Stakeholder Spotlight: Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut
March 1, 2020 / by The “I Love U Guys” Foundation
Do you remember where you were when the attack at Columbine High School happened? Most people we talk to do. With that as a vivid backdrop, the shooting at Virginia Tech was when everything changed for our featured stakeholder this quarter, Dr. Jaclyn (Jackie) Schildkraut.
“When the attack at Virginia Tech happened I knew I wanted to do something to help,” Jackie shared. “I had been bouncing in and out of college for years, trying to figure out my purpose, and when that happened, I decided that was what I was supposed to do. I went back to school to finish out my bachelor’s degree and then went straight through my Masters and my Ph.D. and never looked back.
When the shooting happened at Stoneman Douglas High School, which is in the community where I grew up, that was what drove me to research lockdown drills more and work even harder to help keep students, faculty, and staff safe.”
In one of the 30 drills conducted during Jackie’s first drill project, the class change bell rang before the drill was complete, and all of the students came out of their classes mid-lockdown. Her heart sank. If this had been real, there would have been a lot of people hurt. At the time, the district didn’t have a solid plan in place, but it now has one of the best performing schools during a drill. It really shows that the training on the Standard Response Protocol worked and that practicing what to do was helping them to be safe.
The “I Love U Guys” Foundation has a vast network of stakeholders who contribute to and benefit from what we do every day. We’d like to introduce you to some of them, starting with Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut, associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego.
Meet Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut: Providing Vital Training and Scientific Research
Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut (Jackie to us) is a researcher focused primarily on mass and school shootings. Her work further concentrates on media effects, social problems, moral panic, school safety, and survivor needs. She’s not just conducting research though. She’s also providing training using our Standard Response Protocol (SRP). As her educational and publication history shows, she’s been a leader in this field for years.
In the Field: Conducting Training & Drill Activities
Jackie’s work conducting hands-on training and drills using our protocol helps students, teachers, and others prepare – and feel prepared – to respond when there’s a threat of any kind in or around the school. And a big part of how we know that’s true is the research that Jackie herself has conducted in conjunction with the training and drills.
In the Field: Collecting the Data
It’s one thing to have anecdotes, or stories, related to how drills help. But without scientific research, it’s not really proving anything. Until last year, there were very few and very limited studies on this topic.
Last year, Jackie, along with two colleagues and a major school system in Syracuse, New York, undertook a large-scale, multi-step initiative that combined training and drill activities with a series of research exploring how students feel about their safety and preparedness after receiving instructional training and undergoing several lockdown drills. You can read about the study methodology and phase 1 of 3 results here.
The Impact of Scientific Research
Jackie’s work related to school safety is invaluable to many. It helps validate that training and drills, when administered correctly, help students feel more prepared during an emergency. In addition to the folks she trains and vital data about training effectiveness, Jackie’s work also helps extend the value of our work and makes it better by providing feedback and insight we rely on. Check out this recent broadcast news story about Jackie’s training and drill study.
More about Jackie
In May 2014, Jackie received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. Her dissertation research focused on the media representation of mass shootings in a post-Columbine era. This research formed the basis of her first book, Mass Shootings: Media, Myths and Realities, as well as several additional research articles. She also has researched in the areas of homicide more broadly and elected executions. Her research has been published in a number of peer-reviewed, academic journals. She earned her B.S. degree in 2009 in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL, with a concentration in Behavioral Sciences and Criminal Justice. In 2011, Jaclyn completed her M.A. in Applied Sociology, also at the University of Central Florida.
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Categories: All, Stakeholder Spotlights
Written by The “I Love U Guys” Foundation
