Evidence-Based Bullying Prevention Program RISCA Annual Conference Bryant University April 9, 2011 Karen Carnevale, Elementary School Counselor Leslie Conley, Program Supervisor Guidance K-12 Jean Greco, Retired Program Supervisor Guidance K-12

Expected Results of Workshop  Discover components of a quality bullying prevention program  Identify steps to develop an evidence - based program  Become familiar with CPS K-5 and 6-8 bullying prevention programs

Anti-Bullying Program in the Cranston (RI) Schools  Rhode Island General Assembly regulation  District-wide anti-bullying policy adopted by the School Committee  K-5 anti-bullying program developed and delivered by elementary school counselors  Middle school interventions developed and implemented

Safe Schools Act Bill 2011-H5941  Introduced by the Senate Commission on Cyberbullying  To develop a unified Statewide Bullying Prevention Policy  Will require all school districts to provide internet and cyberspace guidelines

Steps to Develop a Quality Program – Establish a collaborative environment – Identify desired outcomes – Plan program – Determine professional development needs – Engage administrators – Educate staff – Educate students – Educate parents – Apply school wide – Collect and analyze data

Overview of Cranston’s Bullying Prevention Program  Year 1 – School counselors developed K-5 anti- bullying lessons on individual basis – School counselors utilized EZ Analyze to evaluate one aspect of lessons  Year 2 – Collaborated to share successful lessons – Collectively selected one best lesson for each grade – Fine-tuned and documented lessons

 Year 3 – Collaborated with stakeholders – Provided professional development  Administrators  Teachers – Implemented K-5 program citywide  Years 4-6 – Continued to deliver evidence based K-5 anti-bullying lessons in all 17 elementary schools – Used random samples to monitor continued effectiveness – Responded to need  Developed Grade 6 Lesson  Addressed Cyberbullying/Internet Safety

Theory of Change Immediate Learning Objectives Student Behavior Change Safer School Climate Anti- Bullying Intervention

Components of a Quality Bullying Prevention Program  Effective Anti-Bullying Interventions – Teach targeted skills and strategies – Include academic rigor – Provide developmentally appropriate vocabulary – Scaffold learning – Continuously evaluate lessons for effectiveness and relevance

 Immediate Learning Objectives – Standards based lessons  Clearly Stated Results Statements  Opportunities for Students to Demonstrate Progress  Pre and Post Learning Assessments Components of a Quality Bully Prevention Program

Steps to Develop an Evidence- based Program  Determine desired results  Develop partnerships  Determine the scope of data collection  Develop lessons  Develop assessments  Provide professional development  Administer pre surveys  Deliver program  Administer post surveys  Analyze data  Publicize results

District wide Interventions At all 17 elementary schools district wide:  Counselors delivered common K-5 lessons  Counselors assessed student learning with pre/post common assessments

Methodology  Six schools selected as research schools – Cross-section of city representing urban ring and suburban schools  Counselors followed research protocol designed by CSCOR – Code all surveys with numbers – Distribute pre and post surveys to same number for consistency

Collaborated with CSCOR  Formed RISCA/CSCOR/CPS partnership  CSCOR reviewed lessons  CSCOR developed pre and post lesson assessments  CSCOR researched bully surveys  CSCOR tabulated the data

CSCOR Data Interpretation  Assessed data from 1,376 students in 6 elementary schools  Assessed data from 261 staff in 6 research schools

A Three-Part Process The three parts of the process were to measure the following constructs:  School climate, three months before and after the intervention  Behavioral change three months before and after the intervention; and  Learning, immediately after the last bully prevention lessons that the counselors created and taught.

Different Surveys Created PrePost Surveys K1 – Staff School Climate XXX Behavior Change XXX Learning Outcome XXX

Immediate Outcomes: Learning Assessments  Students district-wide showed highly statistically significant gains in learning  Further analyses showed statistically significant gains almost across the board (by grade, school and item)  These results indicate that as a whole, counselors taught successful lessons on bullying concepts

K-5 Learning Assessments Results

Statistically Significant Gains

Student Behaviors Change  Assessment demonstrates increased learning  Interventions heighten student recognition of bullying behaviors  Interventions heighten student report of bullying behaviors

School Climate Measures The main questions of interest were:  How did students perceive the school?  Did they find it safe or not?  Did this change after the intervention?  How did students perceive adult responsiveness regarding bullying?  Did this change? And how did these responses compare to those of staff members?

School Climate Responses Grades 3-5

On-Going Data Analysis

Grade 3 Lesson  Activates former knowledge  Uses consistent language  Targets and builds on specific skills and strategies for dealing with bullies  Builds on student knowledge of roles in bullying incidents

The Bully Circle

Lessons Learned  Value of evidence – based program  Importance and power of data  Benefits of collaboration  Quality of school counseling programs is enhanced through consistent implementation of evidence-based programs

Contact Information  Karen Carnevale  Leslie Conley  Jean Greco