In this report we describe the Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation Project (CR/PM) at three socio-economically and racially diverse middle schools in North Central Florida, completed at the end of the 1998-99 school year. All project activities were part of the CR/PM Research Grant in the Department of Special Education at the University of Florida. Our work, funded through the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, focused on reducing the level of chronic disruptive and aggressive behavior in middle school populations through increased knowledge of conflict resolution skills, including peer mediation. 

Through our work over a four-year period, we developed, piloted, refined, and helped administer:

• a three-year conflict resolution curriculum and peer mediation training protocol 
• surveys to measure student attitudes and responses to conflict 
• a teacher survey to measure school climate 
• surveys to assess disputant satisfaction and peer mediator and parent opinions of satisfaction and skill generalization 
• interview protocols for peer mediators and teacher

• School staff delivered a five-lesson curriculum, covering topics in conflict, anger, communication, and mediation, to all students at Osceola (three progressive levels for three consecutive years),  Dunnellon, and Ft. King Middle Schools (two progressive levels for two consecutive years). 
• Each school selected cohorts of 25-30 students to serve as peer mediators each year; students were trained over a two-day workshop that focused on communication skills and mediation techniques. 
• From fall 1996 through spring 1999, a representative sample of 85 students served as peer mediators, mediating a total of 195 conflicts. 
• Project staff helped each school establish referral, mediation, and record keeping procedures and monitored use of, and satisfaction with, the program.

From extensive surveys of peer mediators and a matched control group, disputants, parents, and teachers, and peer mediator and teacher interviews, the following results are noteworthy: 

1. Sixth graders constituted the majority (64%) of disputants. We hypothesized that these students might have been more recently exposed to mediation in elementary school and more open to seeking help. 
2. The issue in 84 percent of referred conflicts was verbal harassment; disputants mentioned gossip (36%) and physical aggression (19%) frequently also. 
3. In over 95 percent of referred conflicts, disputants reached an agreement, usually consisting of avoiding each other (44%) or stopping the offending behavior (39%).

   Note: Mediation is voluntary, and students or adults may make referrals.

1. Disputants reported high levels of (a) satisfaction with the mediation process and (b) adherence to the agreement reached after at least one week following mediation. 
2. Mediators reported generalization of skills to "informal" conflict situations and expressed high levels of satisfaction with the mediation process. 
3. Parents of peer mediators reported mediation as a positive experience for their child and indicated skills were generalized to the home environment. 
4. Mediators' ratings of teacher communication dropped following training (vs. those of a matched control group). We hypothesized that training sensitized mediators to optimal communication skills, thereby raising their evaluation criteria.

At one of the middle schools, the number of student disciplinary incidents declined markedly following early and effective implementation of the CR/PM program. Incident data for the other two schools showed a less marked but possible trend toward a decline over time following program implementation.

Peer mediators indicated mediation was useful and effective for most interpersonal conflicts. Strongest reservations concerned socialacceptability if students had strong independence or social status needs.

Teachers generally indicated support of the mediation program if they felt sufficiently involved and informed during planning and implementation.

1. Given the importance and challenge of establishing mediation within school culture as a viable alternative to traditional discipline, we recommend that program logistics be planned over the summer prior to early fall implementation and that all school staff be generally involved. 
2. Effective mediation requires continuous practice even for adults; therefore, we suggest that school staff provide ample opportunity for student mediators to "debrief" regularly as a group about recent mediations with a trained and knowledgeable faculty member. This will enable mediators to (a) review and refine skills, (b) discuss challenging situations, and (c) learn from each other's experience. 
3. We encourage use of a variety of means (e.g., weekly announcements, posters, video, assemblies) to publicize peer mediation continuously throughout the school year. 
4. We encourage continual monitoring and evaluation of program impact through an examination of extant disciplinary incident data and student and teacher opinion surveys.

   
   Note: Technical reports describing each instrument administered (e.g., means, standard deviations, reliability) are available upon request.