Project Activities
The research occurs across three phases. Phase I focuses on the formative development and usability of the PE Model, identifying necessary intervention components, refining the model's process and procedures, and developing fidelity measures. Phase II examines usability, social validity, and fidelity of implementation of the PE components, and preliminary assessment of student outcomes. Phase III is a pilot study using a randomized controlled design in which half of the students in each school will be randomly assigned to the PE intervention or the control condition.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The research will be conducted in public middle schools and their feeder high schools in Oregon.
Sample
Phase I participants for the field tests will include all 8ᵗʰ grade students with EBD and their respective parents from the two participating middle schools, the transition teams, PE skills coaches, PE case managers, and high school peer transition mentors (one mentor per student). Focus groups for students and parents will include at least four students receiving special education supports and four students not receiving special education supports (two 8th grade and two 9th grade for each category), at least one parent for each participating student, at least two special education teachers, two general education teachers, two administrators, and two behavior specialists, for a total of 8 students in the student focus group and 16 adults in the parent/educator focus group. Phase II participants will include 8ᵗʰ grade students with EBD and their respective parents from two new middle schools, and a team of PE support members as described for Phase I. During phase III, all students with EBD from 10 middle schools will be invited to participate, which will be approximately 20-50 students and a respective parent for each student.
The PE Model includes six components: student skills coaching, parent coaching, team planning and case management, student-led goal setting, peer mentorship, and behavioral and academic progress monitoring across home and school settings. These supports begin in the winter of students’ 8ᵗʰ grade year and follow them through their 9ᵗʰ grade year. A series of coaching sessions are delivered to students and parents as well as resource coordination with educators to (a) provide opportunities for students to build prosocial skills, (b) develop effective transition mentorship plans, (c) support student-led goal setting and self-advocacy, and (d) systematize school teams for planning transition supports. A student-centered transition team will oversee these supports and track progress towards a successful transition to high school for each participating student.
Research design and methods
Phases I and II will employ a mixed-method approach to confirm the key features and strategies of PE through an iterative process with the design team; a field test of the model and measures in phase I; perceptions of intervention usability and feasibility through surveys and focus group; and a feasibility and fidelity study in phase II. Phase II will also include a pre-post evaluation of student outcomes. Phase III will include a pilot study that employs a randomized controlled design with students within schools randomly assigned to intervention or control conditions.
Control condition
Participants in the control condition will not receive the treatment.
Key measures
Usability, feasibility, and fidelity of implementation will be measured with the researcher-developed tools, including the PE Implementation Checklist, for case managers to keep track of implementation, and the PE Rating Fidelity Tool, to document the extent to which students and their parents believe they received the components of the PE Model. Social-behavioral outcomes will be collected using the Parent Daily Report (PDR) and the Teacher Daily Report (TDR) to evaluate prosocial and unwanted behaviors, the School Social Behavior Scales (SSBS) for teacher ratings of social competence and antisocial behavior, and the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales (HCSBS) to evaluate social-emotional strengths and risk behaviors at home and in the community. Student academic outcomes will be collected via progress monitoring and summative measures. Progress monitoring includes weekly review of grades, progress on student-identified academic goals and IEP goals, and attendance. Summative academic measures include credit accrual and core course failures, cumulative GPA, and attendance. Students' positive mental health development will be assessed with the Social Emotional Health Survey - Secondary (SEHS-S). Students' social competence and school adjustment will be assessed with the Peer Involvement and Social Skills Questionnaire and the Walker McConnell Scale (WMS), completed by parents, teachers, and students. The Motivation and Engagement Scale - High School (MES-HS) will be used to assess academic motivation and engagement. The research team will also develop a brief survey of PE/high school knowledge for students and parents, consisting of items specific to the knowledge and skills delivered through the PE program.
Data analytic strategy
Focus group data will be recorded and analyzed qualitatively, including organizing and coding data, and interpreting results through a cross-case report. Feasibility, usability, and implementation fidelity will be analyzed via qualitative techniques, descriptive statistics, and data visualizations. Pilot study data will be analyzed using both effect size estimates and linear models for continuous and count outcomes.
Cost analysis strategy
The resources needed to adopt PE as an add-on program in schools will be identified, measured, and valued using the ingredients method, regardless of whether they require a new expenditure or represent a reallocation of existing resources. Cost information (resource use and price) will be collected from all pilot study schools.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
SubAwardee(s)
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