Lafayette Parish School System – Louisiana, US

The Impact of CPI Training

• Significant reduction of classroom incidents
• Decline in the number of school suspensions
• Decrease in workers' compensation claims
• Increased staff confidence
• Improved student achievement scores

Situation

Lafayette Parish Schools sought to implement a system-wide policy, curriculum, and behavioral plan to reduce the number of incidents, classroom disruptions, and physical altercations. Striving to equip and empower all persons involved to ensure a safe environment for everyone throughout the parish schools.

Solution

Carleen Doucet, the school system’s Crisis Intervention Specialist, helped execute a comprehensive plan to train virtually anyone who had contact with students in CPI’s Nonviolent Crisis Intervention^® training program. Staff was trained how to safely manage aggressive behavior through verbal interventions, techniques, and strategies. They also learn nonharmful restraint techniques to reduce the risk of injury to everyone involved in a potentially violent situation The Lafayette Parish School System trained nearly 5,000 individuals within four years throughout the district’s 45 schools.

Results

The results of the CPI training have included a significant reduction in the frequency and number of classroom incidents and a corresponding decrease in the number of student suspensions. Key staff also believe the implementation of these policies and practices have had a material impact on improved student achievement scores as well.

Key results include:

• Decreased the use of physical restraints and seclusions by over 50% since implementing CPI training.
• A significant decline in the number of school suspensions due to assault on teachers.
• A decrease in Workers Compensation claims arising out of classrooms injuries.
• Has positively impacted student achievement levels.
• Give staff the confidence to successfully and safely handle and assist students in a personal crisis situation.

“I see a correlation between the recent gains in student achievement and the implementation of the CPI training. You can’t learn in a classroom where there is tension and conflict. The de-escalation skills keep everyone on an even keel and allow teaching to proceed uninterrupted.” Doucet says.

Additionally, Doucet notes, “The training we provide is a missing component in teacher’s college curriculum. Many teachers have acknowledged that they would have had a far more difficult time making it through confrontational situations if they had not been properly trained. Teachers emerge from the training with a greater sense of confidence that translates into more successful teaching and learning.”

“CPI training is the best methodology to prevent acting-out behaviors before they can occur and when they do occur the training allows you to de-escalate students and allow them to keep their dignity.”

-Kelly Sonnier
Crisis Intervention Teacher
Lafayette Parish School Board

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