| This research examines the effectiveness of a conflict resolution intervention in a discipline-oriented urban elementary school. The researcher implemented the Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers program to further support the school's mission statement. "To empower, enable, instruct African American students to achieve superior academic and social development." The Peacemaker program is the only research-based program that yields positive and consistent results. This conflict resolution and peer mediation program, developed in the late 1990s by David and Roger Johnson, intends for students to learn how to solve conflict in a more constructive manner, thus decreasing level one suspendable offenses, increasing positive school culture, and increasing communication. The researcher collected data prior to and after the implementation of the program to investigate the following questions: (1) In a highly structured setting, will the Peacemaker program affect how staff and students view conflict?; and (2) In a highly structured setting, after training will students implement the conflict management strategies?; Kindergarten, first grade, third grade and fourth grade students participated in the study. Students and staff who received the Peacemaker training positively changed their attitudes toward conflict. In addition, teachers and students who received training recalled more of the Peacemaker negotiation steps than did students who did not receive training, and students trained in the Peacemaker program were more likely to indicate that they would use the steps than students who did not receive the training. Because the trained students could not recall all of the steps, if more training time had been allotted for the students to learn more about the strategies, effects may well have been stronger. Finally, the study found variation in the effectiveness of the Peacemaker program by grade level. |
