Building - Interconnectedness High Schoolers

Building Interconnectedness 1
Building Interconnectedness:
A Study of High Schoolers and Their Expectations for Their Schools

Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to discern what schools can do to build
interconnectedness. Interconnectedness is a term used to describe the amount of support students
feel the safety of the school en!ironment and the effecti!eness of communication between
teachers and students. This study was also intended to e!aluate the amount of interconnectedness
at Totten!ille High School. "articipants were drawn from Totten!ille High School#s student and
staff population. $irst students and teachers were sur!eyed to determine the le!el of
interconnectedness at Totten!ille and the areas in which it is wea% and strong. Afterwards
selected students were inter!iewed about their high school experiences and any suggestions they
ha!e to impro!e Totten!ille. Sur!eys re!ealed that students trust friends but not classmates that
they sometimes feel supported by teachers but do not belie!e the administration has their best
interests in mind. &hile many teachers mostly belie!e that they should attempt to help students
de!elop positi!ely in and out of the classroom many are unwilling to spend more time wor%ing
and some feel they need more training. Inter!iewed students mostly bolstered sur!ey data but
had few practical suggestions. This may be because they ha!e ne!er seen an en!ironment with
high interconnectedness and do not %now how to replicate it. They were articulate when !oicing
concerns and these concerns illustrate specific problems in Totten!ille. This study was more
effecti!e at re!ealing problems with interconnectedness than solutions.
Building Interconnectedness:
A Study of High Schoolers and Their Expectations for Their Schools
Since I began teaching at Totten!ille High School in the fall of '(() I ha!e been
comparing it to my alma mater St. Benedeict#s "rep and it has often suffered in comparison.
&hile Totten!ille has many disad!antages beyond the control of anyone in the building most
notably si*e there is one huge problem I ha!e obser!ed which can be remedied. Totten!ille
students often seem disconnected from each other and the school at large. This is not to say that
they disli%e the school or ha!e no friends but they do not feel any great loyalty to the school
and many do not feel that they ha!e any great support networ%.
+any Totten!ille students seem apathetic at best and selfish at worst. E!en those who are
ambitious feel that they are alone that they are able to succeed at Totten!ille based on their own
efforts and talents but that they do not necessarily ha!e any help. +any Totten!ille students slip
through the crac%s graduating without e!er reali*ing their full potential. E!en the most
successful students must deal with enemies in the building as Totten!ille students compete with
each other rather than offering support. Students are loyal to their friends and often little else.
The least ambitious !alue friendship abo!e all else the most ambitious li%e their friends and
oppose e!eryone else.
$urthermore though there are about ,((( students in the school the same few seem to
achie!e the most. +any students use drugs some during the school day. E!eryone in the building
%nows that students snea% out into the woods next door to the school during their lunch periods
to smo%e. +ost seem to see this as the problem of the indi!idual students. School security may
try to stop the students but few people !iew student drug use as a school problem. &hen I began
to loo% into some of the problems at Totten!ille the word that came up most fre-uently in my
research was interconnectedness. Interconnectedness is the notion that students should be part of
a larger community where they feel that fellow students staff and the community at large
support them. Schools with high interconnectedness ha!e lower rates of substance abuse lower
ris% of student suicide and high student achie!ement. &hile other factors may influence some of
these issues school atmosphere has a huge impact on students and schools can do more to
control this than anything else.
&hile I am not focusing on all aspects of interconnectedness in my research it is a
multidisciplinary field and a full understanding of interconnectedness re-uires %nowledge of
sociology biology and de!elopmental psychology. The study of interconnectedness emerged
from studies of de!elopmental psychology. .esearchers became interested in studying
marginali*ed students especially the poor /0essor 12234. Studies showing the similarities and
differences between poor and wealthy5middle class adolescents as well as white and minority
adolescents ga!e a more complete understanding of adolescent de!elopment /0essor 12234 and
can be used to alle!iate social problems as well as aid adolescent growth in schools.
6e!elopmental psychology influenced by Bronfenbrenner#s social contexts is also interested in
the effects of external factors such as schools peers and churches on adolescent de!elopment
/0essor 12234. &hile Bronfenbrenner was more interested in family de!elopment
/Bronfenbrenner 12784 his o!erlapping social contexts inspired studies of schools especially
studies of the role of schools in adolescent de!elopment. 9ne of the goals of de!elopmental
psychologists was righting wrongs and helping at:ris% students succeed /0essor 12234.
9b!iously school atmosphere is a ma;or issue. In America especially cities schools ha!e
focused on cutting bac% on !iolence so students feel safe learning /<eBlanc Swisher =itaro and
Tremblay '((7> .ubinson '(('> +arin Brown and ?hild '((7> Axelman '((8> American
"sychologist '((7
1
4. Bullying gangs and disrupti!e students are ob!ious problems and
students struggle to perform in schools where these things are allowed to happen. &hen students
feel unsafe at school they are unable to learn so schools ha!e attempted to ma%e schools feel
safer. &orse studies ha!e shown that students who feel unsafe are more li%ely to drop out of
school or transfer /Ainley '((8> American "sychologist '((74.
@nfortunately it is extremely difficult to define a safe school. =erbal bullying and social
ostraci*ing are e-ually large problems and students who face these types of harassment ha!e ;ust
as many problems reaching their potential as those who face more ob!ious threats. Ainsley#s
study showed that bullied students were more li%ely to drop out regardless of academic ability
/Ainley '((84. Schools ha!e enough trouble %eeping the wea%er students in the building. They
cannot afford to lose the strong ones due to bullying. &hile the definitions of bullying and unsafe
schools ha!e been expanded /Aoung Hardy Hamilton Biernesser Sun and Biebergall '((2>
+arin et al '((7> Barbo*a Schiamberg 9ehm%e Cor*eniews%i "ost and Heraux '((24 and
schools try new inter!entions when schools feel unsafe /Aoung et al '((2> <eBlanc et al '((7>
.ubinson '(('> +arin et al '((74 recent studies show that bullying still remains a huge
problem.
E!en students who feel safe are often frustrated by their schools. They feel alone and
unsupported and they do not perform as well in school as those who feel safer. +any schools
ha!e large numbers of frustrated students. These students ha!e high potential but fail to reach it.
Studies ha!e shown that many of these students drop out abuse drugs or attempt suicide
/Axelman '((8> Beattie '(()> <a.usso .omer and Selman '((74. Axelman studies public
high schools in ?hicago which attempted to enforce many rules in order to ma%e students feel
safer. Through his inter!iews he disco!ered that e!en the best students were frustrated by the
1 Bo authors gi!en.
rules. +any e!en felt that the school was discriminating against them by enforcing dress codes.
As opposed to feeling safer these students felt they were being harassed and were therefore less
li%ely to attend school. $urthermore the rules did nothing to pre!ent dangerous beha!ior as
students who were acti!e in gangs found new ways to show their colors without !iolating the
school dress code. Beattie researched a school located in a ?anadian city full of at ris% students
most of whom had dropped out of traditional schools due to frustration. They thri!ed in an
en!ironment with fewer rules but a more carefully enforced honor code. By contrasting common
school practices with a new model in which teachers offer more support to change school
culture <a.usso .omer and Selman /'((74 were able to show that schools students need to feel
respected in order to perform well and that many students especially minorities do not feel
respected in their schools. By increasing respect schools can hope to become less frustrating
places for students and therefore %eep their students in the building and learning as much as
possible.
&hile frustration is a serious problem many students feel unsafe as well as disrespected.
+any schools ha!e attempted to ma%e students feel safer by penali*ing all rule brea%ers. Dero
tolerance policies were created to impro!e schools but often failed to ta%e into account se!erity
of offense mitigating circumstances and context of offense /American "sychologist '((74.
American "sychologist analy*ed many schools with *ero:tolerance policies and saw many
disenfranchised students who felt harassed by unreasonable rules or more often unreasonable
conse-uences for rule brea%ing. E!en if *ero:tolerance policies had the desired effect which they
often did not they also frustrated innocent students. E!en the best:intentioned decisions such as
dress codes in a ?hicago school created to minimi*e gang colors often end up disenfranchising
the wrong students. E!en as gang colors are hidden innocent students are insulted by faculty
and feel alienated by the adults who are supposed to be helping them /Axelman '((84.
Therefore schools are disenfranchising students whom they are supposed to be helping and
these students are less li%ely to perform to their ability. $urthermore studies of school
en!ironment ha!e demonstrated that schools which create a positi!e mutually respectful culture
ha!e more students de!elop positi!e -ualities /academic success maturity social graces4 and
fewer instances of !iolence and bullying than schools with simply attempt to enforce rules
/<a.usso et al '((7> +arin et al '((7> Beattie '(()4. <a.usso .omer and Selman showed
that students feel frustrated and disrespected when rules are o!er:enforced. +arin Brown and
