IES Staff
Emily Doolittle
Team Lead for Social Behavioral Research
NCER
About
Program Officer: Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Context for Teaching and Learning portfolio; Rural Education Research; Grants Administration Liaison
Associated IES Content
Grant
Distilling Practice Elements for School-Based Practices and Programs That Improve Social and Behavioral Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis
Elementary school is an important time to promote the SEB competencies of students. Comprehensive intervention models (i.e., manualized programs that include multiple practices such as behavior specific praise) and discrete practices (i.e., a specific behavior or action) exist that improve SEB outcomes of elementary students, but these models and practices do not demonstrate the same level of efficacy across all students. As a result, it is difficult for researchers and stakeholders to acces...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220261
Grant
An Integrative Data Analysis of the Coping Power Program: Exploration of Academic Outcomes, Subgroup Effects, Mechanisms, and Implementation Factors
The purpose of this project is to conduct an integrative data analysis (IDA) which combines individual-level student data collected across 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the Coping Power Program (CP), an evidence-based, school-based, preventive intervention effective in reducing externalizing behaviors in children demonstrating aggressive, disruptive behaviors. Adoption and implementation of evidence-based behavioral interventions in schools continues to be a multifaceted challeng...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220244
Grant
Brief, Transdiagnostic Care to Support Academic Learning in Adolescents With Emotional Disorder Symptoms
The purpose of this mixed-methods evaluation project is to develop, refine, and pilot test a school-based, telehealth-delivered, indicated prevention program to address emotion regulation challenges faced by racially- and culturally-diverse adolescents with anxiety and depressive symptoms living in lower-income communities. The Unified Protocol for Preventing Emotional and Academic Challenges in Education (UP-PEACE) is based on a transdiagnostic form of cognitive behavioral therapy used in c...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220088
Grant
COVID-19 Adapted Schooling and Adolescents' Academic and Socioemotional Adjustment
Adolescents' daily lives have been dramatically disrupted by COVID-19-related school closures and crisis-adapted educational arrangements (i.e., socially distanced in-person, hybrid, and remote learning models). Because schools serve as a primary socialization context for supporting youth's academic growth and socioemotional competence through interactions with adults and peers, the extended transition to COVID-adapted learning models may have altered adolescents' academic and socioemotional...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220480
Grant
Examining Effects of Social-Emotional Learning on Outcomes Through High School and Beyond: A Follow-up Study of INSIGHTS
The aim of this study is to conduct a long-term efficacy follow-up of INSIGHTS into Children's Temperament. INSIGHTS is a comprehensive school based preventive intervention that aims to support children's social-emotional development in order to improve their behaviors, social-emotional well-being, and academic skills during the transition to elementary school. Findings from the original cluster randomized trial of INSIGHTS implemented in kindergarten and first grade in schools serving stude...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220174
Grant
Just Discipline and Effective Restorative Practices: Assessing the Potential of Design Innovations and Implementation Science as Catalysts for Sustainable School Transformation
The purpose of this study is to test an innovative restorative practice model that uses a full-time restorative practitioner and youth leaders in the school to lead restorative method programming and to provide in-house training and expertise for teachers. Alternatives to exclusionary discipline like restorative practices are sorely needed in education, yet rigorous examinations of restorative practice effects have largely been inconclusive. Scholars and practitioners have noted that restora...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305T210046
Grant
Social-Emotional Skill-Building Continuity between School and Home: Developing Second Step: Parents
The research team will develop new parent materials to use with the Second Stepprogram, a school-based social emotional learning (SEL) intervention designed to increase children's social and emotional skills and academic achievement. The program has demonstrated positive outcomes in scientifically rigorous trials and is implemented widely in the U.S. and over 70 other countries. Second Stepmaterials for parents (Home Links) are included for parents to support SEL at home. While such materi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210210
Grant
Initial Efficacy Trial of a Group-Based Implementation Strategy Designed to Increase Teacher Delivery of Evidence-Based Prevention Programs
The purpose of this project is to test the effects of BASIS-T (Beliefs and Attitudes to Support Implementation in Schools - Teachers) on the implementation and student outcomes of evidence-based prevention programs (EBPP) via a hybrid type 3 implementation-effectiveness trial. Failing to address individual-level motivational factors of implementers is especially costly, as individual behavior change is ultimately required for successful EBPP implementation, even when organizational factors s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220481
Grant
Enhancing the Capacity of School Nurses to Reduce Excessive Anxiety in Children: An Efficacy Trial of the CALM Intervention
Excessive anxiety among elementary students is highly prevalent and associated with impairment in academic, social, and behavioral functioning. The primary aim of this project is to evaluate the initial efficacy of a brief nurse-delivered intervention (CALM: Child Anxiety Learning Modules), relative to a credible comparison (CALM-R, relaxation skills only) for reducing anxiety symptoms and improving education outcomes at post intervention and at a 1-year follow-up. In addition, the research ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200195
Grant
The Development of New Technology to Promote the Fidelity and Sustainability of a Universal Preventive Intervention in Real-World Educational Settings
The purposes of this project are to develop, refine, and pilot test new technology to address fidelity problems of the most thoroughly studied universal, school- based preventive intervention, the Good Behavior Game (GBG); and to draw on what is learned from this developmental process to devise a set of principles to guide technology developers on how to close the implementation gap for other school-based preventive interventions. To date, no attempts have been made to develop technology tha...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200185
Grant
Developing Seamless Blended Learning Through Collaborative In-Class and Online Dialogue About Critical Civic Issues to Improve Elementary Students' Interpersonal Competencies and Academic Achievement
More elementary schools nowadays provide students with laptops and Internet connectivity, but limited research on blended learning has been done at the elementary level. This project aims to iteratively develop and evaluate a seamless blended dialogic intervention where the attributes of both face-to-face and online discussions reinforce each other to promote elementary students' interpersonal competencies and academic achievement.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200364
Grant
Evaluating an Online System of Supports for the Good Behavior Game
The purpose of this project is to examine the relative effectiveness of online versus in-person training and coaching in the Good Behavior Game (GBG) for reducing students' aggressive/disruptive behavior and improving their on-task behavior and academic achievement. The time and resources needed to provide in-person professional development to large groups of teachers limits the cost effectiveness of such training models. In order to implement evidence-based preventive interventions like the...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190382
Grant
School Adolescent Mood Project: Efficacy of IPT-AST in Schools
The purpose of this efficacy replication study is to test whether Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST), a Tier 2 depression prevention program, is effective when delivered through telehealth in high schools. In prior school-based studies, IPT-AST improved depression and anxiety symptoms, rates of depression diagnoses, overall functioning, and school-related outcomes for adolescents with depressive symptoms.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190088
Grant
Long Term Effects of Professional Development to Support New Teachers' Use of Effective Classroom Management Techniques
The purpose of this project is to test potential long-term benefits of the integration of two prevention programs, Good Behavior Game and My Teaching Partner (GBG+MTP) for teachers who have recently entered the teaching profession. Results from the original IES efficacy trial show positive impacts on teacher practices and student behavior and achievement for teachers who are more distressed as they begin their teaching careers and also are assigned classrooms with high levels of disruptive b...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190162
Grant
School-Based Marginalization, Social Behavioral Competencies, and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis
The purpose of this project was to conduct a meta-analysis of potential links among school-based marginalization, social behavioral competencies, and academic achievement from kindergarten through high school. Marginalization within schools - a process through which students are excluded from the larger school culture due to their personal identities and experiences—represents a key malleable facet of school climate that may be amenable to intervention. The process of marginalization can b...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190504
Grant
Evaluation of Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills Program: A Conceptual Replication
The purpose of this study is to conduct a conceptual replication of an IES Efficacy study that showed the HOPS (Homework, Organization, Planning Skills) intervention improved organizational, time management, and planning (OTMP) skills for middle school students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this study, an independent research team will test whether HOPS yields similar benefits under routine practice conditions for the full range of students who have OTMP skills def...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190222
