Speakers
Description
There is a gap in international research on linking school processes that promote or prevent bullying (Bevilacqua et al., 2017). While some have explored the relationship between bullying and learning outcomes (Brown & Taylor, 2008; Eriksen et al., 2012), less is known about how schools contribute to both learning and bullying prevention. Do schools that excel in student outcomes also prevent bullying effectively? We use Norwegian register data from primary and lower secondary students to evaluate this. The data comes from a national compulsory student survey covering all schools, with a sample of over 200 000 seventh graders from 2015-2022. We merge our estimates on schools’ value-added measures for preventing bullying with indicators for learning outcomes from the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training.
We use register data to estimate schools’ contributions to preventing bullying using value-added methodology. This approach is commonly used to construct indicators of teachers’ or schools’ contributions to student achievement on tests/exams. Koedel et al. (2015) review the literature and evaluate applications of this approach in compulsory and secondary schooling and teacher effectiveness studies.
Main findings suggest no association between schools’ contributions to preventing bullying and learning outcomes. We explore several mechanisms to explain the differences in schools’ contributions. The lack of association between school contributions to grades (value added) and bullying prevention is interesting but not surprising. However, understanding the factors that contribute to differences in schools’ effectiveness in bullying prevention and learning outcomes is highly relevant for practical efforts to prevent bullying in schools.
Keywords
Learning outcomes, value-added, social background
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Quantitative method study |
|---|---|
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
