SUPPORTING STATEMENT: PART B
OMB# 0920-0604
“School-Associated Violent Deaths Surveillance System”
March 28, 2019
Point of Contact:
Elizabeth M. Gaylor, MPH
Behavioral Scientist
Contact Information:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
4770 Buford Highway NE MS F-64
Atlanta, GA 30341-3724
phone: 770-488-3917
fax: 404-929-0139
email: [email protected]
CONTENTS
Section Page
B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
B.1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods 3
B.2. Procedures for the Collection of Information 5
B.3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Nonresponse … 6
B.4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken…………………….. 6
B.5. Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals
Collecting and/or Analyzing Data……………………………………… 6
The data collection does not involve statistical methods. Therefore, the following section will describe the data collection procedures employed in this system. In the following, the terms “system” or “surveillance system” and “study” will be used interchangeably.
Sampling methods will not be used for this study. Instead, we aim to collect data on every school-associated violent death in the United States (expected 30-40 per year). While the study population includes the victims and offenders from all identified events in which there was a school-associated violent death in the United States, the respondent universe is limited to the law enforcement officials who are knowledgeable about these incidents, as the victims of such incidents are deceased.
Overview of the Data Collection System.
A school-associated violent death is defined as a homicide, suicide, or legal intervention in which the fatal injury occurred 1) on the campus of a functioning public or private elementary or secondary school in the United States, 2) while the victim was on the way to or from regular sessions at such a school, or 3) while the victim was attending or traveling to or from an official school-sponsored event. Cases will include deaths of students as well as non-students (e.g., faculty, school staff, family members, or community residents).
The system will draw cases from the entire United States in an attempt to capture all cases of school-associated violent deaths that have occurred. Cases will be primarily identified by CDC staff through a systematic search of a computerized newspaper and media database (i.e., Lexis-Nexis). Additional cases may also be identified (1) via active web searches using search engines such as Google and (2) through leads voluntarily disclosed by law enforcement officials. To confirm the facts of each event, a brief interview will then be conducted with at least one law-enforcement officer (i.e., a law enforcement officer, law enforcement chief, or district attorney) familiar with the event. For each identified case additional data will be obtained from law enforcement investigative reports (see Attachment E for a copy of the law enforcement participation letter used to request investigative reports These sources will provide detailed information regarding victims, alleged offenders, the school associated with each death, and the circumstances of the fatal injuries. Information from the law enforcement report will be abstracted by CDC staff and entered into the Law Enforcement Data Abstraction Tool (see Attachment D) and does not represent a burden to the public as defined by the Paper Reduction Act.
Items of Information to Be Collected.
IC involves Information in Identifiable Form (IIF). This information will be abstracted from law enforcement reports by CDC SAVD study investigators and includes:
Name (for victims)
Date of Birth (for victims and offenders)
Other:
Name of School (associated with event)
School Address
School Phone Number
School Fax Number
Name of School Principal
School District Name
School District Telephone Number
Principal’s Email Address
Name of Law Enforcement Contact
Law Enforcement Department Address
Department Phone Number for Law Enforcement Contact
Department Fax Number for Law Enforcement Contact
Law Enforcement Investigative Reports
Procedures for collecting information.
In the system, investigators will review public records and published press reports concerning each school-associated violent death.
Case Definitions. Investigators will identify all cases of school-associated violent death according to the following three-tiered case definition:
A school-associated violent death is any homicide, suicide, or firearm-related death in the United States, in which the fatal injury occurred:
Level 1. on the property of a functioning public or private elementary or secondary school;
Level 2. on the way to or from regular sessions at such a school; or,
Level 3. while attending or on the way to or from an official school- sponsored event.
Cases will be identified through a systematic search of an online newspaper and broadcast media database (LEXIS/NEXIS).
To obtain as much detailed information as possible concerning each identified case, investigators will seek to obtain information from the law enforcement investigative report to be obtained from law enforcement officers who investigated the case.
Investigators will rely on existing public records for a substantial portion of the data collection. Data will be abstracted from initial law enforcement reports by CDC study investigators using the Law Enforcement Data Abstraction Tool and will be entered into a study database. These law enforcement reports are public domain and will be requested for each case. The principal investigator and study staff will be responsible for abstracting data from these documents. As each case is identified, law enforcement officials with jurisdiction over the case will be contacted in writing and asked to provide a copy of the law enforcement report.
More detailed data will undoubtedly exist in law enforcement investigation files and school system records; however, direct access to these records will not be possible. Researchers will attempt to gain this detailed information by obtaining a copy of law enforcement report for each case.
