Evaluating a school-based violence prevention curriculum for middle school students

Violence

Middle School Violence Prevention

According to study by Lockwood (1997) rates of violence in the adolescent population has increased by 16% over the last few years. Students who engage in violent acts are not necessarily cognizant of the potential harm of their actions. These student perpetrators and their victims will still suffer consequences of the action. Violent acts can range from simple assault, fights on school property, and even homicide. A study of violence in this population is necessary not only because the increasing frequency of the events in middle schools, but the identification of dynamics associated with events; relationships, the intervention of third parties, and anticipation of outcome.

Most violence prevention programs are targeted at the middle school students. Some studies have focused on populations as young as 1st grade (Aber, Jones & Brown, 2003) because interventions are considered to be most effective when initiated at the youngest stage of development the intervention is felt to be useful. For this study, we will focus on violence prevention curriculum written for and provided to a group on of middle school students, aged 10-14. This population has not received any other violence prevention education. This intervention will be provided in-school during a series of classes with the assistance of the home room teachers. The desired outcome is a measurable change in aggression behaviors and responses toward the same on the part of the students in the program. A significant buy-in for the program on the part of the teachers and administrative staff is also desirable since in similar studies, since teacher perception of the student's aggressive as well as pro-social behaviors are considered to be significant in evaluations of school-based violence prevention programs (Greenberg, Kusche, Cook & Quamma, 1995). The enlistment of parents in the program will also help to validate the education as well as provide continuity of message regarding appropriate conflict behaviors at home and at school.

There are many programs currently available for presenting education on violence prevention, but little data available as to the effectiveness of the programs. A significant amount of money and time is spent on the implementation of programs as well as the provision of training and technical assistance after the programs are completed. As to whether these programs were actually effective in reducing violence or improving coping and anger management skills, there is no data.

Behavioral and Educational Learning Objectives

The purpose of this program is two-fold. We seek to prevent violence and teach adequate violence and anger management skills to assist students in diffusing situations when they occur.

Our primary research questions are:

What factors do the students most identify with violence in the school?

What method do the students most often use to deal with violence, and are these methods effective?

Does violence within the school result in adverse academic achievement, not only victims, but also for perpetrators and bystanders?

For our data to be complete, we will need to collect data on the students such as standardized testing scores, attendance data, suspension and expulsion data as well as student demographic data

The educational objectives associated with our research and outcome measurements follow:

Students will be asked to examine common opinions about violence in the school and compare the opinions with fact. Students will also be asked to identify typical situations for their age group in which conflict may be likely. Students will be asked to discuss how violence affects them locally and globally. Incidents of conflict will be compared to incidents of violence, and the progression stream will be reviewed.

We will also review the impact of media violence on violent behavior and discuss how violent thoughts and emotions may lead to violent behavior. From this, student will be asked to practice "alternative endings" to situations to resolve conflict. This will be evaluated via pre-test and post-test answers to scenario-based questions as well as behavior reports.

Our objectives include development of anger management skills which could prevent conflicts and reduce them when they do occur. We will discuss anger management, the development of an anger management plan and active listening skills. Measurement of this objective will be based on survey of teachers and behavior report comparison for conflict frequency and the observation of anger management skills reported via teacher survey provided every three months.

Students will be asked to demonstrate and critique what they feel to be effective listening skills as well as demonstrate the ability to empathize with others. We will review the best ways to express emotion, positive and negative and via role play we will review the best ways to respond to anger, both in ourselves and others. This behavioral education will rely primarily on acting out scenarios.

This outcome assessment will be based on pre -- and post intervention survey results.

We desire a reduction in the number of violent events, defined as verbal and physical arguments within a given grading period. This outcome will be assessed via teacher report, and demographic data on expulsion, suspension.

We desire a reduction in the amount of stress surrounding violent events, or the anticipation of violent events in the school. This will be evaluated via pre and post testing.

Threats to Internal Validity

By its nature, quasi-experimental design is weak in its ability to control threats to internal validity, but usually effective in controlling threats to external validity. Since our research is being done in a commonly encountered situation, it is likely to have wide applicability to similar settings if the threats to internal validity to be controlled. Possible threats to internal validity include:

Historical elements - are there elements within the community or within the individual which will effect the change in the variable? In this case, it is not possible to be sure that each population experienced the same events and come to the study with a similar background and experience.

Statistical regression - Do the subjects come from same or similar backgrounds? Both groups have been evaluated for socioeconomic status similarity, but are there other elements in the population that can confound the data?

Maturation - if changes are noted over the year subsequent to the presentation of the program, is this a typical change of behavior noted in this age group simply related to maturity? By using the control school where no program is provided, we hope to evaluate for this.

Experimental mortality - Do some of the children enrolled in the study leave the school? Do enough children move away to affect the validity of the study? Do the teachers who provided the education continue to see the students on a regular basis, enough to adequately report on behavior?

Design contamination - did the control school find out about the study schools? Did the study school change standards in such a way to look better or worse on the study outcome than is real?

Reference:

Aber JL, Brown JL, Jones SM. (2003) Developmental Trajectories toward Violence in Middle Childhood: Course, Demographic Differences, and Response to School-Based Intervention. Developmental Psychology, 2, 324-348.

Clayton RR, Catarello AM, Johnstone BM, (1996) the Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (Project DARE): 5-Year Follow-Up Results. Preventive Medicine, 3; 307-318

Greenberg, M.T., Kusche, C.A., Cook, E.T., & Quamma, J.P. (1995).

Promoting emotional competence in school-aged deaf children: The effects of the PATHS curriculum. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 117-136.

Grossman DC, Neckerman HJ, Koepsell TD, Liu P, Asher KN, Beland K, Frey K, Rivara, FP. (1997) an Evidence-Based Violence Prevention Curriculum for Elementary School Children. (1997). Journal of the American Medical Association, 277(20), 1605-1611.

Samples, F., & Aber, L. (1998). Evaluations of School-Based Violence Prevention Programs. In D.S. Elliott, B. Hamburg, & K.R. Williams (Editors), Violence in American Schools: A New Perspective, (pp. 217-252). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.