Accuracy of teacher self-report as a treatment integrity assessment for behavioral interventions: A comparison of daily and weekly self-recording and self-reporting

• Description:
  

  This study acknowledges there is growing evidence in the professional literature that (a) few researchers assess treatment integrity, (b) few practitioners assess treatment integrity, and (c) many teachers implement classroom-based interventions with a low level of integrity. Teacher self-report has been proposed as a viable alternative to more time intensive assessment methods (e.g., direct observation) and limited available data suggest that teachers are more accurate when they report treatment integrity daily as opposed to weekly. This informs the study's research question and design.

• Research Question:
  This study encompasses several questions: (1) Will teacher daily verbal self-report be more accurate than weekly verbal self-report for assessing the treatment integrity with which elementary school teachers implement a daily report card intervention? (2) Will teacher daily self-recording be more accurate than weekly self-recording for assessing the treatment integrity with which elementary school teachers implement a daily report card intervention? (3) Will teacher daily self-recording be more accurate than daily verbal self-report for assessing the treatment integrity with which elementary school teachers implement a daily report card intervention? (4) Will teacher weekly self-recording be more accurate than weekly verbal self-report for assessing the treatment integrity with which elementary school teachers implement a daily report card intervention?
• Design:
  A self-monitoring intervention is developed for students who demonstrate challenging behaviors. Approximately 30 teachers from local elementary schools will participate in either the self-recording or self-reporting condition on a daily or weekly basis to measure treatment integrity of the intervention implemented.

• Project Liason:
  Lisa M. H. Sanetti, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  University of Connecticut Faculty Large Grant Competition

Alignment across K-12 Writing Standards, Assessments, Achievement, and Postsecondary Expectations: A State-by-State Analysis

• Research Question:
  RQ1: (a) What aspects of writing receive the most emphasis in states' content standards? (b) How do states' content standards reflect evidence-based practices in writing? RQ2: (a) What aspects of the writing assessment program receive the most emphasis in states' content standards? (b) How do states' assessment programs reflect evidence-based practices in writing assessment? RQ3: (a) How are states' writing content standards aligned with their assessment programs? (b) How are states' writing content standards aligned with postsecondary expectations? (c) How are states' writing assessment programs aligned with postsecondary expectations? RQ4: Do states with stronger alignment between the writing assessment program and standards produce writers with higher levels of achievement based on 2007 Grade 8 NAEP data? RQ5: Do variables such as (a) number of content standards, (b) degree of elaboration of content standards, and (c) grade at which specific aspects of content standards are introduced explain a significant proportion of variance in writing achievement based on 2007 Grade 8 NAEP data?

• Project Liason:
  Natalie Olinghouse, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  Grant proposal in process

Cognitive Strategies Instruction: Reading/Writing Connections

• Description:
  

  The process through which students embark on in this study describes its purpose. Students write a report before and after reading the books in the intervention. Reports are scored for length, quality, and several measures assessing the declarative knowledge and vocabulary gained from reading the informational text. Two additional studies explore the vocabulary characteristics in the reports and the type of main ideas and details remembered from the text and included in the reports.

• Research Question:
  What is the transfer of knowledge and vocabulary from reading informational text to report writing?
• Design:
  Students in grades 2 - 5, identified as having word reading or reading comprehension deficits, are randomly assigned to one of three reading interventions (control, comprehension strategies, or vocabulary strategies).

• Project Liason:
  Sandra Chafouleas, Ph.D.
• Co-Project Liason:
  Natalie Olinghouse, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  U. S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, and Core Grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Vanderbilt University.

National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

• Description:
  

  The National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports provides technical assistance of evidence-based behavioral interventions and systems for preventing problem behavior and supporting academic achievement and social competence for all students.

• Project Liason:
  George Sugai, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education
• Website:
  pbis.org

Postdoctorate in Behavior Education and Research (PBER)

• Description:
  

  The University of Connecticut Postdoctorate in Behavioral Education and Research Training Program provides postdoctoral fellows training to enhance their statistical and methodological training while simultaneously engaging in high quality applied research projects. Although housed at CBER, faculty from the Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment work group in the Department of Educational Psychology, Department of Psychology and Sociology, and Department of Statistics will also participate. The primary focus of the training program is to advanced statistical and methodological training of fellows and developing and implementing research designs that accurately and meaningfully address significant education problems. The Fellowship centers on one or more research projects of the faculty, which currently include a) implementation of evidence-based behavioral practices at the individual student, school, district, and state levels; b) development of behavioral assessment instruments; c) reading and language interventions; and d) development of reading and language measures

• Project Liason:
  Sandra Chafouleas, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  Special Education Postdoctoral Research Training Grants

Project ERI: The Early Reading Intervention: Examination of Curriculum Efficacy, Durability, Replicability, and Intensity

• Description:
  

  Project ERI looks to test and replicate the curriculum efficacy of Scott Foresman's Early Reading Intervention (ERI) as an intervention reading program with kindergarten students at risk for reading difficulties.

• Research Question:
  Can the efficacy of Scott Foresman's Early Reading Intervention (ERI) be replicated as an intervention reading program with kindergarten students at risk for reading difficulties?
• Design:
  A series of randomized trials in Connecticut, Texas and Florida (teacher as unit of assignment). Participants over the four-year project include 100 teachers and 650 kindergarten students. Students receive an intervention in kindergarten and are followed through second grade.

• Project Liason:
  Michael Coyne, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  U. S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Early Intervention and Assessment for Young Children with Disabilities

Project IVI: Intensifying Vocabulary Intervention for Kindergarten

• Description:
  

  The intent of this study is to draw on validated principles of instructional design and delivery to intensify vocabulary instruction/ intervention to optimize its effectiveness with kindergarten students most at risk of learning disabilities.

• Research Question:
  Can validated principles of instructional design and delivery intensify vocabulary instruction to optimize vocabulary knoweldge in kindergarten students most at risk of learning disabilities?
• Design:
  A series of group-design intervention studies. Participants include kindergarten students from elementary schools in Connecticut (e.g., Hartford, Windham, New London, Ashford) and Virginia.

• Project Liason:
  Michael Coyne, Ph.D.
• Co-Project Liason:
  Betsy McCoach, Ph.D., Paige Pullen, Ph.D. (The University of Virginia)
• Sponsor:
  U. S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Language and Vocabulary Development - Special Education Research

Project VIABLE: Validation of Instruments for Assessing Behavior Longitudinally and Efficiently

• Description:
  

  Project VIABLE seeks to develop and evaluate procedures for direct behavior rating scales to effectively and efficiently measure student behavior.

• Project Liason:
  Sandra Chafouleas, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  U. S. Department of Education
• Website:
  directbehaviorratings.com/cms/

Project VITAL: Vocabulary Intervention Targeting At-risk Learners

• Description:
  

  This study aims to develop, refine, and evaluate strategies for teaching vocabulary to kindergarten students

• Research Question:
  Do rich vocabulary instruction during storybook reading activities result in at-risk kindergarten students learning more full and complete word meanings and increases overall vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension?
• Design:
  A series of seven group-design intervention studies. Participants include 300 kindergarten students from five elementary schools in Hartford, Windham, New London, & Ashford

• Project Liason:
  Michael Coyne, Ph.D.
• Co-Project Liason:
  Betsy McCoach, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  U. S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Reading Comprehension Research

Review of Treatment Integrity Data in the School Psychology Literature: 1995-2007

• Description:
  

  This study aims to provide intervention services to students is a primary responsibility of school psychologists. The increased demands for high levels of accountability within the field of education (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004) have resulted in an increased focus on evidence-based practice (EBP). A primary