Structured Abstract
Setting
The study takes place at 34 elementary schools (grades Kâ5) in the Prince William County, Virginia Public Schools. This county is an urban-suburban-rural county system of diverse ethnicity and socioeconomic composition.
Sample
Each of the 22,000 grade K-5 students and 1,000 teachers in the elementary schools is asked to participate in the study. As many as an additional 200 other adult participants who are part of IC teams, including school psychologists, counselors, and administrators, are asked to participate.
The use of IC teams is an intervention designed to improve the success of children in general education environments, reduce special services referrals, and increase the appropriateness of referrals for special services. The intervention is a complex package characterized by an interdisciplinary team that assists teachers through a collaborative problem-solving process. The team members receive a 4-day training in critical skills and evidence-based practices to enhance teacher competence in addressing academic and behavior concerns in struggling learners. There is additional training through extensive on-line coaching that will review tapes of each case. IC teams have been implemented in 175 schools in 7 states and have shown some preliminary evidence of promise.
Research design and methods
The study includes 34 elementary schools (grades Kâ5) that are randomly assigned to the treatment and control conditions. Schools are matched on demographic characteristics prior to random assignment.
Control condition
The control schools continue their usual teacher support structures.
Key measures
The primary student outcomes will include the state standardized achievement test in grades 3â5 (Virginia State Standards of Learning), the district's Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening for grades Kâ3, special education referral and placement rates from school records, grade promotion, and measures of student psychosocial development based on teacher ratings. The teacher survey will include self-reported changes in teacher classroom behavior, instruction, management, and well-developed measures of efficacy, job-related stress, and job-related satisfaction. Implementation fidelity in treatment schools will use measures developed previously, including interviews with teachers and team members, documentation of cases handled by the team, and teacher surveys.
Data analytic strategy
The statistical analysis will involve multilevel structural equation modeling to examine the impact of IC teams on student outcomes including achievement in mathematics and reading, special education status, retention in grade, and psycho-social adjustment. In addition, the analysis will examine the impact of the IC teams on teacher efficacy, teacher stress, and teacher job satisfaction. The researchers will also examine whether program impacts vary with program implementation, student characteristics, teachers' sense of efficacy, and teachers' commitment to the intervention.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Book
Rosenfield, S., and Berninger, V. W. (2009). Implementing Evidence-Based Academic Interventions in School Settings. Oxford University Press.
Book chapter
Nelson, D., Aux, K., Neall, M. T., & Gravois, T. A. (2009). Implementation of Instructional Consultation Teams. In Rosenfield, S., and Berninger, V.W.(Eds.), Implementing Evidence-Based Academic Interventions in School Settings (pp: 367). Oxford University Press.
Journal articles
Berger, J., Yiu, H. L., Nelson, D., Vaganek, M., Rosenfield, S., Gravois, T., Gottfredson, G., Vu, P., Shanahan, K., and. Hong, V. (2014). Teacher Utilization of Instructional Consultation Teams. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 24(3): 211-238.
Rocque, M. (2010). Office Discipline and Student Behavior: Does Race Matter?. American Journal of Education, 116(4): 557-581.
Rocque, M., and Paternoster, R. (2011). Understanding the Antecedents of the "School-to-Jail" Link: The Relationship Between Race and School Discipline. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 101(2): 633-665.
Vu, P., Shanahan, K.B., Rosenfield, S., Gravois, T., Koehler, J., Kaiser, L., Bergera, J., Vaganeka, M., Gottfredsona, G.D., and Nelson, D. (2013). Experimental Evaluation of Instructional Consultation Teams on Teacher Beliefs and Practices. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 1(2): 67-81.
Yiu, H.L.E. (2013). The Influence of Student-Teacher Racial Match on Student-Teacher Closeness: A Focus on Asian and Asian American Students. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(2), 126.
Questions about this project?
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