Grant
High School Gay-Straight Alliances: Practices that Predict Academic Success
This project will examine associations between Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) practices and experiences and social-emotional and academic outcomes for sexual and gender minority (SGM) students. School-based extracurricular settings such as GSAs may promote a sense of school belonging, hope, positive affect, and self-worth in SGM students, which in turn may support positive academic outcomes. GSAs are now in over 37 percent of high schools across the United States, yet there is little data to in...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190165
Grant
Creating Upstanders: The Development of Norms And Bystander Intervention Training (NAB IT!) to Reduce Bullying and Sexual Harassment
The purpose of this study is to develop and test a social norms and bystander intervention training to reduce bullying and sexual harassment in high schools. NAB IT! (Norms And Bystander Intervention Training) relies on influential peer leaders in high schools to establish social norms and bystander intervention training to promote peer intervention in instances of bullying and sexual harassment to improve school climate.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190139
Grant
Coping Power for Rural Middle Schoolers: A Tiered Approach to Increasing Behavioral and Mental Health Supports and Reducing Disparities
The purpose of this project is to develop, refine, and pilot test a rural adaptation of the Early Adolescent Coping Power (EACP) program so that it adequately addresses behavioral and mental health problems among rural middle schoolers. The Rural-EACP will address the cultural and contextual challenges of providing appropriate supports to help youth with aggressive behavior challenges in rural settings.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190116
Grant
Evaluation of We Have Choices, an Upper-Elementary Self-Management Program
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of the We Have Choices (WHC) program, which was initially developed with IES funding. WHC teaches students specific skills associated with academic success and gradually transfers management of those skills from teachers to students. Universal materials focus on explicit instruction in the skills for all students with an emphasis on practice and additional supports for those who struggle to learn the skills.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190478
Grant
A Study of "Discipline in the Secondary Classroom": A Positive Approach to Behavior Management
The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of Discipline in the Secondary Classroom (DSC), a classroom management program that provides tools and strategies to help high school teachers establish proactive, nonpunitive discipline policies; manage student behavior; foster student motivation; and create a positive and productive classroom. Although DSC is used in hundreds of high schools across dozens of states, it has not been rigorously studied in a randomized control trial (RCT) for ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180013
Grant
The Role of Diet in Behavior and Academic Outcomes in Middle School Students
The purpose of this study was to explore the role of diet in middle school students' behavioral and academic outcomes. Although evidence suggests that poor diet quality contributes to emotional and behavioral problems, research examining the temporal relationships between diet, behavior, and academic outcomes had been lacking.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180074
Grant
Testing the Efficacy of INSIGHTS for Promoting Positive Learning Environments and Academic Achievement in Nebraska: A Replication Study
The purpose of this study is to replicate an IES-funded efficacy study of INSIGHTS into Children's Temperament with a different sample and in a different context - rural Nebraska. INSIGHTS is a temperament-based emotional and behavioral skills intervention with student, teacher, and parent components that has been found to improve the quality of kindergarten and 1st grade classroom environments in inner city schools and reduce disruptive behavior, improve attention skills, and improve readin...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180290
Grant
A Conceptual Replication of BEST in CLASS: An Efficacy Study of BEST in CLASS-Elementary
The purpose of this project is to replicate findings of previous research conducted on the BEST in CLASS classroom-based intervention by testing the efficacy of BEST in CLASS - Elementary (BEST in CLASS-E).The BEST in CLASS is an intervention composed of several practice elements that target increasing the quantity and quality of specific teacher behaviors with high-risk focal children to prevent and reduce the occurrence of their chronic problem behaviors. Although the BEST in CLASS interve...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180182
Grant
Investigation of How and for Whom the Positive Action Social-Emotional and Character Development Program has its Effects on Student Behavior and Academic Achievement
The purpose of this efficacy study is to analyze data from a matched-pairs randomized controlled trial of the Positive Action (PA) program to determine how and for whom PA has its effects. Data from the original IES-funded Chicago trial of PA and the IES-funded extension trial show positive effects for a wide range of student social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes from 3rd through 8th grade.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180259
Grant
Efficacy Study of Adventures Aboard the S.S.GRIN: Social, Emotional, and Academic Skills
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Adventures Aboard the S.S. GRIN (Adventures) program, an online game with embedded social skills training to improve social, emotional, and academic outcomes for children experiencing social difficulties. Prior research indicated that direct social skills instruction can benefit these students, yet most schools are not equipped to provide this type of targeted support. The Adventures program was created through an IES development grant (R305A1105...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180224
Grant
Pathways to Success in the Transition to High School: Testing Efficacy for Improving 8th and 9th Grade Academic Outcomes
The purpose of this study is to testthe efficacy of a teacher-training and implementation model for the Pathways to Success program that was developed through a previous IES grant. Pathways is a 12-session social psychological intervention administered at the start of eighth grade to help students change key elements of their identity based motivation - their possible selves (who students expect to become in the near and distant future), their strategies to work on these possible selves, and...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180308
Grant
Development of an Instructional Alternative to Out-of-School Suspension: The Instructional Suspension Learning Alternative (ISLA)
The purpose of this development and innovation project was to refine and test a Tier 1 universal intervention to reduce exclusionary discipline and increase instructional time for students, the Inclusive Skill-building Learning Approach (ISLA). ISLA promotes positive student-teacher relationships and students' problem-solving skills and school-wide systems that specify graduated and logical responses to concerning behavior to reduce the likelihood that students will be sent out of class.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180006
Grant
Adaptation of an Effective Tier II Behavior Intervention for Students in Secondary Schools
The purpose of this project is to adapt a Tier II intervention called Check-in/Check-out (CICO) for use in secondary schools. CICO appears promising for reducing problem behavior and enhancing academic success for elementary school students with challenging behavior, but it has been implemented and tested less frequently in middle and high schools.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180015
Grant
Development and Pilot Testing of the Sleep to Enhance Educational Performance in Schools (SLEEPS) Curriculum
The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot test Sleep to Be a Better You, (initially called Sleep to Enhance Educational Performance in Schools (SLEEPS)), a program to support middle school students' healthy sleep habits and thereby to promote better behavior, engagement, and performance in school. Sleep problems are common among middle school students, with up to 60 percent failing to get sufficient sleep (National Sleep Foundation, 2006). The Sleep to Be a Better You program uses a...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180265
Grant
Examining the Efficacy of RULER on School Climate, Teacher Well-being, Classroom Climate, and Student Outcomes
In this project, researchers will evaluate the efficacy of RULER, a school-wide intervention that is designed to provide opportunities for teachers and students to enhance their social-emotional skills. As of 2017, RULER is being used in over 1,500 schools nationwide. Despite being a widely-used intervention, RULER has been evaluated by only one randomized-control trial that was implemented in limited grades and settings. The current study aims to build on the promising findings from that ea...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180326
Grant
Development of Assessment Tools and Educator Training to Support Tier 2 Behavioral Intervention Selection
The purpose of this project was to support the development and validation of the Intervention Selection Profile (ISP), a suite of brief assessment tools to identify appropriate interventions for students in need of Tier 2 support. In a response to intervention (RTI) framework, Tier 2 interventions are for students who are struggling to make adequate progress in response to general classroom-level (Tier 1) instruction and supports. A large body of research has supported the effectiveness of s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180515
Grant
Development of RELATE (Relationships to Enhance Learners' Adjustment to Transitions and Engagement)
The purpose of this project was to iteratively develop and pilot a brief professional development training that is called RELATE. This training is intended to enhance teachers' skills in establishing, maintaining, and restoring relationships with high school students, a critical protective factor during the transition to high school. The RELATE program helps teachers implement concrete relationship building skills with high school students, particularly those from marginalized racial/ethnic ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170458
Grant
Exploring Youth Leadership Councils: Developmental Competencies, Critical Consciousness, and School and Civic Engagement
