The Impact of a Peer Mediation Program on the Number of Bullying Cases at an Urban Middle School

by

APPROVAL PAGE

This applied dissertation was submitted by Phyllis Perez under the direction of the persons listed below. It was submitted to the Abraham S. Fischler School of Education and Human Services and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Nova Southeastern University.

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Ronald Parlett, PhDDate

Committee Chair

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Katrina Pann, PhDDate

Committee Member

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Program Professor ReviewDate

Applied Research Center

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Ronald P. Kern, PhDDate

Associate Dean

ABSTRACT

This research study aims at examining the effects of a peer mediation program on bullying at an urban middle school. The research study also examines the peer mediation program and its effect on curtailing bullying. This study use the CIPP (Context, input, process, and product) model approach of bullying discipline referrals before and after the peer mediation intervention to examine bullying at the school in the study. The benefit of using the CIPP model through mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methodology allow the researcher to evaluate the intervention alone, as opposed to other variables that may cause observed or unobserved outcomes. The researcher analyze the quarterly data from discipline referrals involving bullying for 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years when there was no peer mediation program at the study site and compare them to the quarterly discipline referrals for the 2010-2011 quarterly discipline referrals involving bullying after a peer mediation program was re-established at the selected study site. This research study utilized the self-administered questionnaire and face to face interviews as research instruments. The self administered research questionnaire is administered with the teachers and the students of the selected schools. The face to face interview was conducted with the teachers and peer mediators of the selected schools. The findings of this particular research study indicate that there is a correlation exists among the sixth, seventh and eighth grade bullying discipline referrals. The quarterly data set has been collected for the years of 2008-2011 to examine the impact of peer mediation on the students bullying practices. The teachers and staff members interview findings indicate that although, the peer mediation program didn't able to vanishes bullying practices from the schools but it is helpful in minimizing the practices of bullying. The interview findings of peer mediators indicate that the peer mediation program is required in schools to overcome the students feeling when they would snitch and the conflicts were brought out into the open or would be embarrassed if other students knew of their participation in peer mediation. The re-establishment of peer mediation program is fruitful in order to reduce the bullying practices. Re-establishing a peer mediation program help in reduce the need for administrative disciplinary involvement and action during the 2011-2012 school years. There are several areas for promoting peer mediation in the middle school that can be improved upon in the future. Peer mediation could be a place where students could confidentially resolve issues of bullying with a peer within the context of the school setting. In addition, it would be beneficial to ...