?hild#s study focused on one suburban middle school#s inter!entions with a group of bullies.
&hile the school used seemingly effecti!e and fair methods to deal with the problem the bullies
simply became more subtle until the !ictim transferred. The authors suggest that schools need to
ma%e students not want to bully rather than simply responding when bullying happens but ha!e
no idea how to do this. Another portion of their study which focused on schools as a whole
rather than indi!idual students showed that high schools with ci!ically in!ol!ed students had less
bullying and higher academic achie!ement. They are not sure how to encourage ci!ic
in!ol!ement ;ust as they are not sure how to ma%e students not want to bully but their research
shows a connection between the community and the indi!idual student#s beha!ior and
achie!ement. Beattie#s school#s honor code appeared to be wor%ing but this was a small
alternati!e school and its methods may not be applicable to larger traditional institutions. These
di!erse studies show that school location and race and socio:economic status of students do not
ha!e the same effect as school en!ironment. If schools are able to create a respectful
en!ironment which cannot be done by simply creating and enforcing rules their students will be
more li%ely to succeed.
$urthermore studies ha!e shown that adolescents re-uire autonomy to de!elop properly
/Axelman '((8> American "sychologist '((7> +arin et al '((74. In Axelman#s school e!en
those students who continued to show up despite their frustration and anger with school policies
were not gi!en the opportunity to fully de!elop and were therefore poorly prepared for
adulthood. The students studies by American "sychologist had a thorough understanding of
specific rules but did not understand the reasoning behind those rules. Dero tolerance policies by
nature ta%e away student autonomy. E!en the schools that do create safe en!ironments with *ero:
tolerance policies hinder students# de!elopment. The students may feel safe but they are still
unli%ely to reach their full potential because their natural de!elopment is restricted.
.ather than penali*ing students who ma%e mista%es more effecti!e schools focus on
helping students to de!elop properly so that they are less li%ely to bully /Aoung et al '((2>
+arin et al '((74. Aoung Hard Hamilton Biernesser Sun and Biebergall studied a di!erse
student middle school and disco!ered that mandated anti:bullying rules did not change much
but teachers wor%ing anti:bullying themes into daily lessons helped ma%e gradual changes. These
changes helped students to de!elop positi!e peer bonds while feeling supported by staff.
Stewart#s study of African American high school students showed that students who feel those
types of connections and are allowed some input into their own educations and !iew their
education in the context of their communities are less li%ely to bully others abuse drugs and
attempt suicide /Stewart '(()4. &hile Stewart#s research showed that neighborhoods can
influence students# beha!ior and performance schools ha!e more of an effect and the most
effecti!e ones created supporti!e connections while de!eloping autonomy. =arious studies
including Ainley#s extensi!e study of Australian schools 9pdena%%er and =an 6amme#s
comparison of smaller and larger British schools Beattie#s analysis of a small alternati!e
?anadian high school and +arin Brown and ?hild#s study of schools across America ha!e also
shown that students from schools that allow students to de!elop in this way perform better on
comparable tests than their peers from schools that do not foster student de!elopment /Ainley
'((8> 9pdena%%er and =an 6amme '(()> Beattie '(()> +arin et al '((74. They ha!e
concluded that students from these more supporti!e schools are also more li%ely to mature into
producti!e mature adults who are acti!e and helpful in their communities. Ainley has already
seen some tangible e!idence in Australia. $urthermore if teachers and staff focus on adolescent
de!elopment they are more li%ely to catch warning signs -uic%ly which is helpful in proacti!ely
dealing with potential problems as well as pre!enting suicide and drug abuse. Students who are
more acti!e in school are less li%ely to abuse drugs and beha!e aggressi!ely. Acti!e teachers
catch problem beha!iors faster and increased communication helps schools %eep problem
beha!iors from escalating no matter what specific rules are in place /Aoung et al '((24. Studies
showed that schools with high collaboration and communication had better beha!ed students and
less substance abuse /.ubinson '(('> ?ollaboration for Academics and Substance Abuse
'((7
2
4. $urthermore schools that increased collaboration and communication were able to
decrease existing problems /.ubinson '(('4. @nfortunately .ubinson was unable to explain
how to impro!e these factors especially in a large building. $urthermore collaboration and
communication may impro!e inter!entions but they do not necessarily pre!ent problems from
de!eloping at all or create the systemic change that researchers such as Ainley and Beattie
encourage.
Barbo*a Schiamberg 9ehm%e Cor*eniews%i "ost E Heraux Fs study of the contexts of
bullying showed that peer relationships are a %ey factor in de!elopment and that positi!e peer
relations are a %ey component of healthy de!elopment but that students with negati!e peer
2 Bo authors gi!en.
relations are more li%ely to bully. /Barbo*a et al '((24. Stewart#s study showed that schools that
fostered positi!e peer relations boasted healthier de!elopment and higher academic achie!ement
than schools that did not e!en in similar neighborhoods /Stewart '(()4. Brand $elner
Seitsinger Burns and Bolton -uantified personal growth and reported that schools with positi!e
en!ironments a ma;or component of which was positi!e peer relationships had higher personal
growth scores as well as higher test scores /Brand $elner Seitsinger Burns and Bolton '((74.
9ther studies also reiterated the importance of positi!e peer relationships to healthy de!elopment
/<eBlanc et al '((7> +arin et al '((74. Schools that attempt to enforce anti:bullying rules from
the top down ine!itably fail /Aoung et al '((24. At one school teachers enforced rules to stop
bullies but the bullies adapted abusing their !ictim in subtle ways which teachers and
administration could not see but which still scarred the !ictim until he transferred /+arin et al
'((74. Students who report negati!e peer pressure are more li%ely to use drugs and struggle in
school /<a.usso et al '((74 while positi!e peer pressure is extraordinarily beneficial to
students. +ultiple studies of many students in many countries and neighborhoods agree that
schools that holistically build student relationships that focus on helping students mature while
de!eloping close bonds are extremely successful at stopping bullying and ha!e better ad;usted
higher performing students /Stewart '(()> <a.usso et al '((7> Ainley '((8> Aoung et al '((2>
Brand et al '((7> 9pdena%%er et al '(()> Beattie '(()> American "sychologist '((7> +arin et
al '((74. Schools that focus on specific rules meanwhile fail to pre!ent bullying but alienate
e!en those students who would not ha!e bullied in the first place /see abo!e4.
Some countries such as Australia ha!e attempted to force schools to foster
interconnectedness rather than penali*ing offenses /Ainley '((84. +any of the most successful
schools around the world already do this /Ainley '((8> Beattie '(()4. +any schools do not
understand exactly how they ha!e created interconnectedness howe!er. $urthermore many of
the schools that ha!e been most successful at creating interconnectedness ha!e been smaller ones
/see abo!e4. Therefore there are few practical applications of studies of those schools for larger
schools. <arge schools may be able to ma%e broad conclusions based on the results of
researchers such as Beattie but do not ha!e specific inter!entions from those studies.
$urthermore most studies ha!e focused on the importance of interconnectedness. Therefore
they ha!e analy*ed which schools ha!e high le!els of interconnectedness and the effects of
interconnectedness on students but ha!e rarely ta%en the next step and analy*ed how successful
schools created interconnectedness. &hile some studies ha!e made broad suggestions on
creating interconnectedness /American "sychologist '((7> Beattie '(()> Brand et al '((7>
<a.usso et al '((7> 9pdena%%er '(()> Stewart '(()> Aoung et al '((24 they do not gi!e
specific strategies. It is simple to see that schools ha!e high interconnectedness but difficult to
see how they ha!e done this. Smaller schools tend to ha!e higher interconnectedness
/9pdena%%er '(()> Beattie '(()4 but since schools are not shrin%ing any time soon especially
in Bew Aor% this %nowledge is not particularly helpful to urban educators hoping to de!elop
interconnectedness.
Interconnectedness is particularly important when one considers the importance schools
ha!e on students# de!elopment. Schools ser!e most students and sometimes schools end up
responsible for students# mental health especially because schools are one of the few places
where nearly all adolescents end up. The ?ollaborati!e for Academics and Substance Abuse
argues that it is the responsibility of schools to monitor students# mental health /?ollaborati!e for
Academics and Substance Abuse '((74 while <a.usso .omer and Selman ha!e shown that
schools that ta%e an acti!e interest in students# mental health ha!e lower instances of drug use
and that all schools whether or not they want to ha!e a huge effect on the mental health of their
students /<a.usso et al '((74. E!en in safe schools indi!idual students may be at ris% due to
external issues or personal problems. Students who re-uire more help are more li%ely to recei!e
it in schools with high interconnectedness. They ha!e a large safety net of peers and teachers
and studies either anecdotal or comparati!e suggest that students at schools with higher
interconnectedness are less li%ely to slip through the crac%s /Beattie '(()> +arin et al '((7>
.ubinson '(('> <eBlanc et al '((7> Brand et al '((74. Schools that focus on
interconnectedness are most li%ely to help the students who are most at ris%.
Interconnectedness has the potential to be a great e-uali*er in education. Students who
