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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren

Long-term effects of school-wide interventions and school environment using longitudinal register data

Alternative title: Langtidseffekter av skoleintervensjoner og skolemiljø - en registerstudie

Awarded: NOK 8.9 mill.

The project's ambition is to investigate the long-term effects of two school-wide programs: School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (PALS in Norway) and the Olweus Anti-Bullying Program. PALS is a model for preventing behavioral and coping problems and improving the learning environment. PALS has been introduced in more than 200 primary schools in Norway and in more than 26,000 schools worldwide. Olweus is a leading anti-bullying program used by thousands of schools in many countries. Both programs have previously been evaluated with positive results after 1-4 years based on their primary purpose; reduction in bullying (Olweus) and fewer behavioral problems and a better learning environment (PALS). Our focus was effects for the students in the long term, after they had left the school where the interventions took place, on outcomes such as educational career, work, social insurance, crime and internalizing health problems, as well as possible effects on the intervention school environment. Even with small effects, the benefits for the individual and society can be very large. The project used longitudinal register data to study program effects. A national register for individual primary school affiliation is missing in Norway. The project therefore predicted school affiliation for individual students using information about where the students live (neighborhood) and data from national tests. Causal relationships are methodically difficult to detect without randomization. The design of the project is to use the cohorts that left the program schools just before the program was introduced, to estimate how the students who experienced the programs would have done it in the absence of the program. The project has by today generated 3 articles on PALS and 2 on Olweus. The article "Impacts of school-wide positive behavior support: Results from National Longitudinal Register Data" (Int Journal of Psychology, 2019) suggests that PALS reduces students' experience of noise in the classroom, but there is no sign of better school performance or less bullying. "Heterogeneity in Short- and Long-term Impacts of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) on academic outcomes, behavioral outcomes, and criminal activity" (J of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2021) focuses on possible effects of PALS on test scores and exams, early dropout in high school and crime. No long-term effects were found, neither for the average student nor for risk students. It is worth emphasizing that potential long-term effects are expected to be small. There is uncertainty associated with effect sizes in all studies, and small effects may be compatible with our data. "Impact of the School Environment on Medical Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A Population-Wide Register Data Study of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports" (under peer review) looks more closely at whether PALS has affected students' use of ADHD medicines, taken from the Prescription Register. We find that PALS reduces the likelihood of ADHD medications at 14-16 years of age by 12 percent. This reduction is mainly driven by high-risk students who attended primary schools that implemented PALS with high fidelity. «The potential of anti-bullying efforts in preventing academic failure and youth crime. A case using the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) »(under peer review) studies the long-term effects of OBPP on grades, dropout in high school and juvenile delinquency for all students (regardless of whether they have been involved in bullying or not). We find no significant differences in outcomes between students who experienced the program and those who went to school before it was introduced. The finding should be seen in light of the fact that a relatively small proportion of students are bullied. The effects of being exposed to school bullying must therefore be very large if one should expect the program to leave noticeable traces of long-term outcomes at school level. A limited potential for long-term average effects is compatible with significant program effects for individual children who have bullied others or have been exposed to it themselves. Our data do not contain information about bullying for individual students. «Do school-level anti-bullying interventions affect prescriptions of prescribed drugs in young adulthood? A case using the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program »(under peer review) examines whether OBPP affected the likelihood of being prescribed antidepressants, antianxiety drugs, hypnotics and sedatives at 17-22 years. The results suggest an increased likelihood of being prescribed medication for internalizing problems between 17 and 19. Our interpretation of these findings is that OBPP increased awareness of bullying and its harmful consequences, and reduced barriers that often prevent students with mental health problems from seeking help.

Prosjektets verdi er både knyttet til de funn og utviklingstrekk som artiklene dokumenterer, til innovativ utvikling av datakilder og analyser, og til utvikling av strategier og modeller for senere evalueringsarbeider, slik det ble skissert i prosjektbeskrivelsen. En betydelig internasjonal publisering også utenfor prosjektet kjernetema, illustrerer et flerfaglig forskningsarbeid og utvikling av kompetanse på tvers av faggrupper. Det har vært lagt sterk vekt på metodeutvikling og på nye strategier i evalueringsforskningen, strategier en er overbevist om vil komme til nytte både i forhold til videre forskning, og i forhold til utvikling av praksisfeltet.

Detrimental consequences, both for individuals and society, of academic failure, internalizing and externalizing mental health problems during childhood and adolescence have generated demand for preventive interventions, evidence-based practices and forma tive assessments in Norwegian schools. Two major school-wide interventions, Olweus bullying prevention program (OBPP) and Positive behavior, supportive learning environment and interaction in school (N-PALS), were implemented in more than 680 Norwegian sc hools during the period 2000-2010, with aims of reducing behavior problems and bullying. Up to now, there are no studies of the possible long-term effects of these programs on outcomes such as educational achievement and drop-out, labor market success, a ntisocial behavior and internalizing mental health problems. Even if such effects turn out to be small, the gains for individuals and society are likely to be substantial. Several research literatures argue for the likely existence of multiplier effects b oth over the life course and within peer groups. Reductions in bullying and behavior problems may thus affect outcomes for all children exposed to the programs, and improve their life chances in multiple domains during adolescence and early adulthood. Th e main aim of this project is to provide rigorous effects evaluations based on analyses of population-wide, longitudinal, attrition-free register data combined with information about indicators of implementation fidelity and earlier program effects at the school level. The project will extend existing knowledge of short-term program effects, by linking individual program exposure to a broad range of outcomes - within and beyond the school - measured during adolescence and early adulthood. Credible evide nce is fostered by organizing the project as a consortium, with program-independent data collection and analyses in collaboration with program purveyors who hold detailed knowledge of the interventions

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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren