1

Education 500
Research Proposal
Does the implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) impact student
reporting on The School Climate Bullying Survey in suburban middle schools?
1. Introduction
Bullying is a serious problem in public school culture and climate today. Consequently,
this accounts for many students not feeling safe when they attend school. A significant number of
students who are bullied do not attend school, often drop-out, and are unable to graduate. It is
important to address bullying at a school district wide level in order to tackle such a serious
problem. School wide bully prevention programs are a solution to challenge this problem. Some
people might consider bullying a normative behavior and/or the status quo among students in
schools. Schools believe it is more serious. It is important to address these factors with students
who feel different, unaccepted, and bullied because of it.
Schools need to create a climate that accepts all people regardless of their sexual
orientation, race, ethnicity, gender identity/presentation, class, age, and ability. Education
strategies and support systems are necessary to helping individuals achieve developmentally and
educationally. It is essential for school systems to educate, facilitate, and advocate for children
in a school setting. This is why it is important for schools to implement bully prevention
programs. This study proposes to investigate whether or not the implementation of the Olweus
Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) impacts student reporting on The School Climate Bullying
Survey in suburban middle and high schools.
2. Literature Review
Over the past decade, bullying has been identified as the most prevalent form of lowlevel violence in schools and a precursor to more serious forms of violent behavior (Bowllan,

2
Education 500
Research Proposal
2011, p.167). Bullying further impacts students learning capabilities, emotional, physical and
psychosocial well-being (2011). In more recent years, correlations have been found between
perpetrators of school shootings and their reports of being bullied, persecuted, threatened, or
injured prior to the violent attack (2011, p. 167). Also, students have been know to stop
attending school altogether due to repeated forms of bullying. This has a great impact on
graduation rates and student success. Researchers conclude the OBPP had a signicant positive
impact on the 7th grade females and teachers (2011).
Students feel safe and are more empowered when bully interventions and education are in
place (Young, Hardy, Hamilton, Biernesser, Sun, & Niebergall, 2009). Schools who incorporate a
bully prevention infrastructure and implantation, like that of the Steps to Respect program, when
included, staff prevention training, and classroom bully intervention lessons, positive changes are
observed in playground bullying, normative beliefs, and social interaction skills (Frey,
Hirschstein, Snell, van Schoiack Edstrom, Mackenzie, & Broderick, 2005). Steps to Respect is a
bully prevention program for elementary schools, that utilize surveys and existing data to track
progress (2005). Frey et al. (2011) indicates, Bullying not only affects victims, but also the
perpetrators of bullying, and even bystanders (p.479). Bystanders may contribute to the
problem by providing attention and assistance to those who bully (2005). Also, observations
viewed bystanders involved in more than 80% of bullying incidences and overall reinforce the
aggression (2005).
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (2013) provides information from various
government agencies on what the definition of bullying is, Bullying is unwanted, aggressive
behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The
behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and

3
Education 500
Research Proposal
who bully others may have serious, lasting problems (2013). It is important to understand
collaborating roles among school counselors, teachers, parents, and community leaders in
schools and how they have helped to increase awareness and teach students to respond to
comments and behaviors with regards to bullying (Young et al., 2009). In addition, school wide
bullying prevention models can illustrate the harmful effects, and reduce the incidents of school
bullying (Brunner & Lewis, 2007).
It is essential to understand the social and normative implications regarding the
interpersonal nature of bullying, and how crucial it is to consider the phenomenon in its social
context (Cowie & Jennifer, 2007) (Cowie, 2011). Furthermore, bullies can be on an individual or
group level, and can be embedded in the social and cultural systems of the school (2011). These
researchers want to highlight how the social context does play a critical role in the prevalence of
bullying behavior, and when we know this, more young people can partake in prevention
measures to address it when it happens (2011).
Cornell & Mehta (2011) in their study were attempting to answer whether or not there is
complete accuracy in self-reporting when it comes to bullying among middle school students. A
suburban school in central Virginia was administered the School Climate Bullying Survey
(SCBS). This middle school had an established schoolwide prevention effort using the Olweus
Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP; Olweus et al., 1999). Code numbers were utilized to set
apart the students who self-reported being a victim of persistent bullying (once per week or
more) in the past month and utilized for the follow-up interviews. Their investigation utilized a
quantitative nonprobability purposeful sampling. The School Climate Bullying Scale (SCBS;
Cornell, 2010) was used to examine the extent and nature of bullying problems in schools.
Following the survey results, two trained counselors engaged in a confirmation/non-confirmation