The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine if there is a relationship between high school students' participation in youth leadership councils (YLCs) and their developmental competencies (e.g., academic self-efficacy, social skills) and critical consciousness (i.e., the ability to think critically about social inequalities and how to remediate them). This project's central hypothesis was that participation in YLCs is associated with growth in these areas because YLCs lead to fe...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170639
Grant
Development and Evaluation of the Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Implementation in Schools for Teachers (BASIS-T)
The purpose of this project was to iteratively refine and pilot test the feasibility and efficacy of an implementation enhancement intervention, the Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Implementation in Schools for Teachers (BASIS-T). This intervention is intended to strategically impact key individual-level factors that facilitate teachers' implementation of evidence-based practices and programs (EBPPs) to support students' social, emotional, and behavioral skills. In schools, implementati...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170292
Grant
Promoting Self-Regulation to Enhance Social, Behavioral, and Academic Adjustment in Middle School
The purpose of this project was to develop and test an intervention to support the development of adolescents' self-regulation skills during the middle school years. The need for intervention during this time period can be seen in a decline in achievement and an increase in discipline problems and truancy. Middle school classroom peer cultures also tend to discourage academically engaged and prosocial behaviors, favoring aggression and defiance. As such, there is reason to provide universal ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170172
Grant
Effectiveness of the Social Skills Improvement System Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP) in the Primary Grades
The purpose of this project is to test the effectiveness of the Social Skills Improvement System Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP) in helping all students in early elementary school develop the social skills and behaviors that teachers have identified as critical to classroom success. This project builds on theory and correlational research which suggest that the presence of social skills, rather than the absence of disruptive behavior alone, supports long-term positive effects on ac...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170047
Grant
Evaluation of Organization Skills Training Program for Upper Elementary Students
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of a school-based organizational skills training program (OST-S) for students in 3rd through 5th grade with deficits in organization, time management, and planning (OTMP), key executive function skills that support success in school. The OST-S intervention was adapted from an effective clinic-based organizational skills training intervention for children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and has been piloted ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170052
Grant
Assessing the Efficacy and Implementation of City Connects: A Systemic Approach to Student Support
This purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of City Connects, a student support intervention that addresses out-of-school factors that can affect students' ability to succeed academically and thrive in school. Research indicates that out-of-school experiences are a critical factor in children's success in school, and that poverty is a major factor in inequality in education outcomes. The City Connects intervention has provided support to students in high-poverty, urban elementary...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170471
Grant
An Efficacy Study of Multi-Tiered Academic, Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Supports in High-Need, Urban Middle Schools
The purpose of this project is to generate rigorous evidence of the effects of the Whole School, Whole Child (WSWC) dropout prevention model and the unique value of Tier 2 services within that model. The WSWC model is a two-tiered model, developed and widely implemented by City Year (YR) that aims to provide a safe and supportive learning environment to students as well as support to students at risk of dropping out based on their academic performance, behavior, and absenteeism. City Year Am...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170227
Grant
Efficacy of a Brief Intervention Strategy for School Mental Health Clinicians
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a four-session engagement, assessment, triage, and brief intervention strategy for high school students seeking or referred to school mental health (SMH) services. Findings from an IES development and innovation project (R305A120128) with a sample of 66 students showed that the Brief Intervention Strategy for School Clinicians (BRISC) promoted positive effects on a variety of outcomes, including mental health impairment, emotional sym...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A160111
Grant
Web-Based Assessment of Social-Emotional Comprehension and Execution in Grades Four to Six
Building on prior IES-funded work, the purpose of this measurement project was to develop SELweb LE (Late Elementary), a suite of scientifically sound, usable, and feasible tools for assessing critical dimensions of social-emotional skill in all children in grades 4 to 6. Given that children's social-emotional skill affects their participation and success in school and life, a growing number of states are adopting learning standards that indicate what social-emotional skills children should ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A160053
Grant
Intervening with Children Experiencing Serious Peer Difficulties: The Friendship Connections Program
In this study, researchers tested whether an intensive, individualized social skills training program, the Friendship Connections Program (FCP), can remediate the serious and chronic peer difficulties that 10-15 percent of elementary school students experience. Most of these students have or are at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders and exhibit social skill deficits (e.g., poor communication skills, inability to resolve conflict) that alienate peers. These problems can escalate, lead...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150488
Grant
Evaluation of a Self-Monitoring Training Program for Elementary School Students
In this study, the research team will test whether the Self-Monitoring Training and Regulation Strategy (STARS) intervention can improve behavior, social emotional learning skills, and academic performance for fifth grade students who engage in disruptive or otherwise challenging classroom behaviors. Up to 20% of elementary school students engage in behavior that is disruptive to learning for themselves and their classmates. STARS is a Tier 2 targeted intervention for students who need extra...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150517
Grant
Project RESPECT: A Proposal to Develop the Responding in Emotionally Supportive and Positive Ways in Educational Communication Skills Training Program
: In this study, researchers developed and tested a teacher professional development program to enhance middle and high school teachers' capacity for interpersonal communication, conflict management, and social and emotional competencies to create a supportive context for teaching and learning. Interpersonal communication skills are critical to the success of professionals in a variety of settings. These skills are particularly important for teachers, who must learn to interact successfully ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150391
Grant
Enhancing Father Engagement to Promote Social, Behavioral, and Academic Outcomes
This project adapts and tests the Coaching Our Acting Out Children: Heightening Essential Skills (COACHES) program for implementation in schools. This is a clinic-based program to help fathers of children with or at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) get more involved and engaged in their child's school performance. Research indicates that parent training focused on child behavior can help children with ADHD, yet little is known about how programming specifically design...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150230
Grant
Increasing Classroom Teachers' Implementation and Sustained Use of Classroom-Based Physical Activity Breaks as a Strategy to Improve Academic Outcomes
The project team developed and tested a training and support package to boost teachers' implementation and sustained use of physical activity breaks in elementary school classrooms as one way to improve students' academic performance. Brief breaks in instruction for classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) are hypothesized to improve students' attention and increase time on task, which in turn should improve learning and performance. Traditional methods of providing opportunities for physica...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150277
Grant
Efficacy of RENEW for High School Students with Emotional and Behavioral Challenges
This study tests whether the RENEW (Rehabilitation, Empowerment, Natural supports, Education and Work) program can improve academic performance for the estimated 5-10% of high school students at risk for school failure due to emotional and behavioral challenges (EBC). Students with EBC have one of the highest dropout rates (nearly 45 percent), yet they rarely receive the individualized supports needed to help them succeed and graduate from high school. RENEW promotes student engagement, self...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150438
Grant
Equipping High School Teachers to Increase Student Motivation and Course Passing Rates
In this project, researchers developed and tested a set of professional development (PD) modules and related tools intended to improve high school teachers' attitudes and practices in ways that support and motivate students to work hard in their classes. Increased motivation and effort are predicted to lead to fewer course failures. Whether students pass or fail classes, particularly in ninth grade, is a strong predictor of high school graduation. For many students, course failure results fr...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150449
Grant
BEST in CLASS-Elementary: A Preventative Classroom-based Intervention Model
In this project researchers developed and tested the BEST in CLASS-Elementary model for training and coaching early elementary school teachers to support the development of their students with challenging classroom behavior. The content of the training and coaching is based on the BEST in CLASS-Prekindergarten model, which was developed and tested for efficacy with IES funding. The researchers modified BEST in CLASS-PK to incorporate practices appropriate for early elementary school classroo...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150246
