Characteristics of effective schools in facing and reducing bullying

Abstract

This article examines whether variation in school effectiveness in terms of reducing bullying can be attributed to differences in their classroom and school learning environment. All 6th grade students (n = 1504) of 35 primary schools in Cyprus participated in this study. The revised Olweus bully/victim questionnaire was used to measure bullying at the beginning and at the end of the school year. A questionnaire measuring the classroom learning environment was also administered to the student sample. A teacher questionnaire was used in order to measure school policy and actions taken to improve the school learning environment. Multilevel modelling techniques were used to analyse our data. Almost all factors concerned with the school and the classroom learning environment and school evaluation were found to be associated with reduction of bullying. Implications of findings for research on bullying are drawn.