felt high school attachment and school commitment had positi!e interactions with peers and
producti!e parent child discussions performed better academically and had fewer psychological
problems /Stewart '(()4. +eanwhile school in!ol!ement parental school in!ol!ement and
socioeconomic status
3
had a low effect on achie!ement and psychological problems /Stewart
'(()4. "ut simply no matter where schools are no matter how in!ol!ed parents are schools that
are able to ma%e students feel connected to their schools and encourage positi!e peer interaction
ha!e higher academic achie!ement and healthier students /Stewart '(()> +arin et al '((7>
Beattie '(()4.
Purpose
&hile current research has done an excellent ;ob illustrating the importance of
interconnectedness there is little information on how to build it. Articles encourage schools to
encourage effecti!e student to student and student to teacher communication but do not explain
how schools ha!e done this /or failed to do it4. I plan to use my research to begin to alle!iate this
problem. I did not ha!e the time or resources to study effecti!e inter!entions but I was able to
3 Italics mine.
students about their interactions with teachers and peers. Through my sur!eys I was also able to
see which areas Totten!ille was strong in and which needed impro!ement. I found out from
students some types of positi!e interactions and where students feel they feel they ha!e been
failed.
Through spea%ing to teachers I was able to see areas in which students and teachers
disagreed about building atmosphere. In the study conducted by Brand et al '((7 students and
teachers disagreed about the atmosphere of their school. I would li%e to see if this is a common
problem if students and teachers in my school seem to wor% in a different building because I
feel this would decrease any sense of community. There was enough data to suggest that students
and teachers were not on the same page but not enough to ma%e any strong conclusions.
+any of the past studies ha!e either focused on teachers and administrators or simply
analy*ed schools. =ery few researchers /Beattie '(() is an exception4 dedicated much time to
spea%ing to students. The focus of my research will be the students. Interconnectedness by nature
is student centered. It is not forced from the top down but is de!eloped at e!ery le!el. I hope that
by spea%ing to students I will de!elop a better understanding of what they expect from their
schools. In that way I hope to be able to ma%e suggestions to schools about how to encourage
interconnectedness. Through my research I hope to answer the -uestion Ghow can high schools
build interconnectedness for their studentsH.
Method
+y sample came from Totten!ille High School. I sur!eyed and inter!iewed students and
teachers. I used sur!eys to analy*e the le!el of interconnectedness at Totten!ille as well as
which areas of interconnectedness are strong and which are wea%. Bext I sur!eyed teachers to
find out how willing they are to spend time fostering interconnectedness and whether they feel
they are able to positi!ely affect students through personal interactions. <astly and most
importantly I inter!iewed a few students to disco!er some strategies schools and teachers can
use to de!elop interconnectedness.
After obtaining consent from the "rincipal I will be sur!eyed
4
,, Totten!ille High
School students. I was limited to the students in my <atin classes. I chose to inter!iew second
year <atin students because they are older and ha!e a better %nowledge of Totten!ille than their
younger peers. <atin students are in the Totten!ille High School ?lassics Institute an elite
honors program and while they are treated better than their classmates in general education
they also ha!e higher expectations for their school and are therefore more li%ely to complain
when things do not go well for them. They are also under a tremendous amount of pressure to
succeed and are highly competiti!e.
I also sur!eyed teachers. After obtaining consent from the prinipal I placed sur!eys
5
in
the mailboxes of each faculty member. I do only recei!ed ', sur!eys bac% which is problematic
as there are o!er '(( teachers at Totten!ille. +y sample may ha!e been flawed because more
dedicated teachers are more li%ely to ta%e the time to complete a sur!ey but I do not ha!e the
clout to force teachers to spend their time completing a sur!ey and I do not expect anyone else
in the building to pressure my peers into completing them either. 6espite this limitation my
sur!ey at least ga!e me some idea about teachers# attitudes about their roles in their students#
li!es and the amount of interconnectedness currently at Totten!ille. It also allowed me to
compare student and teacher perceptions about the building in which they wor%.
$inally I inter!iewed four seniors. I personally selected students whom I %now and trust.
I as%ed them a series of open ended -uestions about their experience at Totten!ille
6
their
4 See appendix a for sur!ey.
5 See appendix b for sur!ey.
6 See appendix c for inter!iew -uestions.
perceptions of interconnectedness in the building now and their ideas to impro!e
interconnectedness. &hile they may not spea% for the entire student body by selecting these
students myself I ensured that I recei!ed thoughtful and honest answers for the most important
part of my research.
Results
The greatest wea%ness in my sur!eys is the scope. 6ue to difficulty in obtaining consent
I was forced to start collecting data much later than I wanted to and I was not able to sur!ey as
many students as I would ha!e li%ed. As I said earlier I was limited to my honors students so I
can only guess the feelings of the general /or special education4 population at Totten!ille.
$urthermore !ery few teachers /', out of o!er '(( 4 returned the sur!eys. I was not expecting a
huge number of returns but this seems li%e a hopelessly small number. Therefore all teacher
data and the conclusions I draw from it must be ta%en with a grain of salt. I am not sure how to
impro!e teacher participation but I would certainly need to in order to draw any firm
conclusions about interconnectedness from the faculty.
Part 1: Student surveys
Ha!ing collected data from students a !ast ma;ority of whom are white /32 of ,, with
two East Asian students one +iddle Eastern one blac% and one Hispanic4 and female /38 of
,,4 I di!ided said data into sections. Iuestions 1 J 7 and 18 dealt with relationships with
friends
7
. Iuestions ' 3 , 1( 11 1' 1) and 17 dealt with relationships between classmates
8
.
Iuestions 8 ) and 13 dealt with perception of teachers
9
. Iuestions 1, and 1J dealt with
7 Appendix 6.
8 Appendix E.
9 Appendix $.
perceptions of administration
10
. $inally -uestions 2 12 and '( dealt with o!erall feelings of trust
and support
11
.
The most positi!e responses came in the friend section. 9n all four -uestions more than
7(K of students felt confident that their relationships were positi!e. They trust their friends and
belie!e that their friends care about them. &hile this is an area Totten!ille seems to be
performing well in it is debatable that Totten!ille can ta%e any credit for it. &hile I should ha!e
as%ed when students formed friendships I %now from casual obser!ations that many of these
relationships de!eloped before the students e!en wal%ed into the building. Therefore these
relationships may ha!e been strong before students started high school and Totten!ille#s only
contribution was not wea%ening them.
?lassmate data is more important as Totten!ille has some control of interactions between
classmates in the building while friends spend a large amount of their time together elsewhere.
@nfortunately classmate data was less positi!e. Students were rarely o!ertly negati!e about their
classmates but did not feel confident in their trust. +any students answered agree with
reser!ations or disagree with reser!ations to -uestions 3 , 11 and 1). +any students belie!ed to
some extent that their friends would rather be the best than see their peers succeed and while
most agreed that they would rather help their classmates than outperform them few answered
this -uestion with much confidence. These students are competiti!e and aware of it and belie!e
that their classmates are more interested in outperforming them than helping them. It is entirely
possible that this competiti!eness comes from the school itself. If it does the school needs to
figure out a way to foster cooperation rather than competition because right now the
competiti!e attitudes of the students diminishes their ability to trust their classmates and
10 Appendix L.
11 Appendix H.
willingness to help them. @nfortunately I did not thin% to as% students what ma%es them so
competiti!e so I do not %now if the school is creating the problem or simply doing a poor ;ob of
dealing with it. A future pro;ect could study the nature of competition in schools and how to stop
it. "ast research has shown that excessi!e competiti!eness is bad for students and Totten!ille
students are certainly competiti!e.
Bullying is a more serious problem than competition and while most /73.3K4 of the
students sur!eyed agreed or strongly agreed that they would ne!er bully another student and
most /87.'K4 agreed that they had not been bullied ,J.JK could not answer with confidence
stating that they either agreed with reser!ations or disagreed with reser!ations that they had
been bullied in the past. 9nce again this indicates a lac% of trust in the building. If students
cannot answer with complete and total confidence that they ha!e ne!er been bullied then they do
not completely trust their classmates and do not ha!e necessary support networ%s in school.
$urthermore only 2.1K of students agree or strongly agree that students at their school rarely
pick on each other rather than bully each other. E!en if bullying in the worst sense is not going
on at Totten!ille the high percentage of students who belie!e their classmates pic% on each other
again re!eals a problem building positi!e peer relationships. Since schools with high
interconnectedness ha!e high le!els of positi!e peer relationships this is a serious shortcoming
at Totten!ille.
I did not expect to see the discrepancy between friends and classmates. I assumed that if
students had positi!e relationships with friends they would ha!e positi!e relationships with all
peers. Instead Totten!ille seems to ha!e small groups of close friends who trust each other
