School Climate and Bullying

Denise C. Gottfredson, Ph.D. University of Maryland

Presented at the Workshop on Increasing Capacity for Reducing

Bullying and its Impact on the Lifecourse of Youth Involved

Institute of Medicine and National Research Council April 9, 2014

What is “School Climate”

Personality is to the individual what ‘climate’ is to the organization

School Climate and Bullying-related Attitudes and Behaviors

Students in schools with higher student/teacher ratios reported greater frequency of bully victimization and reduced perceptions of safety.

95 elementary and middle schools

Source: Bradshaw, C.P., Sawyer, A.L., & O’Brennan, L.M. (2009).

School Climate and Willingness to Seek Help

Students in schools with high levels of perceived teacher and school staff support are more willing to seek help for bullying and aggressive behavior

Ninth grade students from 291 Virginia High Schools

Source: Eliot, M., Cornell, D., Gregory, A., & Fan, X. (2010).

School Climate and Bullying

Students in schools with consistent enforcement of school discipline and availability of caring adults experienced lower levels of bullying and victimization

Ninth grade students from 290 Virginia High Schools

Source: Gregory, A., Cornell, D., Fan, X., Sheras, P., & Shih, T. (2010).

School Climate and Victimization/

Delinquency -- Important Dimensions

Student/teacher ratio, # different students taught

Sense of community

Discipline management

Safe School Study

1976 national sample of 642 secondary schools

Extensive data collection Principal, teacher, and student surveys Census data on the school communities

Extensive questioning Victimization experiences, personal characteristics,

and characteristics of schools

Source: Gottfredson & Gottfredson, 1985

School Climate Predictors of Victimization: Safe School Study

Source: Gottfredson & Gottfredson, 1985

Higher School

Victimization

Low perception of firm and clear rule

enforcement

Ambiguous sanctions

Large Schools with larger # of

different students taught

Low perception of fairness and clarity of rules

Punitive teacher attitudes

National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools

1998 national sample of 1,287 schools

Extensive data collection Principal, teacher, and student surveys Census data on the school communities

Extensive questioning Victimization experiences, personal characteristics,

and characteristics of schools

Source: Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Payne, A. A., & Gottfredson, N. C. (2005)

School Climate Predictors of Victimization and Delinquency: NSDPS

Structural Controls

- % male students

- Concentrated poverty/AA

- Size & Urbanicity

- Residential Crowding

- Grade Level

Social Climate

Teacher Victimization

Discipline Management

Student Delinquency

Student Victimization

Source: Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Payne, A. A., & Gottfredson, N. C. (2005)

School Size and Student Victimization

Structural Controls

- Community Concentrated Disadvantage

- Urbanicity/Mobility

- Racial/Ethnic Student Composition

- Average Student Age

Student Enrollment

Personal Victimization

Student-Teacher Ratio

Number of Different

Students Taught

Property Victimization

Source: Gottfredson, D. C. and DiPietro, S. M. (2011)

+

_

+

Structural Controls

- Community Concentrated Disadvantage

- Urbanicity/Mobility

- Racial/Ethnic Student Composition

- Average Student Age

Student/Teacher Ratio

Consensus about Norms

Personal Victimization

School Culture Mediates Effect

Communal Social Organization (CSO)

Schools in which “…members know, care about, and support one another, have common goals and sense of shared purpose, and…actively contribute and feel personally committed” (Solomon et al., 1997)

Effects of CSO on Delinquent Behavior

Structural Controls

- Percent Students Male

- Concentrated Poverty/AA

- Size and Urbanicity

- Residential Crowding

- Grade Level

Communal Social Organization

Student Bonding Student

Delinquency

Source: Payne, A.A., Gottfredson, D.C., and Gottfredson, G.D. (2003)

Lessons from School Shootings

Ethnographic study of factors related to school shootings experienced in the 1990s.

Teams of ethnographers worked in 6 different communities that had experienced lethal school shootings

Interviewed people; collected records relevant to the incidents and what happened in their aftermaths.

Source: National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2003)

Characteristics of the Communities

Gulf between youth culture and adults Shooters intensely concerned

about status and protecting themselves

Adults had poor understanding of children’s experiences

Shooters felt there was “nowhere to turn”

Specific warnings given and missed

School Climate and Victimization/ Delinquency -- Important Dimensions

Student/tchr ratio, # different students taught

Sense of community

Discipline management

Can school climate be altered to reduce bullying?

Of historical interest:

1980’s OJJDP “Alternative Education Initiative”

Project STATUS

Project PATHE

Project STATUS

Program Description: “school-within-a school;” integrated social studies and English class, including a law-related education curriculum and instructional methods emphasizing student participation, cooperative learning

Participants: high risk students in grades 7 an 9 Implementer: school teachers Duration/Intensity: 1 school year, 2 hours per day Effect of Program:

decreased crime (.36*) decreased anti-social behavior (.23) decreased substance use (.40*)

Source: Gottfredson (1990)

Project PATHE

Program Description: comprehensive program to alter school organization and management structures; designed to reduce school disorder and improve the school environment to enhance students’ experiences and attitudes about school

Participants: middle and high school students

Implementer: school staff

Duration/Intensity: 2 years (middle) or 1 year (high)

Effect of Program:

decreased crime (middle school=.31* / high school=.15*)

decreased anti-social behavior (middle school=.16* / high school=.21*)

decreased substance use (middle school=.33* / high school=.15*)

Source: Gottfredson (1986, 1990)

Safe Dates

Program Description: School activities: theater production performed by peers, a 10-session curriculum, and a poster contest.

