Grantee News

Bullying Prevention Evaluation Findings Promising

Bullying Prevention evaluation fact sheets.With two years’ of evaluation data completed for The Trust’s Bullying Prevention initiative, the findings show that bullying is prevalent in Colorado – particularly in middle schools, and that lower levels of bullying are directly associated with higher levels of academic achievement. These and other outcomes are briefly summarized in Evaluation Findings from Years 1 and 2 – a fact sheet that provides an overview of bullying in Colorado and a snapshot of recommendations to prevent bullying. As well, Evaluation Findings for Safe2Tell Hotline quantifies the use and effectiveness of the anonymous hotline that enables students – as well as teachers, parents and others – to provide information about situations that make them feel unsafe, such as bullying, without fear of retribution for reporting such situations.

Evaluation data from the Bullying Prevention initiative is also referenced in Prevalence and Predictors of Internet Bullying, a new study that compares and contrasts the prevalence of Internet bullying with physical and verbal bullying among elementary, middle and high school students. A brief synopsis of the study, including the finding that methods aimed at reducing verbal abuse can also limit cyber-bullying, is provided in a news release from the University of California, Riverside where the study was conducted by researchers Kirk Williams, Ph.D., and Nancy Guerra, Ed.D., who also serve as evaluators of the Bullying Prevention initiative. A related article in The New York Times – More Teens Victimized by Cyber-Bullies  – also references the study that appeared in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

For additional information about the Bullying Prevention evaluation, contact Nancy Csuti, Dr.P.H., Director of Evaluation, 303-837-1200 or nancy@coloradotrust.org.