despite the fact that there is a small amount of trust in the building. This is dangerous because
many students need a large networ% of support and instead seem to rely on a small circle of
people. Totten!ille /and other schools li%e it4 should loo% into ways of building supporti!e
relationships rather than competiti!e ones. &hile it seems that there is no need for Totten!ille to
enforce anti:bullying rules it does not ha!e the holistic positi!e attitude that the most
interconnected schools studied ha!e.
&hen as%ed about their teachers students again tended to answer with reser!ations.
&hile 78.,K of students agreed that their teachers care about them outside of class ''.)K only
agreed with reser!ations. $urthermore ,(.2K only agreed with reser!ations when as%ed if they
would feel comfortable spea%ing to a teacher if they had a problem. Students should be able to
trust their teachers with complete and total confidence and many definitely do not. &hile
different students react to teachers in different ways the school can and should do more to ensure
that students trust their teachers without reser!ations.
"art of the problem is that students -uestion teachers# ability to effecti!ely notice
problems. ,3.'K of students sur!eyed agreed with reser!ations that teachers do not notice when
students are pic%ing on each other and another 11.,K agreed or strongly agreed. This is a
disturbingly high number. I should ha!e done more research on this aspect of the school. I do not
%now if this number was inflated because most of the problem beha!ior happens outside of the
classroom /where deans and security rule4 and teachers simply do not see it or if students feel
that teachers are obli!ious to a problem in front of their eyes. $urthermore I did not specify how
many teachers. If students feel that one or two of their teachers do not notice students pic%ing on
each other that is much less of a problem than if a !ast ma;ority of teachers do not notice. &hile
this data suggests a problem its scope is un%nown and it is impossible to analy*e exactly what
the problem is without further research.
The biggest concern about the data on teachers is that my sample was honors students.
Lood students are more li%ely to ha!e positi!e relationships with teachers as they are usually
better beha!ed and more interested in academics. These relationships are necessary because
honors students spend more time in school due to the nature of their classes. They need to be able
to turn to people in the building. I would expect general education students to ha!e less faith in
their teachers and am concerned about the honors students who are not confident in their
teachers.
&hile students were not sure how they felt about their teachers there was no -uestion
how they feel about the administration: they do not trust it. 9nly 17.'K agree or agree strongly
that the administration is aware of their concerns while e!en fewer 11.,K agree or strongly
agree that the administration bases its decisions on student input. This is an area in which
perception and reality are different. Administrators are concerned about students and based staff
de!elopment this year on information from student sur!eys last year. That said in terms of
interconnectedness perception is reality. If students do not feel supported they do not recei!e
the benefits of interconnectedness. +any students would greatly benefit if they belie!ed that
adults in the building were aware of their needs and listening to them but few belie!e that they
are. +uch of this is una!oidable in a school with around ,((( students but Totten!ille clearly
needs to impro!e somehow.
Iuestions 2 12 and '( dealt with trust. I wanted to %now if students had anyone outside
of their families whom they felt they could trust. This is especially important for students whose
families do not offer them the necessary support and is the reason interconnectedness needs to
exist. If schools are interconnected e!en the most at ris% students can impro!e. In an ideal
school students ha!e multiple people to turn to. I as%ed if students felt they had one person.
Totten!ille did not inspire much confidence. &hen as%ed if they felt alone when things went
wrong for them 'JK agreed with reser!ations and another '2.JK disagreed with reser!ations.
?onsidering the ambiguity of this -uestion students with positi!e family relationships would
ha!e disagreed as well as those with positi!e peer or teacher relationships. Therefore it is
incredibly problematic that so many students were not sure if they could trust anyone.
$urthermore when the issue was narrowed to school and students were as%ed to respond to the
prompt Gwhen I ha!e a problem I ha!e people at school that I trust to help meH only J2.1 agreed
or strongly agreed. &hile this is not terrible too few students feel confident in their school.
Interestingly most students /)'.7K4 disagreed or strongly disagreed when as%ed Gif I
cannot tal% to my parents about a problem I do not %now who to turn to.H I cannot figure out
why there is such a large discrepancy between two similar -uestions or why the -uestion that
should ha!e inspired more negati!e responses inspired more positi!e ones but this issue casts
some amount of doubt onto this section of the sur!ey. A -uestion I would li%e to as% in the future
is Gwhere do you turn for help when you ha!e a problemH as that would clarify whether students
trust the school or turn to outside sources for help. &hile these -uestions suggest that Totten!ille
students do not feel sufficiently confident in the school especially when they ha!e problems
more research is needed to state this fact with any confidence.
Part II: Teacher surveys
Teacher sur!eys were sorted into fi!e groups. Iuestions 1 ) and 1J dealt with teachers#
comfort le!el with students
12
. Iuestions ' J 8 7 and 2 dealt with perceptions of duty M whether
they felt the need to teach more than simply the basic content of their classes
13
. Iuestions 3 and
, focused on bullying
14
. This was an area I could ha!e impro!ed upon. I only as%ed teachers
12 Appendix I.
13 Appendix ;.
14 Appendix C.
-uestions about bullying while I as%ed students about both bullying and pic%ing on. Therefore I
ha!e less data than I would li%e from teachers. In general I should ha!e as%ed teachers more
-uestions. &hile I was more interested in a student centered pro;ect by focusing too little on
teachers I ga!e myself less material for comparison than I would ha!e li%ed. Iuestions 1( 11
and 1' dealt with training
15
. Iuestions 13 and 1, dealt with how much effort teachers were
willing to put into their wor% and how much wor% they felt they were doing
16
. The greatest
limitation of my teacher sur!ey is the section I left out: administration. I did not reali*e how
strongly the students would feel about the administration and therefore did not thin% it was
important to as% the teachers. As it turned out this was a %ey issue and one about which I %now
too little. &hile some -uestions relate to the administration I should ha!e as%ed a few explicit
-uestions about teacher:administrator relationship. 9n e surprise was the lac% of correlation
between age or experience and answers to sur!ey -uestions. I expected younger teachers to be
more interested in helping students and older ones less li%ely to spend more time wor%ing but
many old teachers said that they would wor% more and many younger teachers felt they were
only responsible for class content. Bac%ground -uestions did not pro!e to be important.
Teachers !iewed their relationships with students as positi!e. +ost en;oy spending time
with students. They also belie!e that their students trust them M )2.'K agreed or strongly agreed
that their students were comfortable spea%ing to them about problems and )J.(K agreed or
strongly agreed that their students trust them for ad!ice. This seems positi!e until considering
that only 37.8K of students sur!eyed agreed or strongly agreed that they trust their teachers
when they need to discuss problems. It is possible that teachers base their positi!e perceptions on
a small number of students. $urther research could be done to ascertain the reason for this
15 Appendix <.
16 Appendix +.
discrepancy. In any case teachers feel that their students trust them e!en when their students do
not. This must change if students are to see% the support they often need.
Although teachers en;oy the time they spend with their students and belie!e that their
students trust them too few belie!e that it is their duty to help students de!elop into responsible
adults. &hile certain countries such as Australia /Ainley '((84 mandate that schools help
students de!elop into responsible citi*ens America /and Bew Aor%4 do not. Therefore while
many teachers belie!e that they are responsible for teaching more than basic class content and
attempt to be accessible to students only J(.(K agree or strongly agree that the school is
responsible for helping the students de!elop into responsible adults and only 32.1K agree or
strongly agree that the school is responsible for the mental health and well being of the students.
Therefore those students who need additional support from the schools due to problems at home
face teachers who do not belie!e it is their ;ob to deal with these issues. &idespread change is
necessary if this issue is to be resol!ed which it must be if Bew Aor% ?ity schools /Totten!ille
included4 are to ha!e a high le!el of interconnectedness.
&hile my -uestions were flawed /see abo!e4 my sur!eys re!ealed a discrepancy
between teacher perception of bullying and student perception as only 18.)K of teachers agree
that students in their class are !ictims of bullying. This may be because bullying is happening in
the halls and teachers are not concerned with that but either way students are noticing more
bullying than teachers. I cannot ma%e strong conclusions about this because of my research but I
should ha!e as%ed more -uestions about bullying including expanding the research to include
pic%ing on and as%ing -uestions about the halls !ersus the classroom. +ore troubling is the high
number of teachers /'2.'K4 who either agreed or strongly agreed that they are powerless to stop
bullying in the building. If bullying is to be stopped the culture of the school must change to
ma%e it less desirable to bully and teachers ha!e a huge effect on the culture of the school. If
teachers feel they are powerless to stop bullying they will not put in the effort necessary for
