Study: 90208

Practice Guide

Review Details

Reviewed: March 2022

No statistically significant positive
findings

Meets WWC standards without reservations

For:

Practice Guide (findings for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS))

Using:

Rating:

Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with low cluster-level attrition and individual-level non-response.

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

Social-Emotional Learning outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Aggressive behavior scale (ABS)	Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 258 students	13.10	14.60	No	--
Maladaptive behavior index (MBI)	Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 263 students	16.40	18.50	No	--
Social interaction scale (SIS)	Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 262 students	42.60	42.30	No	--
Adaptive behavior index (ABI)	Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 262 students	33.20	31.90	No	--

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.

Female: 46%
Male: 54%
Rural, Suburban

Race
Other or unknown		27%
White		73%

Ethnicity
Hispanic		31%
Not Hispanic or Latino		69%

Study Details

Setting

The study took place in Oregon. Thirteen Head Start centers and 33 classrooms located in Lane County Head Start and Kidco Head Start participated in the study.

Study sample

Seventy-three percent of the students were White and 31% were Hispanic. Thirty percent of the mothers had some college. No information was reported for income. Ten percent of the children in the sample were eligible for special education services at the time of the study. Of the children eligible for special education services, Twenty-three percent of children had an emotional/behavioral disorder category, 55% of children certified for speech/language delay, 19% had a noncategorical/developmental delay and 9% were listed under other categories.

Intervention Group

Teachers taught, modeled, and periodically reviewed behavior standards and expectations with their students during a circle time activity and within generalized settings (e.g., hallways, playground, and gym). Teachers precorrected students for potentially difficult times or situations (e.g., “I am going to watch who can walk all the way past the library without talking”) and acknowledged and reinforced when children complied with expectations (e.g., “Because this morning everyone showed respect by working together so well, we’ll have five minutes of extra free time”). Children were taught routines for entering and exiting, transitions, and quiet-time areas. 'Second Step' violence prevention program (Grossman et al., 1997) was used in one center in each condition.

Comparison Group

Head Start centers in the comparison group continued with business-as-usual (that is, implemented Creative Curriculum) during the study’s first year, with the expectation that those centers would implement the intervention the following year. One comparison center also implemented the ‘Second Step’ violence prevention program during the first year of the study.

Support for implementation

Teachers in the intervention participated in a monthly 2-hour class for a total of 14 hours of training across the school year. A behavioral coach followed up with each participating teacher and was available for one-on-one consultation in his or her respective classroom during instructional hours.

Using Positive Behavior Support Procedures in Head Start Classrooms to Improve School Readiness: A Group Training and Behavioral Coaching Model [Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) vs. business as usual]