Evaluation of the Kia Kaha anti-bullying programme for students in years 5-8, April 2007 - New Zealand Police

Evaluation of the Kia Kaha anti-bullying programme for students in years 5-8

April 2007

A report prepared by Juliana Raskauskas, College of Education, Massey University for New Zealand Police

First published in April 2007 by New Zealand Police, PO Box 3017, Wellington, New Zealand

Crown Copyright 2007

ISBN 0-277-02973-6


Summary

This report describes an evaluation of the Kia Kaha Anti-bullying programme for students in years 5 to 8.

Kia Kaha is an Anti-bullying programme developed by the New Zealand Police and originally released in 1992. The programme utilises a whole-school approach to improve the culture of schools and reduce bullying. The programme is delivered by teachers and Police Education Officers (PEOs) through classroom curricula and activities with the students.

49 schools (31 who had done Kia Kaha in the past 3 years and 22 who had not) participated in this evaluation. Schools were drawn from the lower North Island and upper South Island. The design of this evaluation included matched programme-comparison school analyses, student and teacher individual level comparisons, as well as teacher and PEO feedback. The methodology used surveys for students and teachers, as well as classroom discussions for year 5/6 students and in-depth interviews for teachers and PEOs.

Survey data were collected from 3,155 students and 67 teachers. Interviews or classroom discussions were conducted with a subset of those students, teachers, and all PEOs who delivered the programme to the participating schools.

Analyses compared schools who had implemented the Kia Kaha curriculum in the past 3-years with matched-comparison schools that had not participated in Kia Kaha. Student individual level comparisons on relevant variables were included in the analyses along side school comparisons. Teacher level analyses were also conducted. Interviews and classroom discussions were examined for themes and used to support findings from the statistical analyses.

Below is a summary of key findings reported from this evaluation. This summary shows that the Kia Kaha programme appears to be meeting its objectives:

  1. Overall Kia Kaha schools reported less bullying than matched comparison schools. Students at schools that have used Kia Kaha in the past 3 years report significantly less victimisation by bullies than students at schools that have not used Kia Kaha.

  2. Kia Kaha had a positive effect on school climate which was related to less bullying. The programme also increased self-esteem and attitudes toward victims among students. This was done, at least in part, by creating a safe environment for reporting bullying.

  3. The whole-school approach is an important part of Kia Kaha. Kia Kaha uses the whole-school approach to create a supportive school climate.

  4. In participating schools Kia Kaha was implemented according to the guidelines. Students and teachers were very positive about the programme and it was found to lead to knowledge gain among students.

  5. PEOs played a vital role in delivering the programme. They provided support and training for teachers and students felt safe reporting bullying to them.

  6. Strengths of Kia Kaha include the flexibility of the programme and the support provided by the PEO.

  7. Challenges of the programme include (1) turn-over of staff and students, and (2) schools not wanting to be stereotyped as schools with a bullying problem.

Suggested improvements from teachers, PEOs, and researchers, based on the findings of the evaluation, are provided below.

Suggested Improvements

Overall, the Kia Kaha programme was shown to be associated with lower levels of bullying and peer victimisation. Teachers, students, and PEOs were very positive of the programme and its effectiveness; however, some suggested improvements were identified during this research.

Teachers suggest that:

  • The Kia Kaha materials and videos be updated to include a diverse spectrum of students.

  • Information for parents encourage them to reinforce strategies taught in the programme and encourage them not to give conflicting advice to students.

  • More PEOs be employed so they can visit schools more often.

PEOs suggest that:

  • Materials be updated to be visually appealing to parents and students.

  • Materials incorporate new forms of bullying such as text-message and internet bullying.

  • A booklet of extra activities be developed for primary school and added to the materials.

Researchers suggest that:

  • Evaluations for teachers and students be built into the programme.

  • External rewards or certificates for students who and schools that have completed the programme be provided.

  • Guidelines for teachers and schools explain that an initial increase in reporting of bullying is expected as awareness of what constitutes bullying increases and a telling environment is created.

  • Reviews for new students should be added for between offerings of Kia Kaha. The programme is carried out in a 2-year cycle at most schools so it would be helpful if Kia Kaha provided different activities to reinforce concepts in alternating years.

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Table of contents

List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Biographical Statement
Executive Summary
Introduction
Background Research
Methodology
Findings
Question 1: Do schools that use the Kia Kaha programme report less bullying?
Question 2: Does Kia Kaha positively affect school climate?
Question 3: Is the Kia Kaha programme being implemented according to the guidelines?
Question 4: What was the role of PEOs in Kia Kaha schools?
Question 5: What are the strengths of and challenges to Kia Kaha being implemented in schools?
Summary of findings
Participants Suggested Improvements
Discussion and Conclusions
References
Appendix A: Description of Measures
Appendix B: Surveys and Questionnaires
Appendix C: Interview Schedules

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