Iowa bullying data paints preliminary, incomplete picture

DES MOINES — The number of reported bullying incidents in Iowa public schools during the 2015-16 school year increased from the previous year.

Now, educators are analyzing the data to see what it means and how it should guide state and district policies.

'What we'd really like to do is use what we know to help Iowa kids,' state education board member Mike May said at a meeting last week. 'And if we don't have the information we need to help Iowa kids, how do we get it and how do we implement that?'

More than 1,700 bullying incidents were reported in Iowa's public schools during the 2015-16 school year, according to state education department data. That's up from the 1,490 reported in 2014-15.

Educators now must determine whether bullying is on the rise in Iowa's schools or officials are getting better at identifying and reporting bullying incidents.

For now, educators are working with a limited data set; the state in 2012-13 dramatically changed the way it records bullying incidents, so it has only four school years' worth of comparable data.

Even within those four years, reporting has been inconsistent. In 2012-13, districts reported more than 2,500 bullying incidents; the following year, they reported fewer than 500.

'You're seeing a picture of bullying and harassment around the state, (but) it's not necessarily a full picture,' Amy Williamson, school improvement bureau chief for the state education department, said last week while giving a presentation to the state education board.

Williamson said she is hopeful the fact that the number of reported incidents has stabilized over the past two years is an indication that future data will be more reliable as districts become more adept at reporting.

'We may be ... getting some leveling out' in the data, Williamson said. 'We're excited to see what the next few years bring.'

Alan Heisterkamp, a former Sioux City educator and director of the new Center for Violence Protection at the University of Northern Iowa, said the rise in reported incidents is a good sign.

The UNI center also houses the newly created Governor's Office for Bullying Prevention, which has not received state funding so far.

'What I find encouraging is the number of reports going up. That might sound counter-intuitive,' Heisterkamp said. 'I think that's (a sign of) more confidence in their ability to identify and do that process of the investigation.'

Heisterkamp said if schools foster a culture of bullying prevention, those reports should increase initially and then level off and ultimately go down over time.

Most bullying victims in 2015-16 were targeted because of their physical attributes or their mental or physical abilities, according to the state data, while a significant share of incidents were categorized as 'other.'

Most incidents were reported as verbal or physical, and most occurred on school grounds; only a small number — fewer than 400 — were reported as having occurred by electronic communication.

That number does not align with national statistics from the federal government; in 2011, 16 percent of high school students reported being bullied by electronic means in the previous year.

Heisterkamp said incomplete reporting is a possibility as schools continue to learn how to identify and report bullying incidents.

'Already in Iowa, there have been examples where school districts have not been able to, for whatever reason, follow through with the report,' Heisterkamp said. 'A lot of times, the issues are not reported for a variety of reasons.'

Heisterkamp said more data collection can help guide training and education programs as schools continue to combat bullying.

He also said schools alone cannot shoulder the burden.

'This is an issue and a problem that cannot be fixed without reaching out, because this is not just a school problem,' Heisterkamp said. 'It's a community problem.'

SCHOOL BULLYING IN THE CORRIDOR

Most bullying last academic year in the two largest school districts in the Corridor happened in the classroom rather than hallways, lunchrooms, bathrooms or gyms, according to data complied by the Iowa Department of Education.

Cedar Rapids, with more than 16,000 students, reported 36 bullying incidents in the 2015-16 school year.

Iowa City, with more than 13,000 students, reported 41.

To be sure, those total numbers are more complex than they may seem.

Each report could have involved more than one harasser and more than one target, may have continued over several locations and included indignities hurled about a variety of things — from gender to mental ability to physical appearance and others.

So one reported incident might be reflected in several categories.

Neither district reported that anyone had been banned from school property because of bullying, but they reported a variety of other consequences — including expulsions and suspensions, changes in seating assignments, conferences with parents and follow-ups with counselors, among others.

With the caveats in mind, here is a closer look at the categories with the most reports:

IOWA CITY

Bullying category: Most (36 reports) were classified as 'other.' The additional most common categories were physical attributes (27); physical or mental abilities (26); and sex (25).

Location: The most (39) occurred in the classroom. Other locations most commonly reported were in the halls (24) and in the cafeteria (17).

Consequences: Parents or guardians were notified 82 times; a student conference with administrators was reported in 66 instances.

CEDAR RAPIDS

Bullying category: The category with the most incidents reported was physical attributes (16). Other most common reports were sex (10) and physical and mental abilities (8).

Location: Most (23) occurred in the classroom. Other locations most reported were the halls (14) and the playground (11).

Consequences: Notification of a parent of guardian was most commonly reported (31). Student conferences with administrators were reported on 27 occasions.