Grant
Educational Outcomes of the Incredible Years Small Group Program for Early Elementary Students with Self-Regulation Difficulties
Researchers evaluated the efficacy of a small group social-emotional and behavioral intervention, the Incredible Years Dina Dinosaur Treatment Program (IY-Dina), for helping early elementary school students with social-emotional and behavioral difficulties. Many children with these difficulties do not respond adequately to universal interventions. As a result, they are at risk for discipline referrals, academic underachievement, and conflict with peers and teachers that interferes with learn...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150169
Grant
Developing a Peer to Peer Behavioral Intervention for High School Students with ADHD
In this study, researchers developed and tested school-based procedures to provide behavioral intervention for ninth grade students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or similar symptoms that interfere with success in school. About 5 to 10 percent of high school students have ADHD or related symptoms that cause organization and time management problems that often lead to course failure and dropout. These academic problems can further compound risk for deviant behaviors such...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150433
Grant
Facilitating Academic Success and Emotional Well-Being Among High School Students in Accelerated Curricula
The purpose of this project is to develop and test a prevention program to help high school students in AP and IB classes manage the stress inherent in this type of accelerated coursework. This project applies findings from a recently completed IES Exploration study, Intrapersonal Factors Associated with Academic Success among High School Students in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate (AP-IB) Programs. The number and diversity of high school students who take AP/IB classes is...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150543
Grant
Testing the Efficacy of Double Check: A Cultural Proficiency Professional Development Model in Middle Schools
In this study, researchers tested whether Double Check, a teacher professional development program designed to promote cultural proficiency and student engagement practices, can improve student academic and behavioral outcomes in middle school. Double Check was developed with IES funding (Double Check: A Cultural Proficiency and Student Engagement Model) as a potential way to reduce the disproportionate representation of minority students in disciplinary actions and special education referra...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150221
Grant
Efficacy of a Growth Mindset Intervention to Increase Student Success
The purpose of this project was to test whether the Brainology® Growth Mindset Induction Curriculum for Students can foster a growth mindset in adolescent students. Brainology is a commercially available blended curriculum informed by Cognition and Student Learning research exploring beliefs about intelligence and their influence on attention and information processing during the learning process as well as with support from a 2010 IES SBIR FastTrack Award. Although adolescents often diseng...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150142
Grant
Nuestras Familias: Refining an Evidence-based Intervention to Promote Latino Student Academic Success and Positive Behavioral Outcomes through School-Family Partnerships
In this project, researchers will develop and test the Escuelas y Familias: Somos Juntos (Schools and Families: We're Together) program to support school success for Latino middle school students. This program will be based on Nuestras Familias (NF), a culturally-specific intervention that provides direct support to immigrant Latino parents. Prior efficacy studies indicate NF improves behavioral outcomes closely linked to academic and school success for Latino middle school students. The new...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150280
Grant
Freshman Success: Implementation of Comprehensive Universal Supports for School Engagement
In this project, researchers developed and tested the Freshman Success Model, an intervention that includes peer mentors to promote school engagement for all ninth grade students in high schools with School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS). Prior research has shown that disengagement from school can start early for both low- and high-achieving students as they transition into the new, unfamiliar high school environment. The consequences of disengagement unfold ra...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150010
Grant
Interactive Virtual Training (IVT) for Early Career Teachers in High Poverty Schools
In this study, researchers will create and test Interactive Virtual Training (IVT), a video game technology in which early career teachers can hone their classroom management skills in a virtual classroom. Difficulty managing classrooms and engaging learners are two of the strongest predictors of attrition from the profession of teaching for those early in their careers. This project builds on a recently completed IES Development and Innovation study, Enhancing Effectiveness and Connectednes...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150166
Grant
Evaluation of We Have Skills, A Multimedia Classroom Level Social Skills Program for Elementary Students
The purpose of this study is to test whether the We Have Skills! (WHS) program (developed at IRIS Media through support of an IES development grant) can help young students learn social skills and behaviors to support success in school. Early elementary school is an ideal time to teach children these social skills and behaviors, yet few teachers feel prepared to do so, lacking both time and resources to support their students adequately. The WHS program teaches students seven social and acad...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A150046
Grant
A Classroom-based Training Program of Attention and Emotion Regulation
Researchers developed and pilot tested a mindfulness training program for 5th grade teachers and students to improve teacher well-being and student self-regulation and attention. The program uses a single intervention approach called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and a "train the trainers" model for classroom teachers to maximize efficiency and impact.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140479
Grant
Consistency Management & Cooperative Discipline (CMCD): An Efficacy Trial with Students in Third and Fourth Grade Urban Schools
The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of the Consistency Management & Cooperative Discipline (CMCD) teacher professional development and coaching program for improving student behavior and academic achievement in third and fourth grade. The management of classrooms impacts how all teachers - from neophytes to veterans - teach and engage their learners. CMCD is a widely used classroom management program based on sharing responsibility for learning and classroom organization. ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140493
Grant
Pathways to Success: Developing a Teacher-Led, Teacher-Trained School-to-Jobs Intervention to Improve School Attendance and Academic Achievement
This development study addressed two challenges: high school failure and the need to transform theory- and evidence-based dropout prevention programs into usable, feasible, scalable school-based programs to reduce risk of school failure. School-to-Jobs (STJ) is an intervention rooted in identity-based motivation theory, which predicts that to do well in school, children need to experience the present as psychologically connected to their future self, and interpret difficulties in school as s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140281
Grant
Testing the Efficacy of a Developmentally Informed Coping Power Program in Middle Schools
A substantial body of research has documented that disruptive behavior problems often co-occur with poor academic functioning and low school connectedness. Other behavioral challenges, such as bullying and aggressive behavior, also cause school disruptions and are associated with both short- and long-term academic difficulties as well as mental health concerns. These issues are particularly significant during the middle school years, when rates of school violence and disruption increase and ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140070
Grant
The Role of Native Language and Culture in Decreasing Discipline Problems and Increasing Academic Achievement for American Indian/Alaska Native Students
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between school personnel's use of Native language and culture (NLC) in discipline and instruction and the behavioral and academic outcomes of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students. The findings of this exploration study can be used to guide intervention development to benefit the academic success of AI/AN students. These students represent about one percent of the total U.S. school population, yet they experience some of ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140162
Grant
Efficacy Follow-up of ParentCorps: Long-term Impact of Early Childhood Family-Focused Intervention on Academic Achievement
The well-documented achievement gap for low-income, minority children is already present in kindergarten, with students who do not perform at grade level early on unlikely to catch up. ParentCorps is a family-focused, school-based intervention that aims to buffer the adverse effects of poverty on child development by engaging and supporting parents and teachers at school entry. An IES-funded cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared schools randomly assigned to implement ParentCorps...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140298
Grant
Enhancing the Capacity of School Nurses to Reduce Excessive Anxiety in Children
The goal of this project was to develop an intervention for school nurses to help students with anxiety. Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric conditions affecting youth, with overall prevalence rates ranging from 10 to 20 percent. Anxiety has a broad range of negative effects on academic functioning including poor academic performance, increased grade retention, excessive absenteeism and school refusal, and school dropout. School nurses are often faced with a perplexing su...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140694
Grant
SEALS II – Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success across the Middle School Years
