Social Change
Effort Project (SPEC) Assessment Plan
We are beginning
the second portion of our Social Justice, Human Rights, and Macro Social Work
course with an expanded group. We have maintained former group members Nicole
Gordon and Gabrielle Ernest, both with the Canyons School District, and have
added new group members Kari Cunningham with Guadalupe School in Salt Lake City
and Victoria Choate with the Davis County School District. We are hopeful that
the expansion of our group will provide us with a greater volume of data for
the possibility of greater reliability and validity. We are also aware of the
variability in individual school needs, which may influence selected
interventions and strategies as we continue addressing the issues of bullying
and conflict resolution among school-age children.
Recruitment process
In consideration
of our practicum placements, we are going to administer the survey using one of
the following methods: Hand delivery to teachers with a verbal introduction of
the survey, distributing surveys individually to teacher mailboxes, or
administering surveys verbally during work or lunch breaks. Identifying the
most effective method of distribution of surveys in each of our schools can
benefit future research.
Number of people to include in the
assessment and number of surveys to be conducted
To better assess the bullying and conflict situations in
each individual school, we have collectively decided to conduct a survey
regarding teachers’ perceptions of these issues. Each group member will
distribute 25 surveys at their respective schools. Statistics from the National
institute of Health state that 60% of surveys are typically returned. If this statistic
holds true we should receive roughly 60 surveys. However, we hope to receive at
least the minimum of 20 surveys required for this course.
Time and
location of the assessment
Before survey administration, our group will address
instructor feedback at week 3. We hope that this feedback will address ways in which we can improve this survey for maximum effectiveness. We
will administer the surveys between week 4 and week 6 of the course, so that we
can analyze the data between week 6 and 8. We will inform our survey
participants that the surveys need to be completed by February 18th;
the surveys will be completed at each school during school hours.
Roles and responsibilities
Each of our group
members shall do a general evaluation of her received data and full analysis
shall be conducted as a group on March 5th.
Semi-structured assessment guide
Introductory
verbal script
“We are a small
group of graduate students in the College of Social Work at the University of
Utah. We’re conducting a survey of teachers and staff in Title 1 schools in Salt Lake and
Davis Counties regarding their perceptions of bullying and conflicts among
their students.
We hope to
gather information that will support our teachers, students and families. Your
perception is important to us and will help us create interventions to improve students’
abilities to appropriately report bullying and manage conflict. Your feedback
will also help us identify a target group of students on whom to focus our
efforts for additional bullying help as well as conflict management skills. Both positive and negative comments are helpful.
Your
participation in this survey is voluntary and confidential. We estimate this
survey will take about 10 minutes of your time.”
Survey
Questions
1. What age
groups do you work with?
2. How do you
define bullying?
3. What do you
believe are the common demographics of students who are bullied? (ex: age,
ethnicity, sexual orientation/gender identity/gender expression, socioeconomic
class, etc.)
4. What do you
believe are the common characteristics of students who are bullied? (ex: hygiene,
appearance, weight, physical ability, etc.)
5. How
frequently do you see incidents of bullying among your students?
Never
Rarely (1 to 2 times per school
year)
Sometimes (3 to 6 times per school
year)
Frequently (7 to 12 times per school
year)
Constantly (More than once a month)
6. How do you
respond when a student comes to you with a complaint of being bullied?
7. How do you
define conflict?
8. What does
conflict look like among your students?
9. How frequently
do you see incidents of conflict among your students?
Never
Rarely (1 to 2 times per school
year)
Sometimes (3 to 6 times per school
year)
Frequently (7 to 12 times per school
year)
Constantly (More than once a month)
10. What do you
believe are the common demographics of students who are involved in conflict? (ex: age,
ethnicity, sexual orientation/gender identity/gender expression, socioeconomic
class, etc.)
11. What do you
believe are the common characteristics of students who are involved in conflict? (ex:
hygiene, appearance, weight, physical ability, etc.)
12. How do you
respond when approached with student conflict?
Wrap up
“Thank you for
your time and dedication to improving our school community!”
