- School Climate, School Discipline, and the Implementation of School Resource Officers
- Understanding the Adoption, Function, and Consequences of School Resource Officer Use in Understudied Settings
- The Effectiveness of School Resource Officers in Tennessee High Schools
School Climate, Student Discipline, and the Implementation of School Resource Officers
Funder: National Institute of Justice
Funding amount: $370,307 (ended 12.31.2019)
Role: Principal Investigator
This project examined the relationship between implementing school resource officers and changes in (a) perceptions of school climate, and (b) school suspension rates in a single large school district. Using over ten waves of annually collected data, this project used a difference-in-differences framework to compare changes in schools that implemented school resource officers (SROs) to changes in schools that did not. It also included interviews with 26 school resource officers who discussed their roles and responsibilities, training, job priorities, and related issues.
topUnderstanding the Adoption, Function, and Consequences of School Resource Officer Use in Understudied Settings
Funder: National Institute of Justice
Funding amount: $620,620 (ended 12.31.2019)
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
In partnership with two school districts and one law enforcement agency within a single county, this project examined the process by which school resource officers were implemented in the county, what the officers do in schools, and how they affect students and schools. This study used a mixed methods approach to collect and analyze data from students, teachers, school administrators, parents, school resource officers, school district-level personnel, and law enforcement administrators.
topThe Effectiveness of School Resource Officers in Tennessee High Schools
Funder: National Institute of Justice
Funding amount: $32,000 (ended 5.31.2016)
Role: Principal Investigator
This study, constituting part of my dissertation, examined the relationship between implementing school resource officers in Tennessee high schools and school suspension rates, including overall, white, and Black suspension rates as well as within-school Black-white racial disparities. Using a series of multiple group latent class growth models within a comparative interrupted time series design, it sought to add methodological rigor to a rapidly growing and policy-relevant field.
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Ben Fisher 