Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
EdD Program for Educational Leaders
Advisor
Donald Gainey
Committee Member
Charles D. Amuso
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
antisocial behavior, bullying, classmates, Coginchaug High School, Educational Excellence Alliance, freshmen, harassment, high schools, interventions, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, school climate, self-study surveys, sophomores, student attitudes, student harassment, students, survey research, victims of bullying
Abstract
A survey of sophomores taken in 1999 at Coginchaug high School indicated that student harassment was above the national average as established by The Educational Excellence Alliance. Harassment is defined by the Alliance as “being insulted, teased, or made fun of to your face.” Another follow-up survey was administered a year later. The amount of student-reported harassment was greater in the freshman and sophomore years and diminished in the junior and senior years. A survey taken in October 2002 for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges’ self-study indicated that 90% of the 138 respondents do not feel respected by their classmates. Harassment was a problem at Coginchaug High School based on the data above.
The number of times that harassment occurred needed to be reduced. Studies indicated that as students get older harassment becomes less of a problem. While all students are not guilty, surveys indicated that a large number are aware that students are being harassed and that students are not reporting it.
The objective of this applied dissertation was to reduce bullying through a series of 5 planned interventions. Freshmen year, according to data, was when most of the bullying occurs. The entire school was questioned with the above-mentioned survey to determine the amount of bullying that had occurred after the interventions. The surveys given before and after the interventions were compared. A reduction in the amount of reported bullying was reported for freshmen and sophomores. Future surveys will be reviewed to determine the degree of effectiveness.