Teachers and staff in the Grandview School District are being trained to do more than locking down and waiting for police in the event of an Active Shooter Incident. They are being trained to take a more active role, especially in the critical first few seconds.
Missouri state law requires active shooter training in all of it public and charter schools.
Analysis
The training above is a good thing, provided it meets some common-sense criteria. Staying Alive involves taking a thoughtful, rational approach to planning and training.
1. Is the content of the training based on valid research?
Too often schools participate in training, especially Active Shooter training, using information that has not been researched, nor has been proven effective in the field. uch programs have already been implemented in parts of the U.S., causing huge workman's compensation claims as staff members are getting injured during the training.
2. Are the instructors of the training certified as instructors?
Often, due to budget constraints, schools will hire a law enforcement officer to conduct Active Shooter training. While the officer may have the best of intentions for the school, is the officer certified, at a minimum, as a law enforcement instructor?
3. Are you being presented to, or are you being instructed?
A presentation is when information is given to a passive audience. It will often involve numerous media slides and videos that show the concepts that the presenter wants to share. A question/answer session at the end of the presentation does little to change the passivity of the audience.
Instruction takes place when a proper teacher/student relationship has been established. Has the instructor broken down skills to be learned into sub-skills? Does the instructor follow a logical progression of sub-skills to skills? Does the instructor utilize the appropriate learning methods for his/her audience? Is the student held accountable for retention of the knowledge learned?
4. Does the training create capacity, or will frequent "retraining" be required?
Schools will often hire consultants to conduct Active Shooter training. Are these consultants working with the schools to make future use of consultants for that particular skill unnecessary, or are they working with the schools to create the capacity of the school to sustain the skills learned? Sometimes consultants will "certify" school personnel, but will then state the personnel have to "re-certify" after a certain time period, necessitating the consultant return to provide the "re-certification".
Schools that do not take these factors into account may find themselves liable while implementing the concepts they learned, and finding out they don't work, or don't work well. They need to do their due diligence, and take a thoughtful, considerate approach before implementing new training that will fundamentally alter the way they respond to a particular crisis.
Proper training will survive the scrutiny.
