A Randomized Impact Evaluation of the No Bully System

Introduction: Bullying affects large numbers of U.S. students in elementary schools and is associated with short and long-term harms for both victims and bullies. Although prevention is critical, schools also need effective interventions for dealing with bullying once it occurs. One promising program is the No Bully System (No Bully), a set of interventions designed to activate adult and peer support systems within the school for the targets of bullying. No Bully trains staff to prevent and interrupt student harassment and bullying and ensure school-wide anti-bullying policies are in place. At its core is the Solution Team, an intervention where a trained adult facilitator (Solution Coach) works with the bullying victim, bully followers, and several pro-social peers on developing solutions for ending the bullying. For students entrenched in their bullying roles, the Solution Coach provides support or referral to resources. Specifically, the study examines the following research questions: 1) Does No Bully reduce the recurrence of bullying perpetration and victimization among students involved in incidents targeted by Solution Teams? 2) Does No Bully reduce bullying perpetration and victimization among students at risk of bullying involvement (victims and perpetrators)? 3) Does No Bully improve perceptions of school safety, peer support, and other indicators of school climate among all students in schools?

Methods: The study utilizes a cluster randomized experimental design, whereby 24 schools served by Oakland Unified School District were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a wait-listed control group—with 12 schools per group. Key student outcomes include measures of (a) bullying perpetration and victimization, (b) bully bystander behavior, (c) peer supports, and (d) other indicators of school climate. Self-report survey and incident data were collected from participating grade 3-5 students (approximately 270 students per school, 6,480 students across the 24 sites) both before and after the intervention was implemented. 

Conclusions: We describe the design of the study, its implementation in a highly impacted school district, students’ experiences with solution teams, and preliminary results. The No Bully System is a promising bullying intervention that is designed to activate peers in developing solutions for ending bullying.