wide changes which means that bullying will continue. E!en if the administration attempts to
create rules to eliminate bullying this will ha!e little effect if the teachers are not dedicated to
creating a better en!ironment
17
.
9ne of the reasons teachers feel hopeless is lac% of training. &hile most teachers agree
that they %now how to help students when they ha!e problems few are confident. ,1.)K agreed
with reser!ations when as%ed Gwhen my students ha!e problems I %now how to help themH and
another 1'.8K disagreed. Teachers need effecti!e training if they are to deal with students#
problems outside of their sub;ect areas and only J(.(K disagreed and strongly disagreed that
they had not recei!ed enough training to help students deal with problems that do not relate to
their sub;ect areas. If interconnectedness is to be encouraged more teachers need to be willing to
deal with issues outside of the classroom /Beattie '(()4 but if that is going to happen they must
be confident in their ability to do this and right now too few are.
&hile many of the issues raised by the teacher sur!ey cannot be fixed without
widespread changes in philosophy and training one can. Too few teachers are willing to wor%
harder to help their students. &hile the teachers in Beattie#s study /'(()4 were more than willing
to spend extra time at wor% only J7.3K of Totten!ille teachers agreed or strongly agreed that
they would spend more time wor%ing if they thought it would help the students e!en though
only '2.'K agreed or strongly agreed that they wor% too much already. If interconnectedness is
going to be built teachers need to wor% more both to offer support to students in times of need
and to change the culture of the school so that students feel closer to each other and to the school
at large. If teachers are not interested in ma%ing this change things will stay the same e!en if the
17 See .e!iew of <iterature.
entire 69E or the administration of Totte!ille decide to ma%e interconnectedness more of a focal
point.
Discussion
I used past research as a starting point and had no interest in contradicting it. Another
way to approach this study would ha!e been to analy*e whether interconnectedness matters as
much as others say it does or attempt to find out new areas which could affect perceptions of
interconnectedness. Instead I sought to find out the le!el of interconnectedness at Totten!ille
within the established framewor% and to disco!er how to impro!e interconnectedness in general.
+y sur!ey did raise two important issues which my research did not: the difference
between friends and classmates. $uture research could focus more intently on these areas. In my
opinion schools cannot ta%e much credit for positi!e relationships between friends and the time
I spent studying friend relationships is less important than I thought pre!iously. I would li%e to
spend more time on classmate relationships which is a departure from past studies which
focused more on extremes /close friendships !s. bullying4 than on the middle ground /casual
ac-uaintances and pic%ing on4. I belie!e that the relationships between ac-uaintances can play a
ma;or role in student de!elopment and schools can do more to ensure that these relationships are
positi!e. $urthermore my research re!ealed that students !iew their friends and classmates
differently which forces researchers to focus more on classmates.
Secondly there was often a large discrepancy between teachers# and students# opinions of
the same issue. Because much of the past research was centered on the teachers there was not
enough student data to contradict their perceptions. It is important for schools to see where
students and teachers disagree on similar issues because that is the only way for them to
impro!e. If teachers belie!e that they are doing something right they will not attempt to change
it. Similarly if students do not ha!e confidence in their teachers they will not encourage them to
change. Effecti!e communication is %ey to impro!ement and the discrepancy between student
and teacher answers suggests that it is lac%ing at Totten!ille and it is li%ely many other schools
as well.
Interview Questions
I inter!iewed four students. @nfortunately all were female honors students because most
of my students are female. Because I wanted to be sure to inter!iew students whom I trusted my
sample was limited. I am confident that their answers are honest and thoughtful howe!er. A
future sur!ey should include a wider range of students to gi!e a better idea of all of the
perspecti!es in the school. Still these inter!iews help to clarify some of the issues raised in the
sur!ey while drawing attention to past research. All students are currently seniors.
1) When you had a proble outside o! the classroo" did you !eel co!ortable spea#in$ to
anyone in the buildin$% Why or why not% I! yes" what about that person ade you trust
the%
9f the four students inter!iewed one reported ha!ing no problems aside from minor
confusion about grades. 9f the other three two reported only trusting one teacher and the third
claimed to trust se!eral teachers but clarified the type of teachers she trusted saying G&hen a
teacher allows his or herself to open up to the students sharing their experiences and their
wisdom /about life not how to pass an A" exam4 students are more inclined to feel closer to
them. A student can confide in someone who seems to be interested in what the %ids around
him5her are going through and doesn#t ma%e the students seem li%e a nuisance which
unfortunately many teachers do. Some areNniceNbut they ;ust don#t put in enough effort to get
in!ol!ed or don#t actually care M they#re merely in the building to do their ;ob and nothing
more.H This draws attention to a few %ey issues.
$irst it is important that teachers are willing to be open with students and ta%e an interest
in their li!es. This is problematic since too many teachers belie!e that the only %nowledge they
need to impart is related to their sub;ect area. In other words while students feel that they need
teachers to gi!e them external life lessons teachers feel that it is not their responsibility. If
teachers do not ta%e the time to teach students life lessons the school is unable to create the
holistic changes suggested by researchers /<a.usso et al '((7> +arin et al '((7> Beattie '(()4.
Secondly teachers need to dedicate more time to their students. This student noticed the
same trend I found through my sur!eys: that too many teachers are unwilling to spend more time
helping their students. 9n a more positi!e note all of the students I inter!iewed had at least one
teacher that they trusted howe!er if Totten!ille is going to be a truly safe place where students
don#t become frustrated by the learning en!ironment. &hile I was unable to research drug abuse
and depression the research of Axelman Beattie and <a.usso et al suggests that both probably
run high in the building because students are clearly frustrated with the support they recei!e
from some of there teachers. "ositi!e experiences help but e!en the student who reported being
supported by se!eral teachers complained later about other staff members harassing her.
&) What type o! support have you received !ro your !riends throu$hout your tie at
Tottenville% In what situations would you trust your !riends%
Answers to this -uestion mostly supported my sur!ey data. Students trust their friends
but do not trust classmates. Two students reported trusting only one friend but trusting that
person with nearly e!erything and constantly recei!ing support. Two of four students explicitly
complained about other classmates while responding to this -uestion. 9ne reported being
betrayed by someone she thought was a friend /though her best friend was extremely supporti!e
during this time4. Another mentioned that Gsupport also comes in the form of alienation N
towards others.H She later explained that Totten!ille is !ery Gcli-uishH and that students are
fiercely loyal to their own cli-ues but !icious toward others. This partially explains the high
amount of mistrust and competiti!eness I found in my sur!eys.
9ne student felt less trusting of her friends saying GI#m open to e!eryone with my
feelings and emotions but it#s a ris%. 6espite the support my friends may gi!e me o!er time its
a universally known fact you cannot depend on anyone but yourself especially in a school
environment. I#!e been there for my friends and they#!e been there for me but that in no way
means that they#re going to be there fore!er or e!en o!er the span of one gradeH /italics mine4.
That this student feels that the school en!ironment contributes to mistrust is problematic. Bo one
had any ideas to impro!e this trend /see below4 but interconnected schools create trust and at
least one student feels that schools do the opposite. Her response pro!es that she did not
experience the benefits of interconnectedness. In fact she chooses to deal with problems by
herself.
') (ow does the school in!luence your relationships with your peers%
All students agree that they see the same people regularly and that it is a blessing and a
curse. 9ne reported Gmy classes are made up of the same people for the whole , years at
Totten!ille and it ma%es it a lot easier to be friends with these people then to be enemiesH but
another claimed GThe school influences my relationship with my peers because at times it ma%es
me feel luc%y that I am friends with the people I chose to be friends with and at times it ma%es
me feel annoyed at people who are annoying and rude to the others around them. So it#s a mix
because Totten!ille High School lac%s a lot of respect from the students.H They agreed that
while it would be easier to get along with e!eryone that is not a realistic goal. &hile one student
claimed Gschool influences my relationship with my peers by exposure. Since I see my peers
nearly daily I often tal% with them. This leads to -uic%ly %nowing a great deal about my peers
and often we can help one another with tutoring if one person is stronger in one sub;ect than
anotherH suggesting that common experiences are beneficial I would argue that spending so
much time with the same people often causes more harm than good. Students are more li%ely to
notice problematic beha!iors when they see each other all the time. $urthermore spending too
much time with the same people in the same classes can lead to competiti!eness which was
