Tough  Evaluation Results – Fall 2006 – Borland Elementary

 

Introduction

 

Bridgework Theater creates and performs plays that address urgent problems faced by children and youth.  In 2000, Bridgework created a play that addresses the problem of bullying.  The play, Tough, targets children in grades 1 - 4.  On October 26, 2005, Bridgework provided Tough for students at Borland School in Imlay City, MI.  

 

Goal and Objectives

 

The goal of Tough is to increase the ability of participants to prevent bullying.  The objective of the play is that students who participate in Tough will demonstrate at least one of the following:

 

·        More willingness to stop bullying behavior

·        Less willingness to blame the person being hurt

·        More willingness to report bullying behavior   

 

The Play and Related Activities Program Description

 

Bridgework's program consists of:

 

1.  A live performance of Tough, a 40 minute play

2.  A classroom activity session led by a class room teacher

3.  A student handout that lists strategies for dealing with bullies.

4.  A list of resources that schools can use to create or improve an ongoing bully prevention program

 

Evaluation Design

 

Bridgework's evaluator compared the attitudes of a group of young people who had not participated in the program (control group) with the attitudes of a similar group of young people who had seen the play (test group). 

 

Statement (1): If one kid at my school bullies another kid, but only with words, I (almost never, sometimes, almost always) will try to stop it.   The statement measured willingness to stop bullying behavior.

 

Statement (2): When kids get bullied, it’s (almost always,     sometimes, almost never) their fault.   The statement measured willingness to blame the victim.

 

Statement (3): I will (almost never, sometimes, almost always) rat on a bully even if the bully is a friend of mine -- rat means to tell a teacher.  The statement measured willingness to report bullying behavior.

 

The evaluator received completed tests from a total of 406 students.  Of those students, 201 were in the control group, 205 were in test group.

 

 Scoring

 

Points along the semantic continuum were weighted with values of one (left side of the continuum) to three (right side of the continuum).  The mean score of the control group was compared to the mean score of the experimental.  For all three statements, a significant increase in mean score was desired.  A ztest at the .05 level of significance (95% chance that test results can be replicated) (Z score >1.65) was used to determine statistical significance. 

 

Results

 

The difference between responses of the control group and test were significantly different (and were in the desired direction) for statements 1 and 3.  For statement 2, differences were in the desired direction and approached significance.  The results show that the program caused increased willingness to stop bullying behavior and increased willingness to report bullying behavior.  The results indicate that the program also may have caused decreased willingness to blame the person being hurt.  Tough accomplished its objective. 

 

 

		Statement 1	Statement 2	Statement 3
Mean, Control Group		2.48	2.38	2.35
Mean, Test Group		2.62	2.46	2.65
Z-score (Control compared to Test)		2.19	1.27	4.56
p value		p< .025	p<.1	p<.0005
Desired Direction?		Yes	Yes	Yes