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IES Grant

Title: Think Time Efficacy Study
Center: NCSER Year: 2007
Principal Investigator: Benner, Gregory Awardee: University of Washington
Program: Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Competence      [Program Details]
Award Period: 3/1/2007 to 2/28/2010 Award Amount: $1,430,137
Type: Efficacy and Replication Award Number: R324A070183
Description:

Purpose: This project is conducting a randomized efficacy study of the Think Time Strategy, a prevention-oriented behavioral intervention, with elementary school children who exhibit disruptive behavior. Think Time has been developed and pilot tested with elementary age children who exhibit disruptive behavior and has been recognized as a promising intervention program. However, the efficacy of this program has not been tested.

Project Activities: Elementary schools (grades K–6) will be randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition (i.e., "business as usual"). Students receiving special education services for emotional disturbance or who have a clinical diagnosis of a behavior disorder will be eligible for participation. In addition, the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders will be used to identify children with disruptive behavior who are not already identified or diagnosed. Analyses will focus on the immediate and cumulative social and academic outcomes for participating children. In addition, the researchers will attempt to clarify the value added by Think Time to the core behavior support by examining the type and quality of behavior support provided to all children in the project schools. Furthermore, a case study will be conducted to identify factors that influence the implementation of Think Time, and a cost analysis will be completed.

Products: The products from this study will include results of analyses of the randomized trial of Think Time, including results and recommendations as to the value added by Think Time to the core behavior support in experimental schools. Results of the case study methodology depicting the factors that impact implementation of the intervention, and a cost analysis of Think Time implementation and sustainability, will also be included.

Structured Abstract

Setting: Title I elementary schools, grades K–6, in a large urban/suburban school district in Washington State.

Population: Fourteen schools and 450 K–6 children who exhibit disruptive behaviors will comprise the sample. Students receiving special education services for emotional disturbance of an externalizing nature or who have a DSM-IV diagnosis of an externalizing nature will be automatically eligible for participation. In addition, a systematic screening process, the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders, will be used to identify children with disruptive behavior who have not been previously identified or diagnosed.

Intervention: Think Time is a collaborative process between two or more teachers [i.e., homeroom teacher and a cooperating teacher(s)] who provide the designated Think Time area. Think Time includes four components: precision request (i.e., teacher uses a short verbal statement to encourage the child to exhibit positive social behavior and does not use threats, ultimatums, warnings, or repeated requests), antiseptic bounding condition (i.e., reflective period to enable the child to gain self-control), behavioral debriefing process (i.e., teacher checks for self-control and initiates a positive social interaction with the child), and self-management (i.e., goal setting, self recording). These four components are embedded within five procedural steps that are taught directly to children.

Research Design and Methods: A place-based randomized design will be used in which schools will be randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. In addition, project researchers will attempt to clarify the value added by Think Time to the core behavior support by examining the type and quality of behavior support provided to all children in the project schools. Furthermore, case study methodology will be used to identify factors that influence the implementation of Think Time.

Control Condition: The control condition will receive standard behavior support provided to all children at each of the school sites (i.e., "business as usual").

Key Measures: An intake will obtain demographic information as well as detail the child (e.g., low birth weight), family (e.g., family adversity), and sociological risk factors (e.g., low socioeconomic status). Student social behavior will be assessed with The Social Skills Rating Scale, the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition, direct observations, and archival behavioral information (e.g., daily attendance). Academic measures include The Woodcock-Johnson-III Tests of Academic Achievement, curriculum-based measurements in math, reading, and writing, and results from state assessments. A teacher survey instrument will document additional supportive behavior interventions and services (e.g., Title I) provided to children. Measures of treatment integrity and intervention dosage will also be administered.

Data Analytic Strategy: To evaluate the immediate social and academic skill outcomes of Think Time, repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance will be conducted with the pre-treatment and post-treatment (i.e., end of year) scores. The cumulative social and academic skill outcomes of Think Time and the mediating/moderating variables affecting the outcomes of Think Time will be evaluated with multilevel mixture modeling. A cost analysis will also be completed.

Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Benner, G.J., Kutash, K., Nelson, J.R., and Fisher, M.B. (2013). Closing the Achievement Gap of Youth With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Through Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. Education and Treatment of Children, 36(3): 15–29. doi:10.1353/etc.2013.0018

Benner, G.J., Nelson, J.R., Ralston, N.C., and Sanders, E.A. (2012). Behavior Intervention for Students With Externalizing Behavior Problems: Primary-Level Standard Protocol. Exceptional Children, 78(2): 181–198.

Benner, G.J., Sanders, E.A., Nelson, J.R., and Ralston, N.C. (2013). How Individual and School Aggregate Baseline Behavior Levels Moderate Response to a Primary Level Behavior Intervention. Behavioral Disorders, 38(2): 73–87.


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