one of the bigger problems raised in my sur!ey.
I was not expecting students to comment on seeing the same people while answering this
-uestion but three of four wrote their answers entirely on this issue. ?learly scheduling
contributes to school en!ironment -uite a bit. $uture studies could certainly loo% into scheduling
policies that increase positi!e relations /shared experiences common ground4 while eliminating
negati!e ones /annoyance and competiti!eness4.
That each student had some complaints about peer relations suggests that the school
could do more. Stewart disco!ered that some schools had created positi!e peer interactions e!en
with problematic students. Totten!ille does not seem to ha!e done that. I was hoping that this
-uestion would yield tangible suggestions or concerns but students did not seem to thin%
teachers or administration were to blame rather o!erexposure to certain people. &hile this is
certainly an issue which can be addressed Stewart#s study suggests that the school could do
more. @nfortunately I was unable to disco!er what.
)) (ow can the school help students relate to each other positively%
?urrently Totten!ille has a peer mediation room in an attempt to encourage positi!e peer
relations. 9ne student said Gschool can promote students to interact positi!ely by offering
mediating ser!ices and trying to ma%e sure Fbullying does not ta%e placeH but another
articulated a common problem when she said GI mean there#s a peer mediation room and who
really goes to thatO "eople are ;ust too set on their own opinions and will clash at what is morally
correct and what is wrong.H She is not the only person who feels that people cannot change.
Another student answered G6espite how pessimistic that may sound the students of our school
are way too stubborn to be helped. It#s in our nature to gather with those that are similar to us and
wor% against those who are not which is why we laugh at the guidos and ;udge the GweirdosH in
our head or in whispers to the friend wal%ing by us. 9ur generation is far from positi!e and it#ll
ta%e legitimate genetic reconstruction to help all of us get along. .ealistically some people ;ust
aren#t meant to be friends.H
&hile it is unrealistic to expect students to be friends it should be reasonable to expect
the school to encourage ci!ility and trust. Based on my data the school is falling short. The
pessimism expressed by many of these students is indicati!e of a greater problem. Students are
so used to negati!e peer relationships they do not belie!e they can be fixed. The one piece of
ad!ice I recei!ed in response to this -uestion was the suggestion that the school Ggi!PeQ students
more open:minded classes to try and pre!ent pre;udice and discrimination.H This ties in to
research /Stewart '(()> <a.usso et al '((7> Ainley '((8> Aoung et al '((2> Brand et al '((7>
9pdena%%er et al '(()> Beattie '(()> American "sychologist '((7> +arin et al '((74 which
suggests that repeatedly wor%ing to impro!e peer relations from the ground up is more effecti!e
than enforcing rules.
*) Durin$ your tie at Tottenville have you been supported by teachers% +dinistration%
(ow can the school iprove relationships between students and teachers and students and
adinistrators%
I recei!ed a wide range of answers to this -uestion. &hile one student felt that she has
been supported by administrators and teachers. The school really doesnRt ha!e anything to
impro!e on in that situation.H Another was mostly positi!e but added that she had little contact
with administration and that Gadministrators and teachers should ma%e themsel!es accessible to
students by offering email addresses or other ways of contacting them and dedicating some free
time in their schedules for students.H Impro!ing communication would be a simple way to ma%e
students feel more supported e!en if teachers are unwilling to spend more time.
The negati!e responses were more problematic. 9ne student said GHonestly during my
time at Totten!ille I#!e only been supported by three teachers. I don#t thin% the school can
impro!e relationships I thin% it#s up to the teachers themsel!es. The school ;ust pressures the
teachers to get %ids to pass the regents which basically ma%es teachers teach to a test. Howe!er
the teachers that ha!e supported me don#t teach to a test. They ma%e you actually thin% and they
ma%e you relate what you#re learning to the outside world.H I would be interested to see how
much pressure teachers feel about their students passing the regents. If teachers are under too
much pressure about tests they are failing their students in %ey ways. E!en if it is not the fault of
the administration teachers should be focusing at least some of their time on the outside world
and according to at least one student too few do.
Another student was more negati!e. &hile she admitted that GThe ma;ority of Pher
teachersQ care and would lo!e to see PherQ classmates and PherQ succeedH she was also li!id
about the abuses she suffered from some staff. She said GThere are way too many people in the
school who are intimidating to students whom they shouldn#t be intimidating to. I#!e had se!eral
experiences where I#d be stopped in the hall and gi!en the J
th
degree and '1 -uestions for
absolutely no reason when I#m ;ust a nice %id who#s trying to run to the bathroom as a result of
the consumption of two water bottles a period before. 9r how about those !ending machinesO
&HE.E IS A LI.< T9 LET $996 I$ SHE 6I6B#T B.IBL ABA $.9+ H9+EO The
cafeteria of course. But wait I don#t ha!e a lunch period and why would <oren*o e!er let me in
to buy a bag of chipsNO The rules in our school are absurd and the harshness of how they are
enforced is e!en more absurd. I respect that all rules should be followed but there are certain
situations in which you ha!e to stop being a Ba*i and grow a heart. 9ur administration suc%s.
<earn efficiency and social s%ills n((bs PsicQ Noh and how to care better.H These complaints
sound li%e those of the students Stewart studied and suggest that too many people at Totten!ille
are concerned with enforcing *ero:tolerance policies /American "sychologist '((74 which are
alienating students rather than ma%ing them feel safer. &hile the student admitted that most
people in the building did not treat her this way she was still angry still feels unsupported and
studies would suggest that her de!elopment has been restricted by these problematic people. It is
the school#s responsibility to address this problem.
,) (ow can the school o!!er ore support to students" especially when they have probles%
The one suggestion students made in response to this -uestion was impro!e
communication. 9ne felt that too few students %now about counseling ser!ice to see% them
another thought that the school psychologist and guidance counselor do not trust each other
enough. Strong support networks are a %ey feature of interconnectedness. &hile Totten!ille
students feel that indi!iduals support them the networ% needs wor%. "oor communication allows
students to fall through the crac%s and students are less li%ely to trust staff if they do not belie!e
that staff members trust each other. Impro!ing communication in a school as large as Totten!ille
is a difficult underta%ing but a necessary one.
I was hoping for more suggestions here but if students ha!e ne!er experienced the type
of support they need they would not %now how to create it. A follow up pro;ect could be
inter!iewing students in a school with high interconnectedness about what their schools do to
support them then comparing results with those found in this sur!ey. As it is I now ha!e some
idea how students feel about Totten!ille and I belie!e that Totten!ille can impro!e in certain
areas but I would still li%e to %now more about what Totten!ille and other schools li%e it can
actually do to ma%e these impro!ements.
-onclusion
&hen I began this underta%ing I hoped to disco!er student perspecti!es on
interconnectedness. I also hoped to understand how students feel about Totten!ille High School.
$inally I hoped to disco!er what students want their schools to do better in order to build student
support. The most useful and interesting disco!ery I made was the discrepancy between friends
and classmates. Schools somehow need to encourage ci!ility and support between all students
e!en if they are not friends. Totten!ille is hindered by the competiti!eness of the students and the
pre!alence of cli-ues. 6ealing with these problems re-uires a change in school culture. If the
school is willing to spend time teaching students about the world and about positi!e
relationships they may be able to impro!e student relationships. If this is going to happen
teachers need to be willing to spend more time wor%ing. +any need more effecti!e training.
&hile students were somewhat positi!e about Totten!ille few were enthusiastic.
Students should be able to say with confidence that they feel supported at school and too few
did. Inter!iew data suggests that some teachers do an excellent ;ob ma%ing students feel
supported some are terrible and many fall in between. $urthermore most students were
negati!e about the administration. Some of these problems arise because Totten!ille is a huge
school. It is difficult for anyone to recei!e enough personal attention in a building with ,(((
students and that is what Totten!ille is expected to do.
I was hoping that this pro;ect would allow me to disco!er specific inter!entions larger
schools can attempt to build interconnectedness and I am not sure that I did. It seems that
Totten!ille is guilty of attempting to use *ero tolerance policies when change in culture is
necessary. Some students feel that peer mediation is a step in the right direction some do not but
either way it is not enough. A few teachers students and administrators wor%ing to impro!e the
atmosphere of the school is not enough. E!eryone needs to be on the same page. I am still not
sure how to get e!eryone on the same page or exactly what will happen once they are there. Had
I been wor%ing at a school with high interconnectedness I would be able to as% what wor%ed
but based on my research Totten!ille is not there yet and students are not sure how it could
impro!e.
Re!erences
Ainley 0. /'((8 April4. 6e!eloping Interdependence: An analysis of indi!idual and school
influences on a social outcome of schooling. Educational "sychology '8/'4 '(2:'').

