Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Program for Educational Leaders
Advisor
Ron Newell
Committee Member
Richard Snyder
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
assessment instruments, building community, classroom disruptions, classroom management, coaching, communicating effectively, conflict resolution, conflict, conflict understanding, encouraging, fighting fair rules, Florida Performance Measurement System, Hillsborough County School District, learning environment, management of student conduct, mentoring, modeling, nonviolent behavior, observational assessments, Peace Education Foundation, perceptions, points of view, post assessments, pre-assessments, professional development, school climate, secondary education, student conduct, student surveys, teacher attitudes, teacher mentors, teacher training, urban high schools, Whole School Effectiveness Model, whole-school improvement, workforce development, youth behavior management
Abstract
This applied dissertation describes the effects of conflict resolution on participants’ (volunteer teachers) attitudes and classroom management. The targeted group were 9th-grade participants at an urban high school with a student population of 2,311 in 2001. School data from the 2000-2001 school year showed a 34% increase in classroom disruptions by 9th-grade students when compared to school data during the 1996-1997 school year.
Participants in this study actively engaged in a minimum of 24 hours of Peace Education Foundation (PEF) training from March 2002 through October 2002. The participants observed certified PEF trainers modeling, teaching, coaching, encouraging, and exporting skills to other settings. The 9 participants using the ascribed teaching methodology fine-tuned the following interpersonal skills taught by the certified PEF trainers: (a) building community, (b) fighting fair rules that develop the framework for nonviolent behavior, (c) understanding conflict, (d) managing anger pros and cons, (e) understanding perceptions and different points of view, and (f) communicating effectively. In August 2002, the participants became mentors to teachers at the school who had not received the PEF training. Assessment instruments used in this study included (a) pre- and post assessments, (b) Florida Performance Measurement System Domain 2: Management of Student Conduct, (c) biweekly observations by this writer, and (d) Whole School Effectiveness Model Student Surveys.
By the end of the 2002-2003 first quarter grading period, the 9 participants in the study decreased referrals for classroom disruptions by 54% when compared to 16 referrals they submitted during the end of the 1st quarter grading period of 2001-2002. Also, the perception of 131 students (target group) when surveyed with the Hillsborough County School District’s October 2002 Whole School Effectiveness Model Student Survey indicated improved scores in dimensions of safe, caring, and orderly learning environment as well as school climate compared to 241 students (comparison group) surveyed in May 2001.