Scaling and Disseminating Brief Bullying Prevention Programming: Strengths, Challenges, and Considerations

Abstract

Abstract Peer bullying occurs frequently among middle school youth, negatively impacting students and the broader school climate. However, during these years there is a gap in translating empirically supported prevention science into school-based practices. This paper describes how the evidence-based Free2B bullying prevention multimedia assembly was disseminated by a team of educators, researchers, and technologists to over 14,000 students in 40 middle schools across the state. This dissemination and scaling effort was conducted in partnership with the state’s government officials and Office of Safe Schools in order to ensure that each school and district across the state had equal access in applying for the programming. Over half of participating students expressed concerns about school bullying, with 36% reporting victimization and 17% reporting perpetration of bullying in the past month. Significant improvements were found in problem-solving knowledge, confidence in being a positive bystander, and sympathy for peer victims. We discuss gender and community setting differences (urban, suburban, rural) in the findings, implications for dissemination and implementation science, and school psychologists’ role in disseminating bullying prevention practices. Impact Statement Bullying in schools is a crucial impediment for children learning and achieving their full potential. Although effective evidence-based bullying prevention programming exist, when these same programs are disseminated and scaled, they often are less successful. The current study illustrates how researchers utilized principles of the Diffusion of Innovation theory to partner with state influencers to successfully disseminate and scale the Free2B program with strong results to over 14,000 students from 40 schools across the state.