Project Activities
The researchers will engage with teachers, parents, and middle school students from two school districts in central Missouri to develop Mid-STEP. They will use a multi-phased, iterative process that includes initial development, development and refinement, social validity and feasibility testing, and pilot testing to create a fully developed Mid-STEP model. The researchers will convene expert panels (including researchers, teachers, parents, and students) and focus groups to receive feedback on Mid-STEP development. The researchers will conduct a small preliminary field test of the full model in the with teachers. They will then conduct social validity and feasibility with additional teachers and families who will receive the Mid-STEP training and coaching. After further refinement based on social validity and feasibility testing, the researchers will conduct a group randomized clinical trial (RCT) to determine the promise of the full Mid-STEP model.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This project will take place in middle schools from Fulton Public Schools and Jefferson City Public Schools in central Missouri.
Sample
The project will include teachers, students, and parents from middle schools in one rural and one suburban school district. These districts include 3 middle schools with approximately 2,800 middle school students.
Intervention
The Mid-STEP model aims to increase teacher use of family engagement practices and be patterned after The Incredible Years and the Classroom Check-Up. The researchers will incorporate effective family engagement components identified in prior meta-analytic work and will build off teacher training materials for supporting family engagement that the researcher team has developed and evaluated. The researchers intend for school psychologists or counselors ultimately to provide Mid-STEP training and coaching.
Research design and methods
The researchers will use a multi-phase iterative process consistent with the ADDIE instructional design model. In phase 1, three distinct expert panel groups with researchers, school personnel, parents, and other stakeholders from several districts will provide feedback about the training and coaching model and proposed measures and processes. The researchers will revise the Mid-STEP model with each successive meeting. In phase 2, they will gather additional perspectives of the expert panel and stakeholder groups about the refined intervention and related tools. In phase 3, they will conduct an initial feasibility test with 10 teachers and 30 families, collecting pre-post-data, and will make refinements to the intervention content, procedures, and measures with each implementation. In phase 4, they will conduct a pilot test of the final model with 50 teachers (25 treatment, 25 control) and students and parents (n=500) in participating classrooms to evaluate the promise of the Mid-STEP model for enhancing student social and academic outcomes.
Control condition
Teachers in the control condition will receive business-as-usual professional development (that is, professional development opportunities already available).
Key measures
Proximal outcomes will include teacher family engagement practices (that is, observed parent-teacher interactions, teacher-report of practices, and parent-report of practices) and teacher efficacy for promoting partnerships. Researchers will collect measures student- and parent-reported engagement practices, parent-teacher relationships, teacher attitudes towards family engagement, teacher cultural responsiveness, coach-teacher alliance, fidelity, and social validity. Primary distal outcomes will include student behaviors, competence, relatedness, engagement, and academic performance as measured by the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement, 4th edition (WJ-IV), Missouri Assessment of Progress (MAP; state achievement test) scores, attendance, discipline records, and grades.
Data analytic strategy
The researchers will code and analyze focus group and survey data by themes for consistency and recommendations across phases. They will conduct descriptive and correlational analyses on quantitative data collected during phase 2 and 3. For student level outcomes in phase 4, they will conduct two-level (students nested within classrooms) hierarchical linear models to compare the two conditions (that is, Mid-STEP vs. control condition) on the variables of interest.
Cost analysis strategy
The researchers will conduct a cost analysis of Mid-STEP following the guidelines of Levin and McEwan (2001) together with the CBCSE Cost Tool Kit (http://cbcse.org/costresources/). They will estimate costs associated with implementing the Mid-STEP training and coaching process and materials using focus group interview data to identify variables to include in a sensitivity analysis, which will provide a range of possible cost estimates depending on the context of delivery. They will develop a final cost analysis model in the final year of the project using an intent-to-treat framework to identify costs to schools, school staff, and students. The cost analysis will provide information to inform subsequent efficacy trials as well as adoption and sustainability of Mid-STEP in effectiveness trials.
Products and publications
Products: Products will include a fully developed model (i.e., Mid-STEP Training + Mid-STEP Coaching) for middle school teachers. Products will also include information, materials, and resources to both scientific and professional audiences.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Other Online Resources: The Classroom Check-up website includes existing information and resources: https://classroomcheckup.org/.
Related projects
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigators: Holmes, Shannon; Herman, Keith; Reinke, Wendy; Aguayo, Dávid
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.