Project Activities
The project will use a cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of adding SDLMI to C&C on student outcomes, including long-term secondary school/transition and post-school outcomes, and determine its cost effectiveness.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The study will take place in high schools in Georgia.
Sample
Across 40 high schools, approximately 480 to 560 students in grades 9 to 12 with disabilities who are at risk for school failure (based on low grades and frequent absences) will participate in the study.
Intervention
The intervention is a combination of two existing, evidence-based interventions. C&C is a tier 2 intervention that provides a structured mentoring model to promote academic and behavioral engagement. C&C uses relationship building and data on secondary school/transition outcomes to enable trained mentors to identify school and community cultural resources to help students with disabilities. The SDLMI is a model of instruction that has been used across curricular areas and tiers of support, with the aim of improving self-determination, goal setting and attainment, and postsecondary outcomes. In addition to standard C&C training and mentoring students, teachers in the C&C + SDLMI conditions will also receive standardized training to implement the SDLMI at least 2 days per week in small groups during the students' advisory periods, focused on goal setting and attainment, combining the one-to-one mentoring component of C&C and small-group SDLMI instruction. Training for mentor teachers will emphasize individualized student needs and student, family, and community cultural resources.
Research design and methods
The efficacy of C&C + SDLMI will be evaluated with a cluster randomized controlled trial, with intervention implementation for two cohorts across 2 school years each. Schools will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: C&C only or C&C + SDLMI. The initial year will be spent preparing, establishing partnerships with schools, training teachers, and randomization by school. The 2-year intervention implementation for students in cohort 1 will then begin, followed by another 2-year implementation period for cohort 2. At the end of the second school year for each cohort, follow-up outcome data will be collected.
Control condition
The C&C only condition, already widely implemented in Georgia, will serve as the control condition to test the additive value of a combined C&C + SDLMI intervention.
Key measures
Secondary school/transitionoutcome measures will include data collected by the state of Georgia on academic and behavioral engagement (for example, attendance and enrollment), academic achievement (for example, grades, course completion, and state assessments), and graduation. Primary student outcomes measures will also include the Student Engagement Instrument to assess cognitive and affective engagement, the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report, and Goal Attainment Scaling. Postsecondary outcome measures will include data collected by the state of Georgia on dropout, postsecondary education enrollment and completion, and employment disaggregated by IEP status in secondary school. Fidelity for C&C will be measured with the Check and Connect Core Components and Elements Self-Assessment, the Monthly Fidelity Survey, and the Mentor Practice Profile. Fidelity for SDLMI will be measured with the SDLMI Fidelity Measure. Feasibility and social validity will be measured with the Usage Rating Profile–Intervention.
Data analytic strategy
Multivariate multilevel modeling (M-MLM) will be used to examine change across secondary school/transition and postsecondary outcomes. Within this framework, longitudinal analysis will be used to test for different growth patterns on secondary school/transition outcomes during the 2-year intervention period, controlling for implementation fidelity. Using the same M-MLM framework, the research team will also conduct a series of organizational analyses to identify implementation characteristics (such as integrity and dosage) and student characteristics (such as gender and disability status) that moderate treatment efficacy at different stages of intervention. Finally, the research team will use regression analyses to test for relations between each intervention condition and postschool outcomes.
Cost analysis strategy
The ingredients method will be used in a cost analysis to determine the total cost for schools to initiate a treatment level to produce obtained effects across all outcomes. The research team will then use standard cost-effectiveness analysis techniques to determine which treatment level is most cost effective and for which outcomes. The research team will use M-MLM organizational analyses to build a comprehensive model of correlated cost and effect data.
Products and publications
Products: This project will lead to initial data on the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the combined C&C + SDLMI intervention as well as validated training, implementation, and coaching materials for the combined intervention that can be scaled-up in schools, districts, and states. The project will also result in a final dataset to be shared, peer-reviewed publications and presentations, and additional dissemination products that reach education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
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Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigators: Johnson, David R.; Klemm, Eileen; Scott, LaRon A.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.