Participation in the study will be voluntary. The investigators anticipate that in some cases, law enforcement officials will be unable or unwilling to provide a copy of the investigative report and/or any detailed information. In correspondence with law enforcement officials, CDC study investigators will indicate that the study is not part of an official criminal investigation and that they may decline to provide any information and/or the law enforcement report. .
Data from police reports will be abstracted by the principal investigator and study staff. Again, CDC study investigators will review each report and abstract the information to complete a questionnaire. Data will be entered into EpiInfo manually. All submitted responses will be exported to relevant databases (e.g., SPSS, SAS) for statistical analysis.
Quality Control/Assurance
Data from law enforcement investigative reports will be abstracted in a manner similar to that described above. Study staff will abstract the information to complete a questionnaire. The data will then be entered first, into a Microsoft access database, and then prepared for cross-validation. An inter-rater reliability figure will be determined. Discrepancies will be noted and resolved in a conference setting with the other members of the study group. All decisions that impact data entry and data coding will be documented and stored for future reference
Bias in Data Collection, Measurement, and Analysis. The proposed study is open to recall bias given the design and the time-period covered. School-associated violent deaths are particularly traumatic events, which may differentially affect the interpretation and subsequent recall of the characteristics surrounding these events for those involved. Similarly, the attention that these events receive in the press and the awareness this coverage generates may potentially lead to interviewer bias.
Most of the analysis will be restricted to simple descriptive statistics--frequencies and univariate analysis. Case-finding methods will be compared using capture-recapture calculations, which can also be used to estimate the proportion of cases not identified by a particular case-finding technique. To calculate a rate of school-associated violent death in the United States, the DOE will provide national enrollment data. In computing the rate, it may be necessary to restrict the numerator to those cases that concern the death of a student on school property during regularly scheduled hours of operation.
An important limitation of the proposed study is the possibility that cases not reported in the press may be overlooked, because both case-finding methods depend heavily on news reports. However, since most cases receive extensive, often nationwide, coverage, it is not likely that many cases of school-associated homicide or suicide would go entirely unreported. Because the data in this report are based on a small number of deaths, the risk estimates that are generated may be unstable. It will be important to emphasize that the risk estimates presented in the final analysis should not be interpreted as actual rates but as the best possible estimates based on the available data.
To maximize response rates, detailed letters to law enforcement and telephone scripts for contacting law enforcement have been developed (Attachments E and H). These letters describe the SAVD study goals and methods, along with the intended use of the data. These documents describe how the potential respondents’ knowledge about the cases in question would benefit both the CDC and public health. Study staff have also secured a CDC Assurance of Confidentiality to ensure the confidentiality of any information provided. Additionally, the Department of Education provides funds to CDC for two post-doctoral fellows to follow-up with law enforcement officials who did not respond on the first or second opportunity for dated cases to obtain investigative reports. Case management and tracking will be completed using the Microsoft Access software package. This package will allow for records management, tracking of law enforcement reports, and mail merging for correspondence with identified cases.
This surveillance system is currently in its 26th year of existence. The procedures for collecting data have been revised over time to increase efficiency. The current procedures have proven effective for obtaining data for the system.
Lisa Barrios, DrPH, Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. 770-488-6172, [email protected]
Nancy Brener, PhD, Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. 770-488-6184, [email protected]
William Modzeleski, MA, formerly of Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, U.S. Department of Education. 202-245-7831, [email protected]
Lloyd Potter, PhD, Department of Demography and Organization
Studies
The University of Texas at San Antonio, 210-458-5730,
[email protected]
Kenneth Powell, MD, MPH, Georgia State Department of Health. 404-657-2578, [email protected]
Jeffrey E. Hall, PhD, MSPH, Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Control and Prevention. 770-488-4648, [email protected]
Kristin M. Holland, PhD, MPH, Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Control and Prevention. 770-488-3954, [email protected]
REFERENCES
1. Office of Statistics and Programming. Data Source: NCHS Vital Statistics System for numbers of deaths. Bureau of Census for population estimates.: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC; 2002.
2. National School Boards Association. Violence in the schools: how America's school boards are safeguarding our children. Alexandria, VA.: National School Boards Association; 1993.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth suicide prevention programs: a resource guide. Atlanta, GA.: CDC; 1992.
4. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The prevention of youth violence: a framework for community action. Atlanta, GA.: CDC; 1993.
5. Violence-related attitudes and behaviors of high school students--New York City, 1992. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. Oct 15 1993;42(40):773-777.
6. Geiger K. A safe haven for children: curbing violence in schools. The Washington Post, February 21, 1993.
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