The Positive School Safety Program (PSSP) for School Officers: Implementation Processes and Outcomes

Approximately 50% of U.S. students attend a school with a school officer. The Positive School Safety Program (PSSP) is a 16-session, manualized peer-to-peer coaching program that teaches school officers positive approaches to behavioral management (e.g., trauma-informed reinforcement strategies) to enhance interactions with students, improve school climate, and reduce school-based arrests. A convergent, mixed methods longitudinal design was used to investigate the implementation process and outcomes of the PSSP among school safety officer coaches in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) who were trained in the 2020-2021 school year. Via surveys, officer coaches (n = 25) provided quantitative data at three time points regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in utilizing positive approaches to behavioral management and trauma-informed skills, as well as their mindset toward coaching. These data were analyzed using mixed effects modeling. Perceptions of program acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility were assessed post-training and analyzed descriptively. Qualitative interviews, informed by the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) framework, were conducted with coaches and untrained school officers and were analyzed via thematic analysis. Significant changes over the course of training were detected in coaches' knowledge, confidence, and their willingness to use the skills, which aligned with coaches' qualitative self-reports. Coaches agreed that the PSSP was acceptable, appropriate, and feasible. School districts interested in improving school climate and reducing school-based arrests by using the PSSP, or similar peer-to-peer coaching programs, should consider how they will target identified determinants to support successful implementation in their unique contexts.