Teacher-Student Agreement on "Bullies and Kids They Pick On" in Elementary School Classrooms: Gender and Grade Differences

This article examined teacher-student agreement on the measure: "bullies and kids they pick on" in 38 (15 first, 12 third, and 11 fifth grade) elementary school classrooms. Overall agreement between teachers and students was low, 7.9%. The frequency of bully-victim dyads reported by teachers and victim prominence were positive predictors, and class size was a negative predictor, of teacher-student agreement. Gender and grade differences emerged. Teacher-student agreement was higher for boy-boy and girl-girl than girl-boy bully-victim dyads. The agreement on boy-boy bully-victim dyads was higher in 5th than in the 1st grade classrooms. Limitations and educational implications of these findings are discussed.