Participants: middle/high school students

Implementer: teachers

Duration/Intensity: 10 45-50 minute sessions

Effect of Program:

25% less psychological perpetration

60% less sexual violence perpetration

60% less violence perpetrated against a current dating partner

Source: Foshee, V.A., Bauman, K.E., Ennett, S.T., Suchindran, C., Benefield, T., & Linder, G.F. (2005)

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

Program Description: School team approach; Team establishes expectations for positive behaviors to encourage and reinforce; Positive reinforcement system; Discipline system: Clear rules, consistently enforced – emphasis on classroom management

Participants: elementary schools

Implementer: teachers and administrators

Duration/Intensity: five years

Effect of Program:

Improved organizational health

Reduced aggressive behavior (teacher reports)

Reduced peer rejection (teacher reports)

Source: Bradshaw CP, Koth CW, Bevans KB, Ialongo N, Leaf PJ (2008); Waasdorp, T.E., Bradshaw, C. P., and Leaf, P. J. (2012).

School Climate and Delinquency -- Important Dimensions

Student/tchr ratio, # different students taught

Sense of community

Discipline management

Gaps in Research

Efforts to combine ideas from earlier and contemporary school climate research to design more potent school-wide bully prevention programs.

Rigorous tests of the effects of these promising ideas on bullying (large RCTs at school level).

Research on how the school climate influences the effectiveness of individually-targeted interventions such as SEL-type programs.

Thank You!

Denise C. Gottfredson Department of Criminology and Criminal

Justice

University of Maryland

gott@umd.edu

References

Bradshaw, C.P., Koth, C.W., Bevans, K.B., Ialongo, N., & Leaf, P.J. (2008). The impact of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) on the organizational health of elementary schools. Sch Psychol Q. 23(4):462-473. doi:10.1037/a0012883.

Bradshaw, C.P., Sawyer, A.L., & O’Brennan, L.M. (2009). A social disorganization perspective on bullying-related attitudes and behaviors: The influence of school context. American Journal of Community Psychology, 43 (3-4), 204-220.

Cook, P. J., Gottfredson, D. C, & Na, C. (2010). School Crime Control and Prevention. In Tonry, M. (ed). Crime and Justice: A Review of Research. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Eliot, M., Cornell, D., Gregory, A., & Fan, X. (2010). Supportive school climate and student willingness to seek help for bullying and threats of violence. Journal of School Psychology, 48, 533–553.

References, Continued

Foshee, V.A., Bauman, K.E., Ennett, S.T., Suchindran, C., Benefield, T., & Linder, G.F. (2005). Assessing the effects of dating violence prevention program "Safe Dates" using random coefficient regression modeling. Prevention Science, 6(3), 245-257.

Gottfredson, D.C. (1986). An empirical test of school-based environmental and individual interventions to reduce the risk of delinquent behavior." Criminology , 24, 705-731.

Gottfredson, D.C. (1990). “Changing school structures to benefit high risk youths.” in Understanding Troubled and Troubling Youth: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, edited by P. E. Leone. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Gottfredson, D. C. and DiPietro, S. M. (2011). School Size, Social Capital, and Student Victimization Sociology of Education 84, 69-89

Gottfredson, D. C. & Gottfredson, G. D. (2002). Quality of School-Based Prevention Programs: Results from a National Survey. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 39, 1, 3-35.

References, Continued

Gottfredson, G. D., & Gottfredson, D. C. (1985). Victimization in schools. New York: Plenum.

Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Payne, A. A., and Gottfredson, N. C. (2005). School Climate Predictors of School Disorder: Results from the National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools. Jnl of Rsch in Crime and Delinquency, 42, (4), 412-444.

Gregory, A., Cornell, D., Fan, X., Sheras, P., & Shih, T. (2010). Authoritative school discipline: High school practices associated with lower student bullying and victimization. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 483-496.

Klein, J., & Cornell, D. (2010). Is the link between large high schools and student victimization an illusion? Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 933-946. doi: 10.1037/a0019896

National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2003) Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. Case Studies of School Violence Committee. Washington DC: The National Academies Press.

References, Continued

Payne, A.A., Gottfredson, D.C., & Gottfredson, G.D. (2003). Schools as communities: The relationships among communal School organization, student bonding, and school disorder. Criminology, 41, 749-777.

Solomon, D., Battistich, V., Kim, D., & Watson, M. (1997). Teacher practices associated with students' sense of the classroom as a community. Social Psychology of Education, 1, 235-267.

Waasdorp, T.E., Bradshaw, C. P., & Leaf, P. J. (2012). The impact of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports on bullying and peer rejection: A randomized controlled effectiveness trial. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 166(2),149-156.

Project STEP

Program Description: Redefines role of homeroom teacher to be more central in students’ lives; reorganizes classes so students stay with one set of classmates and small team of teachers for four periods

Participants: middle school students transitioning to high school

Implementer: school staff

Duration/Intensity: 1 year

Effect of Program:

Increased GPA and attendance

Increased perceptions of positive school environment (teacher support, affiliation, involvement)

Long term follow-up showed decreased drop out rate (43% vs 24%)

Source: Felner, Ginter and Primavera (1982); Felner and Adan (1988)