Axelman +. /'((84. African American youth spea% out about the ma%ing of safe high schools.
"re!enting School $ailure J(/,4 3):,,.

Barbo*a L. Schiamberg <. 9ehm%e 0. Cor*eniews%i S. "ost <. E Heraux ?. /'((24.
Indi!idual characteristics and the multiple contexts of adolescent bullying: An Ecological
"erspecti!e. 0ournal of Aouth and Adolescence 37/14 1(1:1'1.

Beattie +. /'(()4. ?reating a self: A narrati!e and holistic perspecti!e. International 0ournal of
Education E the Arts 7/134 1:'J.

Brand S. $elner .. Seitsinger A. Burns A. E Bolton B. /'((7 9ctober4. A large scale study
of the assessment of the social en!ironment of middle and secondary schools: The !alidity and
utility of teachersR ratings of school climate cultural pluralism and safety problems for
understanding school effects and school. 0ournal of School "sychology ,8/J4 J():J3J.

Bronfenbrenner @. /1278 Bo!ember4. Ecology of the family as a context for human
de!elopment: .esearch perspecti!es. Developmental Psychology ''/84 )'3:),'.

0essor .. /1223 $ebruary4. Succesful adolescent de!elopment among youth in high:ris%
settings. American "sychologist ,7/'4 11):1'8.

<a.usso +. .omer 6. E Selman .. /'((7 April4. Teachers as builders of respectful school
climates: Implications for adolescent drug use norms and depressi!e symptoms in high school.
0ournal of Aouth E Adolescence 3)/,4 378:327.

<eBlanc <. Swisher .. =itaro $. E Tremblay .. /'((7 September4. High school social
climate and antisocial beha!ior: A 1( year longitudinal and multile!el study. 0ournal of .esearch
on Adolescence /Blac%well "ublishing <imited4 17/34 32J:,12.

+arin ". Brown B. E ?hild T. /'((74. The school en!ironment and adolescent well:being:
beyond academics. "ublication '((7:'8. ?hild Trends.

9pdena%%er +. E =an 6amme 0. /'(() April4. 6o school context student composition and
school leadership affect school practice and outcomes in secondary educationO. British
Educational .esearch 0ournal 33/'4 1)2:'(8.

.ubinson $. /'((' September4. <essons learned $rom implementing problem:sol!ing teams in
urban high schools. 0ournal of Educational E "sychological ?onsultation 13/34 17J:'1).

Stewart E. /'(() 6ecember4. Indi!idual and school structural effects on African American high
school studentsR academic achie!ement. High School 0ournal 21/'4 18:3,.

Aoung A. Hardy =. Hamilton ?. Biernesser C. Sun <. E Biebergall S. /'((2 August4.
Empowering students: @sing data to transform a bullying pre!ention and inter!ention program.
"rofessional School ?ounseling 1'/84 ,13:,'(.

Author uncredited. /'((7 6ecember4. Are *ero tolerance policies effecti!e in the schoolsO: An
e!identiary re!iew and recommendations. American "sychologist 83/24 7J':78'.

