VEDA BROWN ConsultantTeachers in U.S. schools report high rates of victimization, yet previous studies focus on select types of victimization and student perpetrators, which may underestimate the extent of the problem. This national study was based on work conducted by the American Psychological Association Classroom Violence Directed Against Teachers Task Force and is one of the few national studies to examine violence directed at teachers. Participants included 2,998 kindergarten through 12 th -grade (K-12) teachers from 48 states who completed an anonymous web-based survey assessing their experiences with victimization. Results revealed that 80% of teachers reported at least one victimization, and of these teachers, 94% reported being victimized by students. Nearly three-fourths of all teachers experienced at least one harassment offense, more than half experienced property offenses, and 44% reported physical attacks. Findings suggest that specific teacher and community characteristics are associated with a higher likelihood of victimization, namely, male gender and urban settings; whereas, African American teachers were less likely to report victimization. Implications for teacher training, school interventions, public policy, and future research are discussed. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.School violence has emerged as a significant public health crisis warranting immediate attention. Nationally, 11% of high school students report being in a fight, 8% report being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, and 6% report carrying a weapon on school property in the past This study was based on the

Objective: Violence directed against teachers is a public health issue that warrants attention in research and practice. There is a growing literature on teacher-directed violence that has examined the prevalence of these incidents, yet there is considerable variation across studies. There is a need for a systematic and comprehensive review to assess the extent of the problem. Method: In the current study, we identified 5,337 articles through our initial screening process, and our final analysis included 24 studies that met criteria for this meta-analysis. We examined prevalence of violence perpetrated against teachers by students and how these rates varied by reporting time frame, reporter, and type of violence. Results: The prevalence of any type of teacher-reported violence victimization within ≤2 years ranged from 20% to 75% with a pooled prevalence of 53%. The prevalence according to a career time frame was lower, ranging from 32% to 40% with a pooled prevalence of 37.79%. Results also show variation in prevalence according to victimization type (e.g., physical attacks or theft of personal property), with lower prevalence rates for more intrusive types of victimization. Conclusions: This study represents the first meta-analysis investigating the prevalence of student violence directed against teachers. Findings provide evidence of the high rate of violence directed toward teachers, especially when accounting for both physical and nonphysical forms of violence. Teacher victimization appears to be an international problem, suggesting that the discourse by policymakers and practitioners should be framed within an international context while also considering local nuances.

We use longitudinal multilevel modeling to test how exposure to community violence and cognitive and behavioral factors contribute to the development of aggressive and prosocial behaviors. Specifically, we examine predictors of self-, peer-, and teacher-reported aggressive and prosocial behavior among 266 urban, African American early adolescents. We examine lagged, within-person, between-person, and protective effects across 2 years. In general, results suggest that higher levels of violence exposure and aggressive beliefs are associated with more aggressive and less prosocial peer-reported behavior, whereas greater self-efficacy to resolve conflict peacefully is associated with less aggression across reporters and more teacher-reported prosocial behavior. Greater knowledge and violence prevention skills are associated with fewer aggressive and more prosocial teacher-reported behaviors. Results also suggest that greater self-efficacy and lower impulsivity have protective effects for youth reporting higher levels of exposure to community violence, in terms of teacher-reported aggressive behavior and peer-reported prosocial behavior. Differences among reporters and models are discussed, as well as implications for intervention.

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