Safe Haven's website.  The process is easy to remember; Take care of yourself, take care of others, protect your space and contact public safety.

3. Use a concept called "Permission to Live".  A well-trained, empowered employee can see beyond a written emergency protocol, and will know when it is appropriate to act outside of a protocol.  For example, during an ASI the protocol may call for a lockdown, but the employee may see an opportunity to safely evacuate his/her students.  He or she should not necessarily be constrained by the protocol, but guided by them.  The key is empowering the employee and giving them the means to be able to think tactically during high-stress moments.

Under ALICE, staff are given presentations on what to do during an incident, and are essentially instructed to "engage".  Even after being told to do so only as a last resort, what the participant remembers is "engage".  No attempt is made to assess the participant's retention of the material, so once the presentation is over, the schools are left to their own devices. 

What the school should do is to provide a protocol to guide actions, based upon a teacher's own comfort level, knowledge and background.  A teacher who is attempting to evacuate a class under fire when the teacher is ill-prepared to do so, or has not been trained to do so would most likely end up with tragic results, thus that particular teacher would follow the lockdown protocol.

We should be asking if schools should be ordering teachers to engage in CQC, even as a last resort.  There are those who have the personal inclination, background, and even training to engage in CQC.  But what of those school staff who do not have the personal inclination or background, even after they have received training?

It is imperative that schools take the time to consider these points before sending themselves down a path that may lead to tragedy.

Teacher makes bomb threat

Safe Havens International

May 1, 2014

Michelle Smith, a teacher at Calhoun County High School in Jerseyville, IL, was arrested after a typed note was found in the school restroom.  The note threatened an explosion.  The school was evacuated, but no explosive device was found.

This is a good time to review your own bomb threat protocols.  Spring is often a time for students to make false bomb threats to get a break from class, and get some outdoor time.

Always take bomb threats seriously!  Take life-saving steps as found in the Window of Life, and call 911.