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<\/a>I am always skeptical when people use statistics.\u00a0 Even accurate numbers can be used in misleading ways.\u00a0 Sometimes it’s just out of ignorance that numbers are misunderstood, but other times the statistics themselves\u00a0have been deliberately\u00a0skewed.<\/p>\nHow many times per year does a gun go off in an American school?<\/p>\n
We should know. But we don’t.<\/p>\n
This spring the U.S. Education Department reported that in the 2015-2016 school year, “nearly 240 schools … reported at least 1 incident involving a school-related shooting.” The number is far higher than most other estimates.<\/p>\n
But NPR reached out to every one of those schools repeatedly over the course of three months and found that more than two-thirds of these reported incidents never happened.\u00a0Child Trends, a nonpartisan nonprofit research organization<\/a>, assisted NPR in analyzing data from the government’s Civil Rights Data Collection.<\/p>\n
We were able to confirm just 11 reported incidents, either directly with schools or through media reports.<\/p>\n
In 161 cases, schools or districts attested that no incident took place or couldn’t confirm one. In at least four cases, we found, something did happen, but it didn’t meet the government’s parameters for a shooting. About a quarter of schools didn’t respond to our inquiries.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
25% of the schools that reported an incident did not respond?<\/p>\n
The Education Department, asked for comment on our reporting, noted that it relies on school districts to provide accurate information in the survey responses and says it will update some of these data later this fall. But, officials added, the department has no plans to republish\u00a0the existing publication<\/a>.<\/p>\n
This confusion comes at a time when the need for clear data on school violence has never been more pressing. Students around the country are heading back to school this month under a cloud of fear stemming from the most recent mass shootings in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas.<\/p>\n
At least\u00a053 new school safety laws<\/a>\u00a0were passed in states in 2018. Districts are spending millions of dollars to “harden” schools with new security measures and equipment. A blue-ribbon\u00a0federal school safety commission<\/a>\u00a0led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is holding public events around the country, including one\u00a0in Alabama\u00a0<\/a>Tuesday. Children are spending class time on\u00a0active-shooter drills\u00a0<\/a>and their parents are buying bulletproof backpacks.<\/p>\n
Our reporting highlights just how difficult it can be to track school-related shootings and how researchers, educators and policymakers are hindered by a\u00a0lack of data<\/a>\u00a0on gun violence.<\/p>\n
“I think someone pushed the wrong button”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Really?\u00a0 They pushed the wrong button?\u00a0 \u00a0I will betcha there is funding available if the number of\u00a0 “Gun incidents” reaches some target goal.<\/p>\n
Unacceptable burden<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights received complaints about the wording and administration of this survey even before it went out.<\/p>\n
A June\u00a02014 research report<\/a>\u00a0commissioned to improve the CRDC as a whole noted that in previous data collections, districts had experienced “unacceptable levels of reporting burden.” They complained that the CRDC asks them to report information that is similar to what states already collect, but in a different format, or at a level of specificity that they don’t currently track.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It is a very interesting article to read and NPR did an exceptionally good job with it.\u00a0 \u00a0If you find the time, read the whole article HERE.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"