Is the link between large high schools and student victimization an illusion?

Abstract

To determine whether larger high schools have more student victimization than smaller schools, this study examined a statewide sample of approximately 7,431 ninth-grade students and 2,353 teachers in 290 Virginia high schools participating in the Virginia High School Safety Study. School size was distinguished from the proportion of students receiving free or reduced-price meals, percentage of minority students, ethnic diversity (heterogeneity), and urbanicity. In larger schools, teachers and students reported that they perceived more bullying and teasing taking place, but student self-reports of being a victim of bullying were not associated with school size. Additionally, school discipline records showed that although the total number of incidents was higher, the rate of bullying offenses was lower in larger schools. Similar results were found for measures of student threats and physical assaults. These findings raise the possibility that the link between larger schools and higher student victimization is an illusion based on perceived frequency rather than rates of victimization.

Books or Guards? Charter School Security Costs

“…The authors hypothesized that this result might follow from larger school use of security practices such as cameras. Klein and Cornell (2010) reported like findings after analyzing data from the Virginia High School Safety Study.…”

“…Small schools are also thought to provide safer learning environments because of their ability to foster closer student-staff bonds and shared behavior norms (Cotton, 1996;Jimerson, 2006;Klonsky, 2002;Nathan & Febey, 2001). Despite the plausibility of this view, few studies explore the association between enrollment and safety directly (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2009), and those studies that have offer ambiguous results (Klein & Cornell, 2010). For example, Gottfredson and DiPietro (2011) reported that after controlling for student characteristics (e.g., age, poverty, gender, and ethnicity) personal and property victimization was inversely associated with enrollment (see also, Mooij, Smeets, & de Wit, 2011).…”

The Relation Between the Prevalence of Teasing and Bullying and Schoolwide Academic Achievement.

“…School demographics such as racial composition, measures of socio-economic status, and school size have been found to be important factors in studies of school BULLYING AND ACHIEVEMENT xviii disorder, academic performance, and student engagement Klein & Cornell, 2010;Sutton & Sodderstrom, 1999;Sirin, 2005;Finn & Rock, 1997). Therefore, three demographic variables were controlled fore: enrollment size of the school, percentage of minority students, and the percentage of students participating in the free/reduced price meal program.…”

“…School demographics have been found to be important factors in studies of school disorder, engagement, and academic achievement (Klein & Cornell, 2010;Sutton & Sodderstrom, 1999;Sirin, 2005;Finn & Rock, 1997). Larger schools tend to have more PTB (Klein & Cornell, 20110), lower academic achievement, and lower levels of student engagement .…”

“…Minority status has also been negatively related to student engagement (Finn & Rock, 1997). Finally, schools in more impoverished areas tend to have more PTB (Klein & Cornell, 2010) and lower academic achievement (Sutton & Sodderstrom, 1999;Sirin, 2005).…”