Purpose: General estimates of the number of school-aged children with documented emotional and behavioral disorders range from 14 percent to 26 percent of the general population. Although advances have been made in developing interventions for reducing problem behavior, there is still a need to determine the efficacy of behavioral interventions in schools. Behavioral interventions based on an understanding of "why" a student displays problem behavior (i.e., the function or cause) have shown promising results for addressing a wide range of problem behaviors. Although these function-based interventions have often been used with individual students, research has demonstrated the feasibility of developing a group or class-wide intervention based on these principles. Results of a pilot test showed promising results for one class-wide intervention, Class-wide Function-based Intervention Teams, but the efficacy of the intervention has not been tested.

To that end, the researchers will implement and examine the efficacy of the intervention with elementary students with or at risk of serious behavior disorders in general and special education settings. This behavioral intervention is designed to teach appropriate behavior skills (e.g., how to appropriately gain the teacher's attention) and reinforce the use of those skills through a game format. The intervention package also includes individual intervention procedures for students who do not successfully respond to the classwide intervention.

Project Activities: The researchers will test of the efficacy of the Class-wide Function-based Intervention Teams intervention, including standardizing all intervention procedures and establishing training procedures for school-based staff. The researchers will also document whether improved student behavior translates to significant levels of increased instruction time in classrooms.

Products: The products from this project include evidence regarding the efficacy of a class-wide intervention program, a complete description of training procedures, and published papers.

Structured Abstract

Setting: Elementary school classrooms in three Kansas City Metropolitan-area districts.

Population: A minimum of two students at-risk for behavior disorders per class, two peers without disabilities in general education classes, and a minimum of three students with behavior disorders from each special education class will participate. Students at risk for behavior disorders are general education students who meet screening criteria using the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders. Students with behavior disorders can include students with IEPs and/or clinical diagnoses of behavior disorders. Students with dual diagnoses (e.g., behavior disorders/learning disabilities) may also participate if they meet criteria.

Intervention: The intervention is comprised of two programs, a class-wide intervention program and individualized intervention. The class-wide intervention includes teaching appropriate communicative skills, eliminating or minimizing all potential social reinforcement for problem behavior, using differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors to strengthen replacement behaviors (e.g., on-task, following instructions), and teaching self-management strategies. Individual intervention procedures for students who are non-responsive to the class-wide intervention will use individualized functional behavior assessment (e.g., interviews, observations) combined with function-based interventions.

Research Design and Methods: A randomized trial will be used with teachers/classrooms randomly assigned to treatment or control groups within grade cohort (1-2, 3-5). For the students who require the individualized program, single-subject reversal and multiple baseline designs will be used.

Control Condition: The comparison classrooms will use a "business as usual" approach, but will be provided with additional coaching on the district's behavioral program, which includes three similar components used in the intervention program (i.e., skill teaching, skill posters, and group feedback). Therefore teachers in comparison groups will spend training time approximately equal to training time for the intervention program teachers.

Key Measures: Measures of behavior include Social Skills Rating System, the Child Behavior Checklist/Teacher Report Form, and the Peer Social Behavior Direct Observation. Office disciplinary referrals will also be collected. Academic measures include the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills and district standardized tests scores. School records will provide data on grade retention and special education referral. Various measures of implementation process and integrity will also be administered. Information about resources and costs of implementation will be collected.

Data Analytic Strategy: Analyses of mean differences will be conducted to identify pre-existing differences between groups to confirm equivalent groups prior to start of intervention. Missing values will be estimated using appropriate techniques. Analyses will be conducted addressing intent to treatment vs. treatment completers. Multi-level modeling will be used to explore trends over time, including initial treatment effects (within-year) and sustainability over time (multi-year). Visual analysis of the single-subject studies will also be conducted.

Products and Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Conklin, C., Kamps, D., and Wills, H. (2017). The Effects of Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) on Students' Prosocial Classroom Behaviors. Journal of Behavioral Education, 26(1): 75–100. doi:10.1007/s10864–016–9252–5 Full text

Conklin, C., Kamps, D., and Wills, H. (in press). The Effects of Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) on Students' Prosocial Classroom Behaviors. Journal of Behavioral Education. doi:10.1007/s10864–016–9252–5

Hansen, B., Wills, H., and Kamps, D. (2014). Effects of Aligning Self-Management Interventions With Functional Behavioral Assessment. Education and Treatment of Children, 37(3): 393–407. doi:10.1353/etc.2014.0025

Hansen, B., Wills, H., Kamps, D., and Greenwood, C. (2014). The Effects of Function-Based Self-Management Interventions on Student Behavior. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 22(3): 149–159. doi:10.1177/1063426613476345

Kamps, D., Conklin, C., and Wills, H. (2015). Use of Self-Management With the CW-FIT Group Contingency Program. Education and Treatment of Children, 38(1): 1–32.

Kamps, D., Wills, H., Heitzman-Powell, Laylin, J., Szoke, C., Petrillo, T., and Culey, A. (2011). Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams: Effects of Group Contingency Programs in Urban Classrooms. Journal of Positive Behavioral Interventions, 13(3): 154–167. doi:10.1177/1098300711398935

Kamps, D., Wills., H., Bannister, H., Heitzman-Powell, L., Kottwitz, E., Hansen, B., and Fleming, K. (2015). Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams "CW-FIT" Efficacy Trial Outcomes. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 17(3): 134–145. doi:10.1177/1098300714565244 Full text

Schmidt Naylor, A., Kamps, D., and Wills, H. (in press). The Effects of the CW-FIT Group Contingency on Class-Wide and Individual Behavior in an Urban First-Grade Classroom. Education and Treatment of Children.

Trevino-Maack, S., Kamps, D., and Wills, H.P. (2015). A Group Contingency Plus Self-Management Intervention Targeting At-Risk Secondary Students' Class-Work and Active Engagement. Remedial and Special Education, 36(6): 347–360. doi:10.1177/0741932514561865

Weeden, M., Wills, H., Kamps, D., and Kottwitz, E. (in press). The Effects of the Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Team (CW-FIT) Program on the On-Task Behavior of Children With Emotional Behavioral Disorders. Behavior Disorders.

Wills, H., Kamps, D., Fleming, K., and Hansen, B. (in press). Student Outcomes of the Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Team (CW-FIT) Program. Exceptional Children.

Wills, H.P., Iwaszuk, W.M., Kamps, D., and Shumate, E. (2014). CW-FIT: Group Contingency Effects Across the Day. Education and Treatment of Children, 37(2): 191–210. doi:10.1353/etc.2014.0016 Full text

Wills, H.P., Kamps, D., Hansen, B.D., Conklin, C., Bellinger, S., Neaderhiser, J., and Nsubuga, B. (2009). The Class-Wide Function-Based Intervention Team (CW-FIT) Program. Preventing School Failure, 54(3): 164–171. doi:10.1080/10459880903496230