The ability of school personnel to meet the psychological, social, and behavioral needs of today's students is increasingly difficult. In fact, the risk of violence to students and teachers is greater now than at any point in public school history. Despite concerns about increasing violence by education officials, parents, and community members, school programs do not provide students specific educational experiences that facilitate adequate personal and social development. Our proposed research plan incorporates elements that will improve schools' ability to focus on the psychological, social, and behavioral needs of all students as well as those with significant emotional and behavioral problems. Additionally, the inclusion of parent and community representatives on our Collaborative Advisory Group will provide linkages to extend the program beyond the schools. We plan to improve the professional practice of educators by working collaboratively with them to design a school-based conflict resolution/peer mediation (CR/PM) program with family and community linkages. We see the implementation of peer-mediated conflict resolution as an effective method for creating positive-atmosphere schools where all students can develop prosocial behavior, improving the quality of teacher-student interaction by reducing teacher-imposed solutions in student conflict situations. 

First year 
We worked collaboratively with middle school professionals, parents, and community representatives to develop a curriculum; train school professionals and students in the curriculum and its implementation; access, develop, and validate data collection instruments; and establish data collection procedures. We also worked with middle school personnel to conduct pilots of the CR/PM program.

Second year
We fully implemented the CR/PM program in one treatment school and used two matched middle schools as delayed treatment schools. We also sought opportunities for impact through parent and community groups.

Third year 
We fully implemented the CR/PM prgram in the two delayed treatment schools and monitored the program in the original treatment school as it assumed full responsibility for its implementation. We also began tracking the graduates of the original treatment schools in their high school setting to collect generalization data.

Fourth year
We collected data in all three schools as the delayed treatment schools disengaged from project personnel.

This project provided a model for future research in the area by using a theoretical base, validated curriculum and training protocols for teachers and student mediators, implementation protocols, validated data collection methodology, and efficacy and generalization data.