About SSA: Survey Results

• 2004 Survey Results
• 2003 Survey Results

2004 Survey Results

In May of 2004, Safe School Ambassador programs nationwide were asked to participate in the third annual year-end survey. Thirty-five schools produced responses from 656 Ambassadors, 122 Family Group Facilitators, and 72 program Advisors. This data reinforces the past two years' data, and shows that the Safe School Ambassadors program has a positive impact on school climate and on Ambassadors themselves. For example:

a) Ambassadors and adults reported changes in school climate resulting from implementation of the SSA program

b) When asked how well the SSA Program prepared them to intervene, 86.1% of Ambassadors gave it a 4 or 5 on a 1-5 scale. This is borne out by the frequency of interventions that Ambassadors reported doing when they noticed different types of mistreatment. Intervention frequency is shown as the percentage of Ambassadors who intervened the stated number of times in a 4-week period. When they noticed...

c) The percent of Ambassadors reporting improvements in their own...

These numbers are corroborated by responses from the Program Advisors.

d) Overall Satisfaction with Program: 88.3% of the adult Program Advisors responsible for implementing the program reported they were "Satisfied" or "Very Satisfied" with the Safe School Ambassadors program.

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2003 Survey Results

At the end of the school year, Safe School Ambassador programs nationwide were asked to participate in a year-end survey. Twenty-five schools, (17 middle and 8 high) in California, Colorado, New York, and Florida were able to participate. We appreciate the 384 students who completed this 7-question survey, and the program advisors who got them back to us.

How many interventions do Ambassadors do?

Question 1 asked students to determine the number of times they intervene in a typical day, and in a typical week.

What issues do Ambassadors address?

Question 2 affords us an opportunity to look at the types of issues and problems Ambassadors perceive they are addressing through their interventions.

The numbers show what percent of Ambassadors' interventions dealt with...

What skills do Ambassadors use?

Question 3 lets us see how frequently Ambassadors use certain skills in their interventions. Since Ambassadors often use several skills in one intervention, the total of all percentages may exceed 100%.

This skill was used in what percent of ALL interventions?

Ambassadors' answers to question 3 reflect:

• how appropriate it is to use a certain skill in addressing the issues, i.e. skills that are appropriate for problems infrequently experienced would show low usage here
• their own comfort with the skill (which may indicate further training needs)
• their ability to differentiate (as they completed the survey) between the various skills they used (e.g. Showing Support vs. Getting Help)

Examples of interventions

The examples reported by Ambassadors responding to Question 4 confirm our hypothesis that when they are engaged by adults who genuinely value them, empowered to serve in a legitimate capacity, equipped with appropriate skills, and provided with supervision and support, students can and will take effective action to improve the climate and interpersonal relationships on a school campus.

Do Ambassadors benefit from the SSA program?

In question 5, Ambassadors were asked if being an Ambassador has served them personally.

Typical of the benefits mentioned were: increased tolerance and respect for differences, increased ability to resolve conflicts, more friends, better communication skills and improved relationships with peers, parents, teachers and other adults.

Do Ambassadors feel more connected to their schools?

In question 6, Ambassadors were asked if they felt more connected to their school as a result of being an Ambassador.

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth) recently released its findings, which show a strong correlation between school connectedness and academic achievement. Further, school connectedness is one of the 40 Developmental Assets identified by the Search Institute.

Additional Comments

In question 7, Ambassadors were given the opportunity to make any additional comments. A representative sample can be viewed in "Additional Comments from Ambassadors" on the Examples page.

Program Advisors and Family Group Facilitators were also surveyed and typical comments can be viewed in "As Told By Adults" on the Examples page.

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