Context:  

School safety requires a broad-based effort by the entire community, including educators, students, parents, law-enforcement agencies, businesses, and faith-based organizations, among others. By adopting a comprehensive approach to addressing school safety focusing on prevention, intervention, and response, schools can increase the safety and security of students.

To assist schools in their safety efforts, the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) has developed a series of eight guidebooks to intend to build a foundation of information that will assist schools and school districts in developing safe learning environments. NWREL has identified several components that, when effectively addressed, provide schools with a foundation and building blocks needed to ensure safe learning environment.

This tutorial reflects one of the guidebooks entitled, Ensuring Quality School Facilities and Security Technologies (Guidebook # 4), by Tod Schneider, and is intended to help school administration officials, educators, law-enforcement personnel, parents, government officials, students, and other members of the community understand the relationship between school safety and school facilities, including technology.

The guide and this tutorial will cover: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), explaining what it is, three basic concepts of CPTED, and eight key questions to ask prior to implementing CPTED.