Do Active-Shooter Drills Hurt Students?

For the past two decades, school shootings have been a constant looming threat for students across the US, with the number of shootings on campuses dramatically increasing in recent years. In response, schools have instituted preparedness and response measures, with one of the most common being school-shooter drills. But educators have raised concerns that these drills might negatively affect student well-being, and students have reported experiencing distress after participating in these drills. Although the data needed to measure the relationship between school-shooter drills and student mental health (and student well-being more broadly) are not readily available, analyzing the impact of drills on accountability outcomes in Arkansas—specifically, attendance rates and proficiency rates on statewide end-of-year tests—can help policymakers understand how they might affect students’ academics.