Reduction of Stigma in Schools Program: Evaluations and Reflections on the First Three Years

• In Event: Educating School Personnel About Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues: Effectiveness of Professional Development Programs

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
Since 2006, over 1000 educators have participated in the Reduction of Stigma in Schoolsã (RSIS) programming. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and evaluation research pursued a deeper understanding of educators’ experience with the program and aimed to identify which elements of program content were “taken up,” which met with resistance or were absent from participants’ reported learning. This paper will describe the fundamental elements of the RSIS program design and report on findings from the program evaluation study executed in 2008 and 2009.

Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework
Research on educators’ ability and willingness to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth has consistently shown that Schools of Education are not offering preparation in the complicated work of creating affirming school environments for LGBTQ students (Athanases & Larrabee, 2003; Macgillivray & Jennings, 2008; Sherwin and Jennings, 2006)—thus creating the impression that this work is outside the boundaries of educators’ professional responsibility. Since 2006, The RSIS has been working to frame the needs of LGBTQ students as educational issues and empower educators to support LGBTQ youth in their schools. This innovative research-based program brings professional resources and training into schools to inform teachers, counselors and administrators about the school experiences of LGBTQ students and increase their understanding of social stigma and the ways in which it limits the possibilities for LGBTQ students to fully participate in school environments and reach their social, emotional and academic potential. RSIS aims to (1) help educators “see” the heteronormative cultural systems that marginalize LGBTQ students and their peers who do not conform to hegemonic gender ideals; and (2) feel competent in their ability to intervene when they witness gender policing in their schools and take action to shift the cultural norms that privilege “correct” gender performance.

Methods and Data Sources
Data collection methods included 322 written program evaluations (Likert-scaled and open-ended questions), semi-structured interviews of 13 program participants, field notes from workshops and any meetings with school personnel that occurred before or after workshops and questionnaires. Data was analyzed to determine participants’ perceptions of “overall effectiveness,” “facilitator effectiveness” and participant learning in terms of RSIS workshop objectives.

Results
Findings indicate that one-time RSIS professional development trainings effectively raise awareness about the stigmatization of LGBTQ students and the need to eliminate homophobic harassment. Additionally, participants are integrating program content with their existing knowledge about multicultural education and “safe schools.” These meaning making systems utilized by teachers to make sense of their workshop experience place the “problem” of LGBTQ youths’ negative school experiences on the students, and educators envision “solutions” that will make students more “tolerant” of difference.

Scientific or Scholarly Significance
This paper will conclude with reflections on the limitations of relying on “multicultural” and “safety” discourses to understand the systemic oppression of LGBTQ students and recommendations for helping educators recognize, critique and disrupt the ways in which schools are heteronormative institutions and deny LGBTQ youth the same access to education as their heterosexual and gender-conforming peers.

Authors

• Elizabethe Payne, Queering Education Research Institute (QuERI)

• Melissa J. Smith, Syracuse University