Integrative Models to Improve School Safety: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

Introduction: Most of what is known about what works to promote school safety and bullying prevention is based on evaluations of stand-alone interventions, despite national calls to integrate interventions to account for limitations inherent to each approach when delivered in isolation. Chesterfield County (SC) School District, in partnership with Clemson University's Institute on Family & Neighborhood Life and the University of Oregon's Institute on Violence & Destructive Behavior, are testing the integration of two evidence-based approaches: School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) and the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP). Both approaches target school, classroom, student, family, and community level risk and protective factors. Thus a primary goal of this study is to develop a comprehensive, feasible, and effective intervention that combines SWPBIS and OBPP strategies into one integrated approach that improves school safety. SWPBIS/OBPP modules have been developed and assessed in an iterative fashion, with feedback from focus groups and key informant interviews with stakeholders. A second goal involves conducting a randomized controlled trial.

Method: The sample includes 5,700 elementary, middle, and high school students (grades 3-12 attending 16 schools nested within three attendance areas) and 450 educators to assess the integrated SWPBIS/OBPP approach against an OBPP-only and a control condition. Key student outcome variables include involvement in bullying and cyberbullying, perceptions of bullying, perceptions of school climate and safety, and aggressive behavior. School level data on suspensions, referrals to the criminal justice center, truancy probation violations, and dropout rates will also be collected and analyzed. Teacher outcomes include school safety, school climate, and perceptions of bullying.

Conclusions: Although several quasi-experimental studies of the OBPP in the U.S. have produced positive results, this study will permit us to examine the effectiveness of the OBPP using a randomized control design.