?ollaborati!e for Academic S. E Substance Abuse and +ental Health Ser!ices Administration
/6HHS5"HS4 B. /'((74. ?onnecting Social and Emotional <earning with +ental Health.
?ollaborati!e for Academic Social and Emotional <earning.
+ppendi. +: Student survey
6irections: "lease fill out the bac%ground section and circle the number which best describes
your opinion on each -uestion. All answers will be confidential and anonymous. "lease return
sur!ey to me.
Bac%ground information
Age .
Lrade .
Lender .
A!erage .
Scale: 1 M Strongly agree ': Agree 3: Agree with reser!ations ,: 6isagree with reser!ations
J: 6isagree 8 M Strongly disagree
14 +y friends will drop what they are doing to help me if I ha!e a problem.
Strongly agree 1 ' 3 , J 8 Strongly disagree
'4 +y classmates will help me if I am confused in school.
34 +y classmates would rather be the best than see e!eryone succeed.
,4 I would rather help my classmates than outperform them.
J4 If I ha!e a problem I trust my friends for support.
84 +y teachers care about me outside of the classroom.
)4 &hen I need to discuss my problems I feel comfortable tal%ing to my teachers.
74 &hen I need to discuss my problems I cannot turn to my friends.
24 I feel alone when things go wrong for me.
1(4 I would ne!er bully another student.
114 I ha!e been bullied in the past.
1'4 Students at my school rarely pic% on each other.
134 The teachers in my school do not notice when students are pic%ing on each other.
1,4 I feel that school administration is aware of my concerns.
1J4 School administrators base their decisions on student input.
184 +y relationships with my friends ha!e grown stronger throughout my time in high school.
1)4 I ha!e grown apart from my classmates in high school.
174 I am not close to many of my classmates.
124 If I cannot tal% to my parents about a problem I do not %now who to turn to.
'(4 &hen I ha!e a problem I ha!e people at school that I trust to help me.
+ppendi. /: Teacher Survey
6irections: "lease fill out the bac%ground section and circle the number which best describes
your opinion on each -uestion. All answers will be confidential and anonymous. "lease return
sur!ey to my /Cane4 mailbox. Than% you for your assistance.
Bac%ground information:
Age .
Aears teaching .
Aears at current school .
Aears in Bew Aor% ?ity .
Lender .
Lrades taught .
A!erage class si*e .
Sur!ey -uestions
Scale: 1 M Strongly agree ': Agree 3: Agree with reser!ations ,: 6isagree with reser!ations
J: 6isagree 8 M Strongly disagree
14 If my students ha!e a problem they feel comfortable spea%ing to me.
'4 I am only responsible for teaching my students the content of my class.
34 Students in my class are !ictims of bullying.
,4 I cannot stop bullying in the building.
J4 I go out of my way to be accessible to students.
84 It is the responsibility of the school to help students de!elop into responsible adults.
)4 +y students trust me for ad!ice.
74 It is the parents# ;ob to help their children with crises M not mine.
24 The school is responsible for the mental health and well being of the students.
1(4 Sometimes I feel powerless to help students.
114 &hen my students ha!e problems I %now how to help them.
1'4 I ha!e not recei!ed enough training to help students deal with problems that do not relate to
my sub;ect area.
134 I wor% too many hours already.
1,4 I would spend more time wor%ing if I thought it would benefit the students.
1J4 I en;oy the time I spend with my students.
+ppendi. -: Interview Questions
14 &hen you had a problem outside of the classroom did you feel comfortable spea%ing to
anyone in the buildingO &hy or why notO If yes what about that person made you trust themO
'4 &hat type of support ha!e you recei!ed from your friends throughout your time at
Totten!illeO In what situations would you trust your friendsO
34 How does the school influence your relationships with your peersO
,4 How can the school help students relate to each other positi!elyO
J4 6uring your time at Totten!ille ha!e you been supported by teachersO AdministrationO
84 How can the school offer more support to students especially when they ha!e problemsO
+ppendi. D: Student responses 0!riends)
$or this and all sur!ey data:
sa means strongly agree
a means agree
ar means agree with reser!ations
dr means disagree with reser!ations
d means disagree
sd means strongly disagree
+y friends will drop what they are doing to help me if I ha!e a
problem.
11 23.9 25.0 25.0
25 54.3 56.8 81.8
5 10.9 11.4 93.2
2 4.3 4.5 97.7
1 2.2 2.3 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
Fre!en"y #er"ent Valid #er"ent
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
If I ha!e a problem I trust my friends for support.
22 47.8 50.0 50.0
15 32.6 34.1 84.1
5 10.9 11.4 95.5
1 2.2 2.3 97.7
1 2.2 2.3 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
&hen I need to discuss my problems I cannot turn to my friends.
1 2.2 2.3 2.3
5 10.9 11.4 13.6
13 28.3 29.5 43.2
25 54.3 56.8 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+y relationships with my friends ha!e grown stronger throughout my
time in high school.
25 54.3 59.5 59.5
11 23.9 26.2 85.7
3 6.5 7.1 92.9
1 2.2 2.4 95.2
2 4.3 4.8 100.0
42 91.3 100.0
4 8.7
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. 1: Student responses 0classates)
+y classmates will help me if I am confused in school.
13 28.3 29.5 29.5
20 43.5 45.5 75.0
8 17.4 18.2 93.2
1 2.2 2.3 95.5
2 4.3 4.5 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+y classmates would rather be the best than see e!eryone succeed.
10 21.7 22.7 22.7
13 28.3 29.5 52.3
7 15.2 15.9 68.2
11 23.9 25.0 93.2
2 4.3 4.5 97.7
1 2.2 2.3 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I would rather help my classmates than outperform them.
7 15.2 16.3 16.3
11 23.9 25.6 41.9
19 41.3 44.2 86.0
4 8.7 9.3 95.3
2 4.3 4.7 100.0
43 93.5 100.0
3 6.5
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I would ne!er bully another student.
27 58.7 64.3 64.3
8 17.4 19.0 83.3
1 2.2 2.4 85.7
4 8.7 9.5 95.2
1 2.2 2.4 97.6
1 2.2 2.4 100.0
42 91.3 100.0
4 8.7
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I ha!e been bullied in the past.
4 8.7 9.1 9.1
5 10.9 11.4 20.5
5 10.9 11.4 31.8
15 32.6 34.1 65.9
7 15.2 15.9 81.8
8 17.4 18.2 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
Students at my school rarely pic% on each other.
1 2.2 2.3 2.3
3 6.5 6.8 9.1
7 15.2 15.9 25.0
10 21.7 22.7 47.7
10 21.7 22.7 70.5
13 28.3 29.5 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I ha!e grown apart from my classmates in high school.
5 10.9 11.4 11.4
5 10.9 11.4 22.7
10 21.7 22.7 45.5
12 26.1 27.3 72.7
12 26.1 27.3 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I am not close to many of my classmates.
1 2.2 2.3 2.3
5 10.9 11.4 13.6
6 13.0 13.6 27.3
7 15.2 15.9 43.2
15 32.6 34.1 77.3
10 21.7 22.7 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. 2: Student responses 0teachers)
+y teachers care about me outside of the classroom.
9 19.6 20.5 20.5
19 41.3 43.2 63.6
10 21.7 22.7 86.4
4 8.7 9.1 95.5
2 4.3 4.5 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
&hen I need to discuss my problems I feel comfortable tal%ing to my
teachers.
5 10.9 11.4 11.4
12 26.1 27.3 38.6
18 39.1 40.9 79.5
3 6.5 6.8 86.4
5 10.9 11.4 97.7
1 2.2 2.3 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
The teachers in my school do not notice when students are pic%ing on
each other.
1 2.2 2.3 2.3
4 8.7 9.1 11.4
19 41.3 43.2 54.5
8 17.4 18.2 72.7
11 23.9 25.0 97.7
1 2.2 2.3 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. 3: Student responses 0adinistration)
I feel that school administration is aware of my concerns.
2 4.3 4.5 4.5
6 13.0 13.6 18.2
11 23.9 25.0 43.2
8 17.4 18.2 61.4
10 21.7 22.7 84.1
7 15.2 15.9 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
School administrators base their decisions on student input.
1 2.2 2.3 2.3
4 8.7 9.1 11.4
13 28.3 29.5 40.9
15 32.6 34.1 75.0
7 15.2 15.9 90.9
4 8.7 9.1 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. (: Student responses 0overall trust and support)
I feel alone when things go wrong for me.
1 2.2 2.3 2.3
2 4.3 4.5 6.8
11 23.9 25.0 31.8
13 28.3 29.5 61.4
8 17.4 18.2 79.5
9 19.6 20.5 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
If I cannot tal% to my parents about a problem I do not %now who to
turn to.
1 2.2 2.3 2.3
2 4.3 4.5 6.8
4 8.7 9.1 15.9
5 10.9 11.4 27.3
12 26.1 27.3 54.5
20 43.5 45.5 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
&hen I ha!e a problem I ha!e people at school that I trust to help me.
15 32.6 34.1 34.1
11 23.9 25.0 59.1
8 17.4 18.2 77.3
6 13.0 13.6 90.9
4 8.7 9.1 100.0
44 95.7 100.0
2 4.3
46 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. I: Teacher responses 0student co!ort)
If my students ha!e a problem they feel comfortable spea%ing to
me.
9 37.5 37.5 37.5
10 41.7 41.7 79.2
3 12.5 12.5 91.7
1 4.2 4.2 95.8
1 4.2 4.2 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
S&
a
ar
dr
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+y students trust me for ad!ice.
10 41.7 41.7 41.7
8 33.3 33.3 75.0
4 16.7 16.7 91.7
1 4.2 4.2 95.8
1 4.2 4.2 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I en;oy the time I spend with my students.
16 66.7 69.6 69.6
5 20.8 21.7 91.3
1 4.2 4.3 95.7
1 4.2 4.3 100.0
23 95.8 100.0
1 4.2
24 100.0
sa
a
ar
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. 4: Teacher responses 0duty)
I am only responsible for teaching my students the content of my
class.
3 12.5 12.5 12.5
1 4.2 4.2 16.7
3 12.5 12.5 29.2
3 12.5 12.5 41.7
5 20.8 20.8 62.5
9 37.5 37.5 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I got out of my way to be accesible to students.
15 62.5 62.5 62.5
5 20.8 20.8 83.3
3 12.5 12.5 95.8
1 4.2 4.2 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
It is the responsibility of the school to help students de!elop into
responsible adults.
7 29.2 29.2 29.2
5 20.8 20.8 50.0
7 29.2 29.2 79.2
2 8.3 8.3 87.5
1 4.2 4.2 91.7
2 8.3 8.3 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
The school is responsible for the mental health and well being of the
students.
3 12.5 13.0 13.0
6 25.0 26.1 39.1
6 25.0 26.1 65.2
4 16.7 17.4 82.6
2 8.3 8.7 91.3
2 8.3 8.7 100.0
23 95.8 100.0
1 4.2
24 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
System Missing
Total
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
It is the parentsR ;ob to help their children with crises :: not mine.
3 12.5 12.5 12.5
1 4.2 4.2 16.7
6 25.0 25.0 41.7
3 12.5 12.5 54.2
7 29.2 29.2 83.3
4 16.7 16.7 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. 5: Teacher responses 0bullyin$)
Students in my class are !ictims of bullying.
4 16.7 16.7 16.7
8 33.3 33.3 50.0
1 4.2 4.2 54.2
4 16.7 16.7 70.8
7 29.2 29.2 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I cannot stop bullying in the building.
3 12.5 12.5 12.5
4 16.7 16.7 29.2
4 16.7 16.7 45.8
3 12.5 12.5 58.3
7 29.2 29.2 87.5
3 12.5 12.5 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. 6: Teacher responses 0trainin$)
Sometimes I feel powerless to help students.
3 12.5 12.5 12.5
5 20.8 20.8 33.3
8 33.3 33.3 66.7
2 8.3 8.3 75.0
3 12.5 12.5 87.5
3 12.5 12.5 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
&hen my students ha!e problems I %now how to help them.
3 12.5 12.5 12.5
8 33.3 33.3 45.8
10 41.7 41.7 87.5
1 4.2 4.2 91.7
1 4.2 4.2 95.8
1 4.2 4.2 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I ha!e not recei!ed enough training to help students deal with
problems that do not relate to my sub;ect area.
4 16.7 16.7 16.7
3 12.5 12.5 29.2
4 16.7 16.7 45.8
1 4.2 4.2 50.0
10 41.7 41.7 91.7
2 8.3 8.3 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
+ppendi. M: Teacher responses 0tie)
I wor% too many hours already.
5 20.8 20.8 20.8
2 8.3 8.3 29.2
5 20.8 20.8 50.0
3 12.5 12.5 62.5
5 20.8 20.8 83.3
4 16.7 16.7 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
sd
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent
I would spend more time wor%ing if I thought it would benefit the
students.
8 33.3 33.3 33.3
6 25.0 25.0 58.3
2 8.3 8.3 66.7
2 8.3 8.3 75.0
6 25.0 25.0 100.0
24 100.0 100.0
sa
a
ar
dr
d
Total
Valid
$!m!lati%e
#er"ent

Building - Interconnectedness High Schoolers

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Building Interconnectedness 1

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