Model Program

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program is a comprehensive research-based school program designed to prevent and reduce bully/victim problems among students in elementary, middle, and junior high schools (grades 3-10). School staff members are largely responsible for introducing and implementing the program, and their efforts are directed at changing norms for behavior and improving peer relations and the climate of the school. Core components of the program are implemented at the schoolwide level, the classroom level, the individual level, and the community level.

Program Descriptors Include:
Behavior Management/Discipline, Bullying/Violence, Community Collaboration, Family/Parental Involvement

Starting Date: 1991
Students Served Per Year: 500+
Last Verified: 2009

Program addresses the following:

Individual factors

• High-risk social behavior
• Misbehavior
• Early aggression

School factors

• School policies and practices
• Teacher expectations

Program promotes the following:

Relationships

• Presence and involvement of caring, supportive adults
• Opportunities and rewards for pro-social involvement
• Clear social norms
• Good relationships with parents, peers, and teachers
• Involvement with positive peer activities
• Perception of support from adults and peers

Competence

• Social competencies

Creativity

• Problem-solving skills

Optimism

• High expectations by community, family, school, and self
• Optimistic

In several US studies with diverse populations, the following findings have been obtained. In a study of middle school students in the rural southeastern US, in comparison to students in schools not implementing the program, there were significant reductions in the frequency with which students had bullied others (16%), and significant reductions in measures of delinquency, vandalism, school misbehavior, and sanctions for school misbehavior. In a study of inner-city elementary and middle schools in the northeastern US that used observational methods to examine bullying incident density (BID, bullying incidents per 100 student hours), researchers observed that BID decreased 45% afer four years after program implementation. In a study of suburban elementary schools in the western US, self-reported rates of being bullied decreased 21% after one year and 14% after two years. There also were significant decreases in students' reports of bullying others after one year (8%) and two years (17%) of program implementation. Researchers also observed increases in bullied students' propensities to tell a teacher about their experiences, students' perceptions that teachers try to stop bullying, teachers' perceptions that there were clear rules about bullying, and teachers' perceptions that they know how to respond to bullying that they observed or heard about.

How evaluation data was collected:
Outside experimental studies
Data collected and analyzed at school/district level
Data collected and analyzed at state or organizational level