As children become adolescents, they experience a range of academic, behavioral, emotional, and social challenges that if negotiated unsuccessfully may negatively impact their school adjustment and constrain their future educational goals and outcomes. During the middle school years, instructional practices, classroom management approaches, and peer group processes impact whether students remain engaged in school and develop productive roles and relationships that promote their educational a...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A160398
Grant
A Longitudinal Study of Latino Students' Grade 3 Academic Achievement: The Role of Early Childhood Family and School Characteristics
Experiences during early childhood play a critical role in shaping the academic trajectories of students throughout elementary school and into middle and high school. For Latino students, who are at high risk for high school dropout, these experiences unfold within a unique cultural context defined by immutable factors such as country of origin and immigrant status. Yet within this context, culturally specific processes at the child, family and school levels, such as cultural socialization, ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A130702
Grant
Professional Development to Support New Teachers' Use of Effective Classroom Management Techniques
Teacher classroom management plays a critical role in academic success for students. The purpose of this efficacy study is to test whether the combination of two established and efficacious teacher training programs-the Good Behavior Game (GBG) and My Teaching Partner (MTP)-will improve new teachers' classroom management practices, leading to improved behavior, motivation, and academic achievement for their students. Combined, the two teacher training programs address three important element...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A130107
Grant
Identifying Predictors of Program Implementation to Inform a Tailored Teacher Coaching Process
A growing number of school-based prevention programs have demonstrated positive effects on a range of educational and behavioral outcomes, yet there is considerable variation in the fidelity with which these programs are implemented. There is growing interest in coaching as a support system for optimizing implementation, which in turn could maximize outcomes for students. The primary goal of this exploratory study is to identify teacher, classroom, and school contextual factors, as well as a...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A130701
Grant
Partner for Prevention (P4P): A Whole School Approach to Peer Aggression and Bullying
Peer aggression and bullying occur frequently in schools with negative consequences at multiple levels (student, classroom, school), yet many existing school-based programs that try to prevent peer aggression and bullying are limited in scope. In order for a peer aggression and bullying prevention program to be effective, it must move beyond a focus on the aggressor or bully and consider broader classroom and school climate issues that may foster such behaviors. Furthermore, such a prevent...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A130175
Grant
A Neuroscience-Based Health Curriculum to Promote Academic Success
In this project, research on adolescent brain development and functioning was integrated into an existing ninth-grade health curriculum, the North Carolina Healthful Living course. The new neuroscience-based health course used pedagogical principles based on social cognitive theory and theories of intelligence and promoted the development of a growth mindset in students (i.e., the belief that brain function, or intelligence, can be improved with practice and effort) and eventual adoption of ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A120659
Grant
Brief Intervention for School Clinicians
In this project researchers developed, documented the feasibility of, established fidelity measures for, and pilot tested a school-based mental health intervention designed for high schools, the Brief Intervention for School Clinicians (BRISC). Research indicates that youth who experience mental health problems, especially those who do not receive appropriate, timely intervention, are at risk for academic failure. School-based services can improve access to help for students in need and impr...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A120128
Grant
Academic and Behavioral Consequences of Visible Security Measures in Schools
This project explored the ways that security measures were being used in schools, how they related to middle- and high-school students' perceived school safety and academic and behavioral outcomes, and the contexts in which those associations were strongest. In an attempt to create safe environments for students, many schools had turned to visible security measures such as security cameras, metal detectors, and law enforcement officers. Despite increased use of such costly security measures,...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A120181
Grant
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Student Success Skills: A Program to Improve Academic Achievement for All Students
The Student Success Skills (SSS) program was developed to teach students fundamental learning, social, and self-management skills that have been demonstrated to support improved academic achievement. SSS is based on a strong body of theoretical and empirical research and uses developmentally appropriate student lessons, activities, and teaching strategies. The program has been widely used in elementary, middle, and high schools across the country for the past 7 years. Four previous studies h...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A120810
Grant
Interactive Social Tutoring System for Social Skills Training with Elementary Students
: Relatively little is known about how interactive software technology can be used to enhance students' social skills and/or peer relations. This project extended prior work to fully develop an innovative computer-based interactive social tutoring system (ISTS) for elementary students experiencing social-behavioral problems at school. The ISTS software is intended to provide a safe, private, social learning environment through which students can engage in tailored, interactive exercises to l...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110583
Grant
Assessing the Efficacy of Check & Connect for Improving Outcomes for At-Risk High School Students
Because the dropout problem has persisted in the United States over the previous decades, much work has focused on the development and implementation of dropout prevention programs in and outside of school. A review of the research on these programs suggests that some, but not many, dropout prevention programs have positive effects on school persistence and completion. Check & Connect is a dropout prevention program with demonstrated effectiveness for students with disabilities. The research...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110252
Grant
The Role of Behavioral and Instructional Match in the Prediction of Early Classroom Engagement and Academic Achievement
The idea that instructional strategies should be matched to individual student skills has a long history in education. Recent research indicates that the match between child skills and teacher instruction in the early elementary grades is critical to children's reading achievement. In this project, researchers will examine teacher instructional strategies as a moderator of child grade entry skills in predicting literacy achievement at 2nd and 3rd grade. Researchers will use data from the Fam...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110104
Grant
Using Longitudinal and Momentary Analysis to Study the Impact of Middle School Teachers' Stress on Teacher Effectiveness, Student Behavior and Achievement
Teaching is a highly stressful occupation. Teacher stress may influence how effective teachers are in the classroom, with potential consequences for their students' behavior and learning. The research team intends to identify predictors and outcomes of job stress in middle school teachers, linking teacher stress to student behavior and achievement via teacher effectiveness. Using a prospective multi-method, multi-time scale investigation of the proposed mediational chain (i.e., stressors lea...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110080
Grant
Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success - Project SEALS
As students begin middle school they are vulnerable to a range of academic, behavioral, and social problems that may negatively impact their school adjustment. Many adolescents experience difficulties during this time due to a poor fit between their developmental needs and the demands of the school environment. Children develop as an integrated whole suggesting that difficulties in one domain (e.g., academic, behavioral, social) may have consequences for functioning in other domains. The Sup...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A120812
Grant
Using an Empirically-supported Teacher Consultation Model to Facilitate the Implementation of an Integrated Social-emotional Learning and Literacy Curriculum in Urban Elementary Schools
Social-emotional skills and academic achievement are intertwined, with research showing that poor academic achievement is both predicted by aggressive, disruptive behavior and a predictor of maladaptive behavior. Learning in a school context involves social and interactive processes among teachers, students, and their peers. Students' social-emotional competencies and self-regulation skills serve as important mechanisms for obtaining information and benefiting from instruction and learning a...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100590
Grant
Intrapersonal Factors Associated with Academic Success among High School Students in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate (AP-IB) Programs
The number of high school students enrolled in rigorous college preparatory programs such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate (AP-IB) classes and programs is on the rise. These students are increasingly diverse in terms of ethnic and linguistic background, academic preparation, socioeconomic status, and experience with managing challenging academic coursework. In this study, the researchers will explore how, and for whom, malleable factors such as coping strategies, engag...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100911
Grant
Academic Achievement Outcomes from a Pre-K Family and School Intervention
Ethnic minority students from schools in disadvantaged, urban neighborhoods are at high risk for problems in school including grade retention, academic underachievement, and school dropout. Prospective longitudinal studies indicate that behavior problems in early childhood, especially physical aggression, predict poor academic achievement. This suggests that prevention of aggression in early childhood may lead to higher academic attainment, yet experimental studies addressing this important ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100596
