Project Activities
The study will implement a longitudinal, cohort-based, cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the impact of DIAL PD for special and general education teachers on student social skills and bullying behavior as well as teacher self-efficacy, classroom management, and bullying prevention behaviors. The study will also determine the cost effectiveness of the intervention.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This study will take place in a large, urban, public school district in Florida.
Sample
Participants will be elementary school teachers in grades K-5-including general and special education teachers-and elementary school students with and without disabilities. Approximately 4,300 students, with an estimated 20% with or at risk for disability identification, and 144 teachers (1 per classroom) across 12 schools will participate.
Intervention
DIAL PD consists of four interactive, online modules that teach general and special education teachers how to effectively recognize and respond to bullying, with a specific emphasis on students with disabilities. DIAL PD focuses teacher learning on understanding bullying among grades K–5 youth, evaluating the role of student behavior, and implementing evidence-based practices (including prompting, opportunities to respond, and behavior-specific praise) that are grounded in sound behavioral principles. Two of the four online modules include interactive activities and a coaching component to assist with facilitating a professional learning community and developing a multi-tiered system bullying prevention action plan. Each module will take a total of approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete, though the DIAL modules have been divided into smaller units, allowing teachers to complete them at their own pace. DIAL PD implementation and completion will occur between September and January for each of the three cohorts.
Research design and methods
Researchers will randomly assign 2 schools and 24 teachers to the immediate intervention condition to receive DIAL PD, and 2 schools and 24 teachers to the delayed intervention (control) condition. Participants will be in one of three cohorts, each a year long. Cohort 1 will consist of 2 classrooms (teachers) per K–5 grade level in each school (12 teachers per school) across 4 schools (48 teachers total). Cohorts 2 and 3 will have the same structure as the first cohort, with four new schools each year. For each cohort, researchers will collect data three times per year (fall, winter, spring) that align with critical junctures of the study: immediately preceding access to DIAL PD, immediately following completion of DIAL PD, and end-of-year follow up. Additionally, researchers will conduct observations of teacher–student interactions across the 144 classroom teachers and 432 students with disabilities that researchers will select using a behavioral risk screener (3 students per classroom).
Control condition
Teachers in the control condition will participate in existing school- or district-provided bullying prevention PD and will receive access to DIAL PD after the final data collection timepoint.
Key measures
: Primary outcome measures include student self-report of bullying behaviors (University of Illinois Bully Scale), and bullying intervention by school personnel and school climate (Student Perception Survey, Colorado Trust Bullying Prevention Initiative: Student Survey). Outcome measures also include teacher-focused and student-focused teacher report measures. Teacher-focused measures include the Teachers' Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form, Classroom Management Policies Questionnaire, and Colorado Trust's Bully Prevention Initiative: School Environment. The student-focused measures of social skills and behavior include the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale and the Teacher Assessment of Student Behavior. Additionally, researchers will directly observe teacher strategy implementation from DIAL PD using the Student/Classroom Observation and Analysis (SCOA) iPad application. Researchers will identify students at risk for disability using teacher report on the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavioral Risk Screener and measure student performance using report card grades, standardized test scores, and attendance records.
Data analytic strategy
Researchers will fit a series of multilevel mixed effects models, accounting for the nested structure of time, students, teachers, and schools. Student and/or teacher characteristics (such as race/ethnicity, gender, and disability category) and cohort dummy indicators will be used to control for possible baseline imbalance and cohort effects, respectively. Researchers will also fit a latent change score mediation model to examine whether teacher outcomes mediate the effect of DIAL PD on student outcomes.
Cost analysis strategy
Researchers will conduct a cost analysis following the ingredients method. They will calculate an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of the average incremental cost per participant to the average intervention effect on teacher and student outcomes such as academic performance or bullying.
Products and publications
Products: Products will include an understanding of the impact of DIAL PD on teacher and student outcomes. Products will also include a publicly shared dataset and dissemination to various stakeholders through conference proceedings, peer-reviewed journal publications, practitioner-oriented newsletters, policy briefs, a website, webinars, and blog posts.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
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Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigators: Cavanaugh, Catherine; Espelage, Dorothy; Nickodem, Kyle; Poekert, Philip; Valido Delgado, Alberto
Questions about this project?
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