Overcoming the Research-to-Practice Gap: A Randomized Trial with Two Brief Homework and Organization Interventions for Students with ADHD as Implemented by School Mental Health Providers
Langberg, Joshua M.; Dvorsky, Melissa R.; Molitor, Stephen J.; Bourchtein, Elizaveta; Eddy, Laura D.; Smith, Zoe R.; Oddo, Lauren E.; Eadeh, Hana-May (2017). Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED578876
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examining263Students, grades6-8
Department-funded evaluation
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2020
- Department-funded evaluation (findings for Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Homework Problems Checklist (HPC) Factor I |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
13.40 |
17.39 |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Homework Problems Checklist (HPC) Factor II |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
27.79 |
34.46 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Homework Problems Checklist (HPC) Factor II |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
27.79 |
28.28 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Homework Problems Checklist (HPC) Factor I |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
13.40 |
12.70 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Homework Performance Questionnaire Parent Assessment (HPQ - Parent) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
32.40 |
21.66 |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Homework Performance Questionnaire Teacher Assessment (HPQ - Teacher) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
28.67 |
29.19 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Homework Performance Questionnaire Teacher Assessment (HPQ - Teacher) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
28.67 |
27.58 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Homework Performance Questionnaire Parent Assessment (HPQ - Parent) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
32.40 |
34.45 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Children's Organizational Skills Scale, Task Planning - Parent Assessment (COSS, Task Planning - Parent) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
12.32 |
14.59 |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Children’s Organizational Skills Scale, Materials Management - Parent Assessment (COSS, Materials Management - Parent) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
19.92 |
22.23 |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Children’s Organizational Skills Scale, Organized Actions - Parent Assessment (COSS, Organized Actions - Parent) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
31.54 |
33.31 |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Children’s Organizational Skills Scale, Materials Management - Teacher Assessment (COSS, Materials Management - Teacher) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
22.10 |
23.07 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Children's Organizational Skills Scale, Organized Actions - Teacher Assessment (COSS, Organized Actions - Teacher) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
35.19 |
35.66 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Children's Organizational Skills Scale, Task Planning - Teacher Assessment (COSS, Task Planning - Teacher) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. Control;
|
12.48 |
12.19 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Children's Organizational Skills Scale, Task Planning - Teacher Assessment (COSS, Task Planning - Teacher) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
12.48 |
12.39 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Children's Organizational Skills Scale, Task Planning - Parent Assessment (COSS, Task Planning - Parent) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
12.32 |
12.17 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Children’s Organizational Skills Scale, Materials Management - Parent Assessment (COSS, Materials Management - Parent) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
19.92 |
18.94 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Children’s Organizational Skills Scale, Materials Management - Teacher Assessment (COSS, Materials Management - Teacher) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
22.10 |
20.49 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Children's Organizational Skills Scale, Organized Actions - Teacher Assessment (COSS, Organized Actions - Teacher) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
35.19 |
33.17 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Children’s Organizational Skills Scale, Organized Actions - Parent Assessment (COSS, Organized Actions - Parent) |
Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
CHIEF vs. HOPS;
|
31.54 |
28.90 |
Yes |
|
||
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 26%
Male: 74% -
Suburban, Urban
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Race Asian 2% Black 29% Native American 1% Other or unknown 9% White 54%
Study Details
Setting
This study was conducted in a large, diverse public school district, and included seven middle schools serving grades 6-8. The sample included both urban and suburban schools. (p. 4)
Study sample
Across all study groups, approximately 55% of students in the baseline sample were white and 28% were black. About 1% were Asian and 1% were Native American. About 37% of students had family annual incomes between $25,000-$75,000, while 14% had annual family incomes below $25,000 and about 50% had family annual incomes above $75,000. About a quarter of students in the analytic sample had an Individualized Education Plan and about 54% were on ADHD medication. (p. 7)
Intervention Group
The study tested the effects of two interventions: the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention or the Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) intervention. For the HOPS intervention, students received up to 16 one-on-one sessions with a school mental health provider over an 11-week period. The sessions focused on building students' skills around topics such as organizing and managing school materials, recording homework, and planning and time management. For the CHIEF intervention, students received up to 16 one-on-one sessions with a school mental health provider over an 11-week period. Students brought homework or study materials to the session and worked with the school mental health provider to set a work completion goal. The school mental health providers praised students throughout the session and rewarded students for on-task behavior and for achieving their work completion goals. The CHIEF intervention also included two one-hour meetings for parents to learn how to monitor on-task behavior while their child is completing homework, to assist in goal-setting, and to use a similar reward system while at home. (pp. 5-6)
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison group received information on services available in the community, and parents were given an evaluation report describing the child's intelligence, achievement, and other diagnostic findings. At the conclusion of the study, students in the comparison group were provided one of the two interventions. (p. 6)
Support for implementation
School mental health providers who implemented the intervention received manuals for both the HOPS and CHIEF interventions, and met with the lead author for two 1-hour sessions before implementing the intervention. They did not receive supervision or consultation during the implementation period. (p. 4)
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
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The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
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Study findings for this report.
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