Grant
Minnesota Partnership for School Connectedness
The middle school years are associated with declines in academic performance, motivation to achieve, and self-perceptions for many students, making this a critical time to implement strategies that build connections and engage students in learning. The purpose of this project is to develop and pilot test a professional development intervention, the Minnesota Partnership for School Connectedness (MPSC), to enhance middle school teachers' ability to increase students' cognitive, behavioral, af...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100064
Grant
The Career Passport Program: Development and Refinement
School dropout has long been recognized as a "silent epidemic" and an "invisible crisis" among low-income minority students. On a national level, the Black student population has about a 50 percent chance of earning a high school diploma within 4 years of entering ninth grade. In this project, researchers will further develop and refine an existing school-based program that uses a career education approach to facilitating school engagement and reducing school dropout, the Career Passport P...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100094
Grant
Increasing Adolescent Engagement, Motivation, and Achievement: Efficacy of a Web-Based, Teacher Professional Development Model
By the time adolescents enter high school, more than half report that they do not take school or their studies seriously. Many adolescents also report that their interactions with teachers are not satisfying or motivating, suggesting that teachers may be uniquely positioned to promote student engagement in school. Because disengagement and lack of motivation are often expressed through disruptive and uncooperative classroom behavior, their negative effects on learning are compounded by miss...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100367
Grant
Evaluation of a Video-Based Modeling Program to Promote Effective Teacher Classroom Management Practices
Although much is known about effective classroom management strategies, many teachers are not adequately trained to deal with behavior problems in the classroom. The Incredible Years teacher training (IY TT) program is an innovative video-based modeling program that incorporates active learning of classroom management skills. In this efficacy study, the research team will examine the effects of IY TT on the academic performance of students in kindergarten through third grade and determine ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100342
Grant
A Longitudinal Study of Teaching Practices, Classroom Peer Ecologies, and Youth Outcomes
Teachers have both the opportunity and the responsibility to optimize children's interpersonal relationships in the classroom to facilitate learning. In this exploratory study, researchers will extend on-going longitudinal research that asks how features of classroom peer ecologies such as popularity, friendships, and cliques relate to academic achievement, aggression, and school relatedness. These indicators will then be examined to analyze how these peer ecologies are shaped by teacher pra...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100344
Grant
Professional Development to Support and Sustain a Classroom Behavior Management Strategy
The Good Behavior Game (GBG), a fully developed classroom behavior management strategy, is one of the few preventive interventions targeting aggressive/disruptive behavior that has shown both short-term and long-term improvements for classroom behavior in randomized field trials. In this study, the research team addresses a fundamental challenge in moving research to practice, the need to understand the level of professional development required for teachers to implement and sustain new prog...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090446
Grant
Effects of Classroom Management Training on Early Learning Skills
Considerable evidence suggests that teacher classroom management practices play a large role in determining the amount of time students engage in academic tasks, but there has been little experimental research on the direct benefits of classroom management training for academic achievement. The Incredible Years teacher training program (IYT) has been shown to be effective in improving classroom management practices in early elementary school and in enhancing children's social competence, em...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090361
Grant
SECURe: Developing an Integrated Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Understanding and Regulation Intervention
Intervention programs that target literacy skills have proven successful in boosting at-risk children's academic achievement. Yet the gains for these children, while important, are modest and often fall short of closing the achievement gap that emerges early in development. Emerging research evidence suggests that social-emotional understanding and self-regulation skills contribute in important ways to academic success in the early grades. In the present study, the research team will deve...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090315
Grant
Development of the "4R-SUCCESS" Program Aimed at Improving Elementary School-aged Children Social and Scholastic Competence
Developmental and educational psychologists have long recognized that children's relations and interactions with peers are important contexts for learning. Peer-mediated learning (PML) activities (e.g., peer collaboration and tutoring) are widely used in U.S. schools to increase student motivation, engagement, and achievement, with nearly 80% of elementary school teachers using peer-mediated learning activities on a regular basis. The extent to which children benefit from PML activities de...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090386
Grant
The Social Skills Improvement System Classwide Intervention Program: Social, Behavioral, and Academic Outcomes in Elementary School
Helping children to get along with others, care about themselves, and actively participate in learning are critical to success in school. The Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) is a comprehensive program to improve social skills and reduce problem behaviors from preschool to early adolescence. The Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP) is the universal component of this program. It was developed to help students learn the 10 social skills that teachers have identified as most critica...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090438
Grant
Examining Variation in the Impact of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Approximately one out of five children displays disruptive behavior problems and this rate may be even higher among children in urban communities. Behavior problems are of great concern in elementary school settings because of their associations with low rates of attendance, reduced academic achievement, and greater risk for special education placements. Students who exhibit problem behaviors early on are also at greater risk for later school failure, substance abuse, and antisocial behavi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090307
Grant
Enhancing Effectiveness and Connectedness among Early Career Teachers in Urban Schools
Early career teachers working in low-income communities experience teacher attrition rates of nearly 50%. Two of the strongest predictors of attrition are teachers' classroom management skills and their ability to engage students in learning. In this study, the researchers will develop, refine, and test the feasibility of a professional development (PD) model for early career teachers working in poor urban communities. The PD model will target teachers' classroom management skills and abi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090085
Grant
Mindfulness-Based Academic Achievement Program for Middle School
Prevention scientists have long recognized the importance of children's social and behavioral skills to support academic success. Mindfulness-defined as being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present moment-has recently been considered as one possible social cognitive skill to teach children to support academic success. In particular, mindfulness is conceptualized as leading to increased attention, cognitive control, behavior regulation, and social-emotional competence...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090175
Grant
Establishing Positive Behavior Supports in Elementary School Instructional Settings
Although it is well established that effective classroom management is critical to reducing disruptive behavior, promoting student engagement, and ultimately enhancing academic achievement, schools struggle to provide adequate training in classroom management for all school staff involved in instruction and supervision. The standard approach to staff professional development, the one day in-service workshop, is often inadequate and typically does not lead to meaningful changes in teacher pr...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090107
Grant
Improving Classroom Learning Environments by Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE)
In this study, the research team completed the development of the Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) professional development program to enhance teachers' capacity to provide a supportive and engaging social and emotional context for academic learning. Teachers must provide their students with effective instruction in academic content while simultaneously dealing with the emotions, behaviors, and social exchanges of their students through effective classroom management ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090179
Grant
National Randomized Controlled Trial Study of SRA/McGraw-Hill Open-Court Reading Program
Effective early reading instruction is critical for preventing later reading difficulties. With 67% of 4th grade students failing to achieve proficiency in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2007, the need to implement effective early reading programs is greatly apparent. The Open Court Reading (OCR) program published by SRA/McGraw-Hill and widely used for almost 40 years is a phonics-based core-reading program for students in kindergarten to 6th grade that incorpo...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090150
Grant
Development and Validation of a Teacher Progress Monitoring Scale for Elementary School Teachers
Although a number of well-validated and widely-disseminated measures of child classroom behavior exist, there is currently no widely-available, reliable, valid, and brief teacher progress monitoring scale that assesses educators' practices and responses to students' behavior in school. Given the high costs of special education and the loss of critical academic instruction time if classroom management procedures are inefficient, a mechanism for identifying relevant teacher behaviors that can...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080337