4
Education 500
Research Proposal
interview process. Researchers conclude from this study indicate that only about half (56%) of
the 43 students who self-reported being victims of bullying could be confirmed by counselor
interview. Also, these findings suggest that results from self-report surveys should be interpreted
with caution. This study indicates that a number of factors may compromise the accuracy of selfreport of victimization.
Bully prevention programs aim to reduce aggressive attitudes among students and
encourage them to be more accepting of classmates from diverse backgrounds (Bandyopadhyay,
Cornell & Konold (2009). Also, they encourage students and teachers to recognize bullying as
a serious problem and attempt to increase student willingness to seek help for victims
(Bandyopadhyay et al., p. 338-339). The SCBS was developed to assess relevant types of school
climate, in regards to, the prevalence of teasing and bullying, aggressive attitudes, and the
victims willingness to seek help from peers, faculty, counselors or teachers (2009).
3. Research Questions
Research problem: The purpose of this research is to study the Olweus Bullying Prevention
Program (OBPP) in middle and high school settings and its effectiveness, by utilizing The
School Climate Bullying Survey (SCBS) to assess student reporting.
Research Question 1: Are the amount of reported bullying incidents less when students in middle
and high school participate in Olweus Bullying Prevention Program?
Research Question 2: Does the implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
(OBPP) in a suburban middle and high school impact the prevalence of bullying?
Research Question 3: Is there more accuracy utilizing the SCBS survey for reporting bullying

5
Education 500
Research Proposal
incidents as opposed to the Revised-Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, when assessing the
implementation of the OBPP for American students?
The School Climate Bullying Survey
The purpose of the SCBS is to typically help guide intervention efforts. Results can assess
bullying behaviors and relevant aspects of the school climate in a school setting. In this study I
propose to assess these factors utilizing the SCBS for students in grades 6-12.
4. Methods
Research Method
This investigation proposes to implement a quantitative nonprobability purposeful
sampling in a structured and semi-structured manner. Participants will include 2,619 participants,
a combination of sixth- to twelfth-grade students enrolled in three northwest Washington state
public schools. Each school will participate in a single-group pretest-posttest design. Each grade
level will be given the SCBS, then they will receive the OBPP during one school year, and
finally given the SCBC again. The results will be determined by comparing the pretest scores to
the posttest scores. The OBPP methods incorporated into the schools will consist of, large class
room guidance lessons, group counseling presentations, teaching strategies aligned with Best
Practices methods, bully lessons incorporated into the health and physical education classes,
survey, and website info and reporting support. The SCBS is used to specifically address
bullying and indicate whether students feel safe or not when bully interventions and education
are in place.
Participants

6
Education 500
Research Proposal
The sample will contain two public middle schools and one high school in the
Snoqualmie Valley school district in Washington: Chief Kanim middle school has 440 students
6-8 grades, Twin Falls middle school has 579 students 6-8 grade, and Mt. Si high school has
1,600 students 9-12 grades. According to the Washington state report card for the Office of
Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for Snoqualmie school district, the demographic
data include 48.0% female, 52.0% male, 86.1% White, 4.8% Hispanic, 0.9% Black, 4.4%
Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaskan Native 0.7% and two or more races 2.7%
(2011-2012). Free or reduced-priced meals 14.3%, special education 11.1%, transitional bilingual
1.7%, and Section 504 2.5% (OSPI, May 2012).
Data Collection
My study will utilize The School Climate Bullying Survey (SCBS) to assess bullying
behaviors and relevant aspects of school climate, pre- and post- implementation of the Olweus
Bullying Prevention Program (OBPS). The OBPP, a nationally recognized Best Practices
Model Program by the US Department of Juvenile Justice and the Substance Abuse Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and an evidence-based research to significantly
reduce the incidence of bullying in schools and provides interventions in classrooms, school
wide, and also community settings. The SCBS takes approximately 20 minutes and can be
administered to students during a designated classroom time that is appropriate to each schools
curriculum. The SCBS can also be administered online through Survey Monkey, for additional
convenience. The SCBS can be scored by hand, but it is preferable to use a scannable form or
computer administration. According to the research summary by Cornell (2012) the timeframe
for the survey questions is the past month. This is in order to identify current bullying trends and

