The SBLE evidence base contains no randomized experiments and carries high risk of bias¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? None of the 32 included studies used random assignment; designs ranged from cross-sectional studies without controls to difference-in-difference and instrumental variable designs. → Fisher 2023

Evidence¶

Fisher 2023¶

Fisher, B. W., Petrosino, A., Persson, H., Guckenburg, S., Fronius, T., Benitez, I., & Earl, K. (2023). School‐based law enforcement strategies to reduce crime, increase perceptions of safety, and improve learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 19, e1360. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1360

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r3

In the Results section on risk of bias, the review reports "The risk of bias in the included studies was high" and that no study used random assignment. Several studies used rigorous quasi-experimental designs (instrumental variables, comparative interrupted time series, difference-in-differences).

"The risk of bias in the included studies was high. There were no studies that used random assignment, so our assessment of risk of bias was based on the methodological features of the quasi‐experiments"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Most included studies carry risk of bias concerns, requiring cautious interpretation of the pooled effect — related
• School-based law enforcement use is associated with greater crime and behavior problems in studies using schools as the unit of analysis — related
• SBLE shows no beneficial effects on learning outcomes or other analyzed outcomes — related
• The evidence base on inclusion effects is methodologically weak: no randomised studies and nearly all synthesised studies at serious risk of bias — related
• Student-level analyses find no statistically significant association between SBLE and crime or behavior outcomes, from only four reports — related
• Students in schools with SBLE tended to feel safer, but this finding rests on very little data — related
• Common non-curricular policing strategies show no overall effects on measures of school crime or discipline — related
• School-based law enforcement is not associated with statistically significant changes in students' perceptions of safety at school — related
• The evidence base on SBLE lacks randomized trials, though recent strong quasi-experiments indicate increasing rigor — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• The evidence base on COVID-19 learning is geographically skewed toward high-income countries and about half of studies carry serious or critical risk of bias, with no evidence of publication bias — related
• SBLE presence is unrelated to learning outcomes including achievement, proficiency, and attendance — related
• Experimental designs and study-specific measures are associated with larger program effects, while peer-reviewed status shows no indication of publication bias — related
• All included studies were coded high risk for selection bias and nearly half high risk for information bias — related
• The methodological quality of forest-school studies is poor: most are at high or moderate risk of bias, with no follow-ups and inadequate statistical procedures — related