Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to describe the effectiveness of the Hazelden No-Bullying Program: Preventing Bullying at School, as perceived by fourth-and fifth-grade students toward the presence of verbal, physical, or social bullying behaviors at schools where a program had been implemented for two or more years in a high-risk neighborhood or community and schools where no program had been implemented. Methodology. The research design for this study was descriptive and ex post facto. The researcher selected four schools in high-risk neighborhoods or communities, two schools that used the Hazelden No Bullying Program: Preventing Bullying in School and two schools that did not. Fourth- and fifth-grade students were given a questionnaire that determined their attitudes toward bullying behaviors at school. A Z Score Test of Difference was used to determine if there was a significant difference between the treatment and nontreatment groups. Findings. No statistical significant difference was found between the treatment group that had used the Hazelden No Bullying Program: Preventing Bullying at School, and the students who had not used the program. The treatment groups did not fully implement the program as recommended by the Program Director's Manual. Conclusions. California schools are required to provide social development programs and instruction to students. With increased demands placed on schools to raise their API scores, these programs are often set to the side and not implemented, as the design would require. As with any curricular program, when it is not implemented fully, it is difficult to accurately measure the effectiveness on student learning and behaviors. Recommendations. The problem of bullying in schools needs to be addressed in a more direct manner than it has been in the past. To determine whether social development programs such as the Hazelden No Bullying Program: Preventing Bullying at School is truly effective, it must be studied in an environment where it is fully implemented under the guidelines found in the Program Director's Manual.