Setting
The study took place in 40 rural communities in three Midwestern states. There were 45 schools with 152 classrooms included in the study. Of the 45 schools, 24 were defined as rural schools and 21 were defined as town schools based on the distance from an urbanized area and urbanized cluster. Across the 45 schools, the average class size was 13.3 students, with an average school enrollment of 260 students (it is unclear if this is for grades K-3 or the entire school), and the school had 18.9 classroom teachers employed, on average. Thirty-eight of the 45 schools in the study were Title I schools.
Study sample
Of the 267 students randomly assigned, 76% were male and 24% were female. The average age of the students was 6.88 (1.22 SD) and the average grade was 1.48 (1.12 SD). Students were in kindergarten (27%), grade 1 (21%), grade 2 (29%), and grade 3 (23%). Eighty-six percent of students were White/non-Hispanic, 3% were African American, 5% were Hispanic or Latino, and 6% were Asian or another race. The average behavior severity (1-9 scale) was 6.57 (1.40 SD), 44% of parents reported their student had a disability, 24% of the students had an IEP according to the teachers report, and 56% of students were eligible for free or reduced price lunch. Of the 267 parents involved in the study, 90% were female and 10% were male. The average age of the parents was 34.19 (7.55 SD). Ninety percent of parents were White/non-Hispanic, 2% were African American, 4% were Hispanic or Latino, and 3% were Asian or other. Twenty-one percent of parents indicated there were fewer than two adults in the home. Of the students' mothers, 10% had less than a high school education, 59% had a high school diploma or GED, and 31% had a college or advanced degree. Fifty-seven percent of parents were married, 19% were single, 16% were divorced, and 8% were indicated some other marital status.
Intervention Group
Consultants met with parents and teachers for four 45-60 minute sessions over the course of an 8-week period. Each session followed the CBC problem-solving protocol. The first session was focused on the specific behaviors the intervention would target, the goals, and instructions for the parents and teachers on how to collect data. The first session was conducted with a teacher-parent pair. In the second CBC session, the parents developed an implementation plan to use in the home. The third CBC session was a home visit per student and offered support for the intervention. The final CBC session evaluated students' progress toward the intervention goals and reviewed the next course of action. All of the teachers in the study were White/non-Hispanic and the majority (97%) were female. The teachers were, on average, 41.22 (12.6 SD) years old and had 15.3 (11.31 SD) years of teaching experience. All of the consultants in the study were White/non-Hispanic and all but one of the 14 consultants were female. The consultants were, on average, 29.63 (5.97 SD) years old with 2.64 (0.71 SD) years of graduate school.
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison condition received business-as-usual behavioral services and general school policies related to disruptive behaviors to which all students were subject. This included referrals to the office (presumably, an administrative office) for in-school or out-of-school suspension.
Support for implementation
The 14 masters level clinicians serves as consultants and completed a four week, 64-hour long training on the implementation of the CBC program over a four-week period. During the intervention, consultants received 1 hour of supervision per week from CBC experts and 2 hours of group supervision per month from a licensed psychologist. Teachers and parents both received support from consultants and received a CBC behavioral, strategies toolkit of intervention plans based on The Tough Kid Tool Box series.