Grant
Testing the Efficacy of INSIGHTS in Enhancing the Academic Learning Context
The primary purpose of this group randomized trial was to test the efficacy of INSIGHTS into Children's Temperament, compared to a read aloud program, in enhancing the academic learning context of kindergarten and first grade inner-city classrooms. INISGHTS is designed to help teachers, parents, and children understand temperament-based individual differences in order to enhance classroom learning. Teachers and parents are taught strategies that match a child's temperament and enhance self...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080512
Grant
Development of an Intervention to Improve Academic Outcomes for Low-Income Urban Youth through Instruction in Effective Coping Supported by Mentoring Relationships
The purpose of this project was to develop and pilot a new intervention to support low-income urban adolescents by teaching them contextually relevant advocacy and coping strategies with the support of mentoring relationships and connections to community partners. The middle school years are a critical period for preventing academic disengagement, school failure, and dropout for youth exposed to the severe and chronic stressors of urban poverty, and for preventing increases in depression, de...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080562
Grant
An Efficacy Trial of Robust Vocabulary Instruction
Poverty increases risk for impoverished vocabulary and poor achievement. Economically advantaged preschoolers in the U.S. typically are exposed to a broader range of vocabulary than are economically disadvantaged preschoolers. A smaller vocabulary limits a child's ability to recognize single words during reading instruction. Moreover, young children who struggle with reading do not increase their vocabularies during independent reading. The purpose of this project is to provide unbiased est...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080627
Grant
The Read-Write Cycle: An Integrated Model for Instruction and Assessment of Reading Comprehension Through Reading and Writing in the Disciplines
In this project, the researchers aimed to create an effective and generalizable instructional method that teachers could implement across subject areas and grade levels to improve students' reading comprehension. In particular, the goal was to improve reading comprehension to support student knowledge building in content areas. In upper elementary school, students are increasingly expected to master content knowledge independently, and yet many students struggle with reading comprehension an...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305G050069
Grant
Longitudinal Relations Among Social Contexts, Bullying, Victimization, and Elementary School Outcomes in a Nationally Representative Sample
This project will use social ecological theory to investigate modifiable factors in family, classroom, school, and neighborhood contexts that are associated with or predictive of bullying victimization in 3rd-5th grade, the extent to which these social contextual factors function as mediators or moderators of other explanatory factors (e.g., family sociodemographic level, children's K-2nd grade academic or behavioral functioning), and whether and to what extent bullying victimization is rela...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A230406
Social and Character Development
Through the Social and Character Development research program, NCER, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), and seven research institutions funded by Institute grants, are collaborating in a multi-site evaluation of the efficacy of seven school-based programs.
Field Initiated Evaluations of Education Innovations
Under a single competition held in FY 2005, the Field Initiated Evaluations of Education Innovations Research Grant Program supported research to evaluate the impact of education interventions that were not being used in the field, that appeared promising based on student performance or filled an unmet need, but that had not been rigorously evaluated at the time of application.
Rural Education
Through the Education Research and Development Center (R&D Center) program (84.305C), the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) supports R&D centers that conduct research and provide national leadership on key education issues that face our nation.
Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Context for Teaching and Learning
The Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Context for Teaching and Learning (Social/Emotional/Behavioral) topic supports research on social and emotional skills and behaviors (i.e. social/emotional/behavioral competencies) to improve student achievement and progress through the education system.
Grant
Evaluation of a Virtual Classroom Management Training Program for Rural Middle School Teachers
In this replication study, the researchers will test the impact of an online versions of CHAMPS (Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation and Success), a middle school teacher training program designed to promote effective classroom management skills, on teacher classroom management practices and student social-emotional behavior and academic achievement in rural middle schools. A prior IES-funded efficacy trial in urban middle schools found that CHAMPS delivered in person signi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240034
Grant
Testing the Efficacy of Double Check Online Coaching: A Culturally Responsive Student Engagement Model
In this replication impact study, the researchers will test an online adaptation of Double Check, a coaching model for supporting teachers use of culturally responsive student engagement practices to reduce disproportionality in exclusionary discipline. Double Check was created with IES support to help educators reflect on and address five domains of culturally responsive practices: Connection to curriculum, Authentic relationships, Reflective thinking, Effective communication, and Sensitivi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240235
Grant
The Usability of Social-emotional and Behavioral Interventions: Links to Implementation and Translation to Youth Outcomes (USABILITY)
In this project, the researchers will identify what makes social, emotional, and behavioral interventions (SEBIs) usable in elementary and middle schools. An array of evidence-based SEBIs are now available at the universal (Tier 1) level of multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS) frameworks, but most attempts to implement and sustain Tier 1 SEBIs are unsuccessful. Research indicates that the design of the programs and practices themselves is a critical determinant of adoption and use and tha...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A230391
Grant
Long-Term Follow-Up of a PBIS RCT: Impact on Academics, Behavior, and Juvenile Justice Involvement
In this 16-year long-term follow-up study of an IES-funded efficacy trial, the researchers will examine the main, moderated, and generalized effects, as well as the long-term cost-benefits of the multi-tiered Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework as implemented in Maryland. PBIS is a widely disseminated prevention model in the United States that uses a public health approach by providing universal foundational behavioral supports to all students to effectively teach...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A230398
Grant
Promoting Adolescents' Social, Emotional, and Academic Development with a Blended Curriculum: An Early Efficacy Study
Programs to support social and emotional learning (SEL) in high school are critical. High school students often report that social and emotional problems make learning difficult, and positive SEL may play a key role in reducing problem behaviors, improving attendance, and promoting academic achievement. However, high school SEL programs are generally less effective than programs geared towards elementary students, which may reflect the fact that many programs offered in high schools are modi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220384
Grant
Project EASS-E: Expanding Approaches to School Screening With Equity
The purpose of the project is for researchers to develop and establish initial psychometric evidence for a school-based screening instrument designed to assess both child- and environmentally-focused indicators: the Comprehensive and Contextual Child Screener in Schools (C3SS). Screening assessments serve as a primary data driver in multi-tiered systems of support as data are provided to efficiently and effectively deliver information needed to direct supports. Psychometrically-sound screeni...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220249
Grant
A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial of the Second Step Middle School Program
The importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) has become widely recognized within the research and policy communities. Evidence suggests that SEL competencies are malleable, can be taught through school-based programs, and can have enduring impacts on academic and employment outcomes. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Second Step, a widely-used SEL program designed to impact a range of SEL competencies, will inform current and potential users regarding program impacts and will of...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220066
Grant
Evaluating the Impact of TRAILS on Academic and Behavioral Health Outcomes in Detroit Public School Students
The purpose of this project is to examine the efficacy of the TRAILS Early Intervention program (TRAILS-EI) by evaluating its impact on the mental health and academic performance of students in Detroit Public Schools Community District. TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students) is a University of Michigan program that promotes utilization of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) by providing school mental health professionals (SMHPs) curriculum resources, train...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220073
Grant
Developing and Validating a Technically Sound and Feasible Self-Report Measure of Teachers Delivery of Common Practice Elements
The purpose of this project is to further refine and evaluate the Treatment Integrity Instrument of Elementary Settings, consisting of teacher- (TIES-T) and observer-report (TIES-O) versions, for use in a quality improvement (QI) process. The QI process is designed to support the implementation and sustainment of universal evidence-based programs (EBPs) for student social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) needs in elementary schools. The researchers will iteratively refine and validate the TI...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210168