7
Education 500
Research Proposal
monitor any changes over the course of the school year.
5. Data Analytic Plan
Measures
The SCBS instrument by Cornell & Sheras (2003), is a 45-item self-report instrument
used to examine the extent, nature and climate of bullying problems in school (Bandyopadhyay,
Cornell, & Konold, 2009). SCBS utilizes, Olweus and Limbers work (2000), with their
definition of bullying, which has been refined for American students. Bullying is dened as the
use of ones strength or status to injure, threaten, or humiliate another person. Bullying can be
physical, verbal, or social. It is not bullying when two students of about the same strength argue
or ght. (2009, p. 342-343).
This study will focus on the item content scales and combined data results. The scales
include item numbers and item content: 1-10 Frequency of bullying or being bullied by others
generally and by physical, verbal, social and cyber methods in the past month; 11-15 Whom the
student told about being bullied; 16-24 Locations where bullying occurs; 25-47 School climate
scales: Willingness to Seek Help (26, 29, 30, 33, 34, 37, 38, 40, 41), Prevalence of Teasing and
Bullying (25, 28, 32, 44; additional item 47), Aggressive Attitudes (27, 31, 35, 39, 43, 45, 46);
36, 42 Validity items; 48-52 Demographics of gender, age, grade, and ethnicity/race; 54
Identification of bullied peers; and 55 Student suggestions (Cornell, 2012).
Data Analysis
My research question will be addressed based on student reports, comparing pre- and

8
Education 500
Research Proposal
post- survey administration. This will be to assess whether the implementation of the OBPP has
had an impact on student reporting of bully incidents. Students results, regarding items 1-45,
will be analyzed to verify the validity of whether bullying behaviors have a significant impact on
students overall attitude, with respect to each scale and item content listed in the measures. The
study will also measure whether inferential statistics can be used to generalize out to other
middle school populations with a similar demographic data set. Exploratory and conrmatory
factor analyses will be performed with this sample of 2,619 students, and established reasonable
t for the 45 items with their hypothesized scales. Multi-group conrmatory factor analyses will
reveal whether a good overall model t is necessary for further implementation. This study will
use a regression analyses, using school-level measures aggregated from students attending Chief
Kanim, Twin Falls middle, and Mt. Si high schools to indicate whether the 45 scales are related
to meaningful criteria and constructs with regards to bullying and school intervention.
6. Possible Limitations
Possible limitations of the research proposal are the small sample size of students and
limited demographic. It is difficult to generalize results to a larger population when the numbers
are significantly low. The demographic dataset may lack diversity. The population chosen may
not represent the larger population. One flaw might be students awareness of the study, when
they fill out the same survey at the end of the year. This will affect results. Unknown extraneous
variables could have affected the results, and/or variables the researchers were not aware of or
could not control. Some extraneous variable to be aware of might include unknown conditions,
events, features, or occurrences that affect the dependent variable (McMillan, 2012). Student
characteristics can be an unknown or uncontrolled variable affecting the results. Other threats

9
Education 500
Research Proposal
may be due to subject selection, participants volunteered and may respond in ways nonvolunteers do (2012). Subjects will mature over time, which can also affect results. Subject
attrition will skew the results. There are many limitations to take into consideration when
conducting an intervention such as this, especially self-reporting and possible inaccuracy issues.
This is why it is important to utilize not just one assessment survey, but additional surveys, and
possible follow-up interviews with students who report being bullied.

10
Education 500
Research Proposal
Bibliography
Bandyopadhyay, S., Cornell, D. G., & Konold, T. R. (2009). Validity of three school climate
scales to assess bullying, aggressive attitudes, and help seeking. School Psychology
Review, 38(3), 338-355.
Bowllan, N. M. (2011). Implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive, school-wide
bullying prevention program in an urban/suburban middle school. Journal Of School
Health, 81(4), 167-173. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00576.x
Charmaraman, L., Jones, A. E., Stein, N., & Espelage, D. L. (2013). Is it bullying or sexual
harassment? Knowledge, attitudes, and professional development experiences of middle
school staff. Journal Of School Health, 83(6), 438-444. doi:10.1111/josh.12048
Cornell, D. (2012). The School Climate Bullying Survey: Description and Research summary.
Retrieved from
http://curry.virginia.edu/uploads/resourceLibrary/School_Climate_Bullying_Survey_Des
cription_for_Distribution_5-22-12.pdf
Cornell, D., Sheras, P., & Cole, J. (2006). Assessment of bullying. In S. R. Jimerson & M. J.
Furlong (Eds.), The handbook of school violence and school safety: From research to
practice (pp. 191210). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.10
Cornell, D., & Mehta, S. B. (2011). Counselor confirmation of middle school student self-reports
of bullying victimization. Professional School Counseling, 14(4), 261-270.

