Efficacy Trial of I Control: An Intensive Intervention to Improve Self-Regulation for Middle School Students with Emotional and Behavioral Problems

The purpose of this project is to examine the efficacy of I Control, an intervention for middle school students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) that targets self-regulatory mechanisms collectively known as executive functioning skills (e.g., inhibiting impulses, maintaining information in working memory). Students who exhibit significant and chronic behavioral problems and are consequently placed in special education programs for EBD are typically the most difficult to teach and manage in the classroom setting. These students show persistent patterns of anti-social, maladaptive, and aggressive school behavior, which results in escalating conflict with adults, peers, and family members. As such, students with EBD frequently require intensive interventions to improve their ability to regulate their own behavior. I Control was developed with previous IES funding to teach middle school students with EBD in self-contained classrooms how to modify and control their behavior and engage in appropriate self-regulation in social situations. I Control has demonstrated feasibility of implementation by middle school teachers as well as promise for improving student self-regulation skills, but the efficacy of the intervention has not yet been tested. Thus, the current study will examine the efficacy of I Control for improving student behavioral and academic outcomes.