Grant
Efficacy of a Selective Intervention to Improve Middle School Students' Subjective Well-Being
Adolescents with the best academic, social, and physical health outcomes have both low psychopathology andelevated subjective well-being (SWB). Psychological research and practice have focused on pathology. There are few interventions available to improve SWB. This project will evaluate the efficacy, fidelity, feasibility, acceptability of implementation and training, and cost-effectiveness of the Well-Being Promotion Program. This program is an innovative Tier-2 intervention for use by sc...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200035
Grant
Project PACT: Development and Refinement of the Planned Action and Commitment Tool (PACT) for Strategic Measurement of Implementer Commitment
The purpose of this project is to develop the Planned Action and Commitment Tool (PACT), a measure that can be used by school districts and state departments of education to assess barriers and supports for the implementation of practices in schools that support the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190182
Grant
Uprooting Children: The Risks and Rewards of Mobility for Vulnerable Students in California's Public Schools
The purpose of this project is to explore the incidence and consequences of non-promotional student mobility and how it influences and interacts with student outcomes-achievement, behavior, social-emotional learning and other forms of development, such as language acquisition and disability status-for vulnerable populations in California. Non-promotional student mobility is defined as students changing schools either mid-year or from one year to the next in grades that do not correspond to t...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190439
Grant
The National Center for Rural School Mental Health (NCRSMH): Enhancing the Capacity of Rural Schools to Identify, Prevent, and Intervene in Youth Mental Health Concerns
A consortium of researchers and rural school districts across Missouri, Virginia, and Montana are establishing the National Center for Rural School Mental Health (NCRSMH) to enhance the capacity of rural schools to identify, prevent, and intervene in youth mental health concerns. Nearly 20 percent of school-age children experience serious mental health issues yet few receive services, a situation exacerbated in rural settings. Rural communities are incorrectly perceived as having fewer menta...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305C190014
Grant
Promoting School Belongingness and Academic Performance: A Multisite Replication Trial of a Scalable Student Mindset Intervention
The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of a brief writing exercise designed to promote school belongingness and academic performance in middle school students. This study is a direct replication of a prior IES efficacy study to understand more fully how, for whom, and under what conditions a brief, inexpensive, school belongingness mindset intervention may impact students' achievement at the transition to middle school.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180220
Grant
MTP-Team: A Scalable, Web-Supported Peer-Learning Program for Implementing the My Teaching Partner-Secondary Approach
The purpose of this project was to create a more scalable, replicable, and school-system-friendly version of the My Teaching Partner-Secondary (MTP-S) one-on-one coaching approach that has moderate evidence of effectiveness [WWC review] for improving student achievement outcomes. The research team incorporated the principles of MTP-S into the professional learning community (PLC) structure currently embedded in many school districts. This new version of MTP-S, called My Teaching Team (MTT), ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170073
Grant
Positive and Restorative Investment in Discipline Reform in Education (PRIDE): Integrating School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) and Restorative Discipline (RD)
Researchers built on completed pilot work to develop modules introducing teachers to restorative practices, and initial data supporting the modules' acceptability, teachers' increased use of restorative practices, positive changes in Latino students' perceptions of school climate, and reduced disciplinary disparity. Specifically, researchers further developed the positive and restorative discipline curriculum, developed a fidelity of implementation measure to assess the extent to which the c...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170631
Grant
The Organizational Assessment for Strategic Implementation in Schools (OASIS): A Measurement Suite to Support Educator Adoption of Evidence-Based Practices
In this project, researchers developed a suite of measures called the Organizational Assessment for Strategic Implementation in Schools (OASIS). OASIS is designed for teachers to provide school and district leaders with information regarding how best to support and sustain the use of evidence-based practices to prevent emotional and behavioral problems among students. While research has shown that these are practices teachers and schools can use to reduce emotional and behavioral problems fo...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A160114
Grant
The Seattle Minority Engagement and Discipline Reduction Research Collaborative
The Minority Engagement and Discipline Reduction (MENDR) research partnership between the University of Washington (UW) and Seattle Public Schools (SPS) completed its two major goals:
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H150035
Grant
Raising GPA: Partnering to Increase Grit, Perseverance, and Achievement in Baltimore City Middle Schools
The primary goal of the project was to bring together the experiences and knowledge of district officials, teachers, administrators, and distinguished scholars to find promising points of entry for interventions targeting BCPSS students' academic grit and perseverance.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H140121
Grant
Evaluation of a Classroom Management Training Program for Middle School Teachers
In this efficacy study, researchers tested whether CHAMPS (Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation, Success), a program for promoting classroom management skills in middle school teachers, improves student engagement, behavior, and academic achievement. A secondary aim was to explore factors such as teacher burnout and school climate that may influence teachers' implementation of CHAMPS practices. Although CHAMPS was developed decades ago and has been implemented in dozens of s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A130143
Grant
The Classroom Check-up: Supporting Elementary Teachers in Classroom Management Using a Web-based Coaching System
Researchers worked with elementary school partners to develop an online system of support for teachers in effective classroom management practices to improve educational and social outcomes for students. The Classroom Check-Up (CCU) was modified for web-based delivery and school personnel implementation in elementary schools through an iterative development process that incorporated the needs and resources of local ecologies.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A130375
Grant
Efficacy of an Organizational Skills Intervention for Middle School Students with ADHD
The purpose of this efficacy study was to test whether the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention, refined for use in school settings with funding from an IES Development and Innovation award, can help middle school students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) deal with the organization, time management, and planning (OTMP) challenges of school.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A130011
Grant
Organizational Skills Interventions for Children with ADHD
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorders with a prevalence rate estimated at 8%. Children with ADHD often have difficulty with school-related tasks and activities such as completing or turning in homework, planning for long-term assignments, studying for tests, and keeping class materials and papers organized. These organizational and temporal difficulties become particularly problematic with the increased demands of middle sch...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100996
Grant
The National Center for Research on Rural Education
The National Center for Research on Rural Education (R2Ed) conducted a focused program of research on teacher professional development to improve instruction and support student achievement in reading and science in rural schools. The center also engaged in two related sets of studies: the first explored potential moderating effects of the rural context on early school success and the second investigated statistical and methodological solutions to the unique challenges posed by conducting re...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305C090022
Grant
A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Combination of Two Preventive Interventions
The Good Behavior Game (GBG) and Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) are two universal, elementary school preventive interventions that have been shown in large scale, randomized controlled trials to have an immediate and beneficial impact on aggressive/disruptive and off-task behavior. Aggressive/disruptive and off-task behaviors in elementary school are strong indicators of chronically poor academic achievement and later, more serious antisocial behavior. Nonetheless, the e...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080326
Grant
The Chicago Social and Character Development Trial: Extension to Grade 8
Significant numbers of students, particularly those living in large, under-resourced, urban areas, arrive in school lacking the necessary social skills and character development needed to succeed academically. Positive Action responds to a national need that schools address a range of student social and behavioral outcomes, including social skills, character development, and antisocial behavior, in ways that promote improved achievement. Previous data, during which students were followed u...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080253
Grant
Evaluation of Ohio's School Conflict Management Program
At the time of this study, interpersonal conflict and aggressive behavior occurred at unacceptably high rates in many U.S. schools, which not only threatened students and teachers but also harmed academic performance. In this project, researchers examined the Ohio school conflict management program, a well-established and promising program that addresses interpersonal conflict and aggressive behavior. The Ohio school conflict management program aimed to improve both behavioral and academic o...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305F050161
View More