Project Activities
Teachers will receive training in BEST in CLASS-E followed by 14 weeks of practice-based coaching (implementation). Researchers will collect pretest and posttest measures in the fall and spring, respectively. They will study four classrooms each year for four years (16 total), that will be randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or to be the business-as-usual control.
Structured Abstract
Setting
Teachers and students in this study will come from 16 public urban, suburban, and rural elementary schools in two school districts from Virginia and Florida. Both districts are ethnically diverse.
Sample
The sample will include 192 K-2nd grade teachers and 576 students and their families.
Intervention
BEST in CLASS-E BEST in CLASS-E is a Tier 2 classroom-based intervention that increases teachers' use and quality of delivery of efficacious behavioral and instructional practices in order to reduce focal students' problem behaviors, increase positive teacher-student interactions, improve teachers' sense of self-efficacy, enhance the quality of teacher-child relationships, and improve the classroom environment. Additionally, BEST in CLASS-E includes a home-school partnership component. Teachers in the BEST in CLASS-E intervention group will receive a BEST in CLASS Teacher Manual, and attend a one-day workshop designed to introduce teachers to all seven teacher learning modules. Following the training, teachers will receive 14 weeks of individual manualized practice-based coaching from a trained coach that will provide them with guidance and support in learning to implement the BEST in CLASS-E practices in their classrooms and the home-school partnership component. Students in the treatment group will receive the BEST in CLASS-E intervention delivered by trained classroom teachers and families will receive the BEST in CLASS-E home-school partnership intervention.
Research design and methods
The researchers will use a multi-site cluster randomized design to examine the effect of BEST in CLASS-E on child, teacher, and family outcomes in four elementary schools per year. Classrooms will be blocked by grade level within school and then randomly assigned to either the treatment or the business-as-usual comparison group. Teachers will be trained in the BEST in CLASS-E intervention in the fall and will then implement the program via practice-based coaching for 14 weeks. Collection of pretest and posttest measures on students, their families, and teachers will occur at three times. Time 1 assessments will occur in the fall and will consist of baseline measures of social and behavioral competence, academic skills, family involvement, teacher-student interactions, and classroom quality. Time 2 assessments will occur immediately following the 14-week implementation and will include all measures from Time 1 as well as teacher and caregiver social validity measures. Coaching alliance measures will be collected at weeks 4 and 12 of intervention delivery. Time 3 assessments will be conducted at least one month after the completion of intervention implementation, and will consist of direct observations of teachers' and focal students' social and behavioral functioning and teacher-student interactions.
Control condition
The comparison group will engage in business-as-usual academic and behavioral instruction provided by regular education teachers in grades K–2nd.
Key measures
A comprehensive assessment plan is proposed including child outcome measures (e.g., Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales, Woodcock—Johnson III Brief Battery), family outcome measures (i.e., family engagement and involvement), teacher outcomes (self-efficacy, student-teacher interactions and relationships), classroom atmosphere (Classroom Assessment Scoring System – CLASS), and implementation and integrity measures, including teacher and coaching integrity, dosage, and alliance.
Data analytic strategy
Researchers will use multilevel modeling to analyze the effects of BEST in CLASS-E on student, family, and teacher outcomes, and will test hypothesized mediators (e.g., teacher-student relationship quality) within the same multilevel framework.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Products:Related projects
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigator: Conroy, Maureen
Researchers will produce evidence of the efficacy of the BEST in CLASS-E intervention for approximately 192 teachers and 576 students in grades K–2. Researchers will also provide annual updates to families, teachers, and administrators, present findings at conferences, and produce peer-reviewed publications.Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.