The Safe and Responsive School Guide was an outgrowth of the ideas and workshops developed by Russell J. Skiba, Indiana University and Reece L. Peterson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This was followed by a federally funded “Project of National Significance” at the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs on Safe and Responsive Schools (Project #H325N9900099). The Project sought to create a process to implement our best thinking and validated strategies in a comprehensive process of systems change in school discipline.

The SRS Framework and related content originated with the Project Co-directors, but the process described in The Safe & Responsive Schools Guide was developed and adapted through a field site development process involving building teams at multiple local school sites. During the first two years, this included one small city school system in Nebraska (five schools- three teams) that worked with the project through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and two small school districts in Indiana (seven schools and teams) that worked with the project through Indiana University. Teams assessed the ability of their school's responses to disruptive or violent behavior, developed a school plan, and started implementation.

Later, in the third year of the project, three additional school teams used the materials as a field test in Nebraska, and four teams were added in a large urban district in Indiana. Samples of some of these data and materials, on the SRS website under School Sites & Examples.

Various parts of the Guide were developed throughout the first two years of the project, resulting in a complete draft by the end of the second year of the project. The draft was then revised during the remaining period of the project and is now being made available for use in schools. See Products. The guide provides a blueprint for developing safer and more responsive schools for all students.