At least one finding shows strong evidence of effectiveness
At least one statistically significant positive finding
Meets WWC standards without reservations
For:
-
Department-funded evaluation (findings for BEST in CLASS)
Rating:
-
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.
Behavior outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure
|
Comparison
|
Period
|
Sample
|
Intervention mean
|
Comparison mean
|
Significant?
|
Improvement index
|
Evidence tier
|
TCIDOS Disruptive Behavior
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
380 students
|
0.02
|
0.07
|
Yes
|
|
|
TCIDOS Engagement
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
380 students
|
0.97
|
0.93
|
Yes
|
|
|
Social Skills Improvement Scale (SSiS): Problem Behavior
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
400 students
|
111.07
|
117.75
|
Yes
|
|
|
Caregiver teacher report form
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
400 students
|
56.21
|
59.77
|
Yes
|
|
|
CTRF Externalizing
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample, subtest;
400 students
|
57.99
|
61.81
|
Yes
|
|
|
Caregiver-teacher report form (CTRF), Internalizing scale
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
400 students
|
52.38
|
54.91
|
Yes
|
|
|
Social-emotional development outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure
|
Comparison
|
Period
|
Sample
|
Intervention mean
|
Comparison mean
|
Significant?
|
Improvement index
|
Evidence tier
|
inCLASS Conflict
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
376 students
|
1.70
|
1.94
|
Yes
|
|
|
TCIDOS Positive Interaction
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
380 students
|
0.97
|
0.94
|
Yes
|
|
|
TCIDOS Negative Interaction
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
380 students
|
0.03
|
0.07
|
Yes
|
|
|
Social Skills Improvement Scale (SSiS): Social Skills
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
400 students
|
89.30
|
83.87
|
Yes
|
|
|
Student teacher relationship scale, Conflict scale
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
395 students
|
2.36
|
2.65
|
Yes
|
|
|
Student teacher relationship scale, Closeness scale
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
394 students
|
4.32
|
4.16
|
Yes
|
|
|
InCLASS: Teacher Interaction
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
377 students
|
3.03
|
2.80
|
Yes
|
|
|
InCLASS: Task orientation
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
377 students
|
4.16
|
3.97
|
No
|
--
|
|
InCLASS: Peer Interaction
|
BEST in CLASS vs.
Business as usual
|
0 Days
|
Full sample;
377 students
|
2.44
|
2.32
|
No
|
--
|
|
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
-
Female: 35%
Male: 65%
-
- B
- A
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- I
- H
- J
- K
- L
- P
- M
- N
- O
- Q
- R
- S
- V
- U
- T
- W
- X
- Z
- Y
- a
- h
- i
- b
- d
- e
- f
- c
- g
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- o
- p
- q
- r
- s
- t
- u
- v
- x
- w
- y
South
-
Race
Asian |
|
0% |
Black |
|
66% |
Native American |
|
0% |
Other or unknown |
|
16% |
White |
|
17% |
-
Ethnicity
Hispanic |
|
5% |
Not Hispanic or Latino |
|
95% |
Setting
The study took place in early childhood programs in two southeastern states. Most of the early childhood programs that participated were federally- or state-funded programs (pp. 33-34)
Study sample
Across the 78 study schools and centers, 4.5% of children were Hispanic, 66% were Black, and 17% were White. Males made up about 65% of the overall sample. The average age of children was 4.32 years at entry into the study. Among participating teachers, about 3% of were Hispanic, 48% were Black, and 46% were White. Female teachers made up about 98% of the overall sample. The average teaching experience of participating teachers was 12 years. Teachers varied in their level of education: 30% had an Associates degree, 39% had a Bachelors degree, and 26% had a Masters degree. (pp. 34-35)
Intervention Group
BEST in CLASS is a supplemental intervention in which teachers systematically identify children in the classroom with chronic behavior problems and use targeted instructional practices with those children. These targeted instructional practices, which are implemented over the course of the school year, aim to promote positive teacher-child interactions and child engagement while also decreasing problem behaviors. Teachers received BEST in CLASS teacher training, which included a teacher manual, a workshop, and 14 weeks of one-on-one practice-based coaching with performance feedback. Targeted instructional practice modules included guidance on: how to manage children identified as having chronic behavioral problems; preventive methods to set expectations before problem behaviors occur; strategies for giving students opportunities to engage in instructional activities; how to provide behavior-specific praise, providing instructional feedback; and how best to combine instructional practices in a sequential way
(pp. 33, 36-37)
Comparison Group
Comparison teachers implemented the business-as-usual curriculum using a range of federally- or state-funded programs. The most commonly used programs included Teaching Strategies Gold (Heroman et al., 2010), the Creative Curriculum (Heroman et al., 2010) and High Scope (High Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2014). (p. 37)
Support for implementation
Teachers received BEST in CLASS teacher training, which included a teacher manual, a workshop, and 14 weeks of one-on-one practice-based coaching with performance feedback. (pp. 36-37)