11
Education 500
Research Proposal
Cowie, H. (2011). Peer Support as an Intervention to Counteract School Bullying: Listen to the
Children. Children & Society, 25(4), 287-292. doi:10.1111/j.1099-0860.2011.00375.x
Espelage, D. L., Bosworth, K., & Simon, T. R. (2000). Examining the social context of bullying
behaviors in early adolescence. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 78(3), 326.
Frey, K. S., Hirschstein, M. K., Snell, J. L., van Schoiack Edstrom, L., Mackenzie, E. P., &
Broderick, C. J. (2005). Reducing playground bullying and supporting beliefs: An
experimental trial of the steps to respect program. Developmental Psychology, 41(3),
479-490. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.41.3.479
Gerrity, D. A., & DeLucia-Waack, J. L. (2007). Effectiveness of groups in the schools. Journal
For Specialists In Group Work, 32(1), 97-106. doi:10.1080/01933920600978604
Greif, J. L., & Furlong, M. J. (2006). The assessment of school bullying: Using theory to inform
practice. Journal Of School Violence, 5(3), 33-50. doi:10.1300/J202v05n03_04
Hall, K. R., Rushing, J., & Khurshid, A. (2011). Using the solving problems together
psychoeducational group counseling model as an intervention for negative peer pressure.
Journal For Specialists In Group Work, 36(2), 97-110.
doi:10.1080/01933922.2011.562344
Hirschstein, M. K., Van Schoiack Edstrom, L., Frey, K. S., Snell, J. L., & MacKenzie, E. P.
(2007). Walking the talk in bullying prevention: Teacher implementation variables related
to initial impact of the steps to respect program. School Psychology Review, 36(1), 3-21.
Lines, D. (2005). A peer counselling service in a secondary school to combat bullying: Issues in
planning and ongoing management. Pastoral Care In Education, 23(1), 19-27.
doi:10.1111/j.0264-3944.2005.00318.x

12
Education 500
Research Proposal
Lund, E. M., Blake, J. J., Ewing, H. K., & Banks, C. S. (2012). School counselors' and school
psychologists' bullying prevention and intervention strategies: A look into real-world
practices. Journal Of School Violence, 11(3), 246-265.
doi:10.1080/15388220.2012.682005
McMillan, J. H. (2012). Educational research: Fundamentals for the consumer. (6th ed.).
Boston: Pearson.
Newgent, R. A., Lounsbery, K. L., Keller, E. A., Baker, C. R., Cavell, T. A., & Boughfman, E. M.
(2009). Differential perceptions of bullying in the schools: A comparison of student,
parent, teacher, school counselor, and principal reports. Journal Of School
Counseling, 71-33.
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (2011-2012). Washington state report card.
Retrieved from http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?
groupLevel=District&schoolId=113&reportLevel=District&orgLinkId=113&yrs=&year=
2011-12
Olweus D. Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do. Cambridge, MA:
Blackwell Publishers; 1993.
Olweus D, Limber S, Mihalic SF. Blueprints for Violence Prevention, Book Nine: Bullying
Prevention Program. Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence;
2002.
Olweus D. A useful evaluation design and effects of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.
Psychol Crime Law. 2005;11(4): 389-402

13
Education 500
Research Proposal
Phillips, V. I., & Cornell, D. G. (2012). Identifying victims of bullying: Use of counselor
interviews to confirm peer nominations. Professional School Counseling, 15(3), 123-131.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (2013). Stop bullying: Bullying definition.
Retrieved from http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/definition/#types
Young, A., Hardy, V., Hamilton, C., Biernesser, K., Sun, L., & Niebergall, S. (2009).
Empowering students: Using data to transform a bullying prevention and intervention
program. Professional School Counseling, 12(6), 413-420.

14
Education 500
Research Proposal
Appendix;
The School Climate Bullying Survey: Description and Research summary
Who is being bullied? Help us stop bullying at this school form