Nine school violence prevention researchers and practitioners nationwide, including Professor George Sugai of UConn’s Neag School of Education, have developed a position statement on the Dec. 14, 2012 Connecticut school shootings that is being disseminated across the U.S. today.

The statement is in response to the tragic acts of violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School last week, and updates the School Shootings Position Statement that was disseminated nationally following the school-related shootings of 2006.

UConn’s President Susan Herbst, Neag School of Education dean Thomas DeFranco, and a number of UConn faculty in the Neag School have endorsed the statement, along with more than 100 nationally recognized researchers and practitioners, and deans of several major university colleges of education and social work.

More than 100 professional organizations representing well over 4 million professionals have also endorsed the statement, including the American Federation of Teachers, multiple divisions of the American Psychological Association, Child Welfare League of America, Council for Exceptional Children, National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), National Education Association, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Social Workers, and Mental Health America.

The nine co-authors of the statement are researchers and practitioners from multiple fields of study who have worked in the area of school safety since the 1980s. The position statement is intended to communicate scientifically informed principles and recommendations for practitioners, policymakers, and the public at large, and to help build consensus on a course of meaningful action.

For the full text of the statement and a complete list of organizations endorsing it,  click here. For the statement in Spanish, click here.