Co-Principal Investigators: Evans, Steven

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the Classroom Behavior Support Program (CBS) for improving elementary school teachers' classroom management and behavior and outcomes for all students, including those at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). CBS is a multi-component, individually tailored consultation that was developed with previous IES funding to improve teachers' use of universal classroom management practices and targeted interventions. Such practices and interventions can improve academic and behavioral functioning in elementary school students at risk for EBD. However, teachers often feel unprepared to implement these practices to address disruptive behavior. Consultation that includes problem solving and performance feedback is one way to improve teacher implementation of universal and targeted strategies but can still lead to variable implementation without individual tailoring. The current study aims to address this by evaluating a consultation program that is individually tailored to match teachers' strengths and weaknesses and addresses common barriers to integrity, including teachers' knowledge about best practices, skills to implement those practices, and beliefs about their own skills or the practices.

Project Activities: The research team will evaluate the efficacy of CBS using a randomized controlled trial. Three cohorts of teachers will be screened, recruited, and block randomized to the intervention or comparison condition. In addition, one focal student at risk for EBD will be identified in each teacher's class and recruited for the study. Teachers in both conditions will participate in a workshop and receive up to eight consultation sessions focused on universal classroom management strategies and the use of a targeted intervention with the focal student. Data on fidelity and teacher and student outcomes will be collected throughout the study. Researchers will analyze data to determine the effects of CBS on teachers' classroom management practices and changes in proximal and distal student outcomes, mediators and moderators of these effects, and the costs and cost-effectiveness of the intervention.

Products: This project will provide evidence of the efficacy CBS for improving the teachers' classroom management and students' behavioral and academic outcomes. The project will result in a final dataset to be shared, peer-reviewed publications and presentations, and additional dissemination products that reach education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.

Structured Abstract

Setting: The research will take place in elementary schools in rural, urban, and suburban areas of Ohio.

Sample: Participants will include 165 general education teachers in grades K-5, their classes of students, and one focal student with emotional and behavior problems per classroom. Participating teachers will be those whose classroom management skills are screened as being low for the grade they teach.

Intervention: CBS is a consultation program designed to improve teachers' implementation of universal classroom management practices (praise, opportunities to respond, effective instructions, strategic use, and response to rule violations) and targeted interventions (daily report cards and organization interventions). CBS is implemented in an initial workshop and up to eight 20- to 30-minute consultation sessions over the course of 1 year. Consultation follows a problem-solving approach that includes forming a collaborative relationship, identifying and analyzing problems (in the target student and class-wide), selecting relevant interventions, implementing the interventions, and evaluating outcomes. Consultants address possible barriers to fidelity of implementation using the knowledge, skills, and beliefs components of CBS. During each session, consultants use data to discuss connections between teacher implementation fidelity and child outcomes and use these discussions to inform the next component. If a skill limitation is the primary barrier, the consultant will use the skills component to evaluate the teacher's willingness to practice and use the skill. When knowledge is the primary barrier to implementation, consultants employ the knowledge component, which involves reviewing and individualizing one of 12 fact sheets about problem behavior. If a teacher's beliefs are the primary barrier, the consultant will implement the beliefs component, which includes discussion and modification of the belief using motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques.

Research Design and Methods: This study will use a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of CBS. Teachers will be recruited in three cohorts of 55 each. In Years 1, 2, and 3, the research team will screen approximately 100 teachers to determine who could benefit from support for classroom management. Participating teachers will be sorted into quartiles based on their scores on a screener of knowledge and beliefs regarding classroom management. Then, within each school and grade band (K-2 and 3-5), teachers will be block randomized to the intervention or comparison condition so that teachers in each condition demonstrate similar barriers to implementation fidelity. One focal student who demonstrates behaviors associated with EBD that interfere with academic performance and that may benefit from a targeted intervention will be identified by teachers in each of their classes. Teachers in both conditions will participate in a workshop and receive up to eight consultation sessions focused on universal classroom management strategies and the use of a targeted intervention with the focal student. Sessions will be audio recorded and reviewed for fidelity. Data on teacher and student outcomes will be collected at baseline, mid-point, and after the intervention. Observations of teacher class management and student behavior will also be conducted weekly throughout the trial.

Control Condition: Teachers in the control condition will participate in a workshop and receive up to eight consultation sessions over the course of 1 year. Consultation will follow the same problem-solving approach as the intervention but will not address teachers' knowledge, skills, and beliefs and will not be individually tailored based on teachers' strengths and weaknesses.

Key Measures: Researchers will use the Student Behavior-Teacher Response (SBTR)observational measure to assess teacher classroom management practices. Teacher beliefs will be assessed using a measure of self-efficacy, the Interpersonal Power Inventory Modified (IPI)-Consultee/Teacher Version (receptivity to consultation), and the Teacher Locus of Control measure (perceptions of internal responsibility for student success or failure). Teacher knowledge will be assessed using a researcher-developed measure. The Intervention Teacher Rating Form will be used to screen for focal students who would benefit from targeted intervention. Student outcomes will be assessed using the SBTR (focal student and class-wide rule violations), Behavioral Observation of Students in Schools (focal student and class-wide academic engagement), Academic Performance Rating Scale (focal student academic functioning), grade point average (focal student), and Wide Range Achievement Test-FourthEdition (class-wide achievement). Moderators will be measured using teacher knowledge and beliefs measures, information on student demographics (such as race, ethnicity), the Organizational Health Inventory for Elementary Schools (school climate), and the Teacher Stress Inventory (teacher stress). Intervention costs will be assessed using budget data and personnel time logs.

Data Analytic Strategy: A series of latent growth curve models will be conducted to examine the main effects of the intervention on teacher practices and student outcomes, the extent to which teacher practices mediate the intervention's effect on student outcomes, and the extent to which teacher, school, and student characteristics moderate effects on teacher practices. The ingredients method will be used to determine intervention costs and conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Related IES Projects: Development Strategies to Increase Teacher Integrity in a Daily Report Card Intervention for Children with or at-risk for ADHD (R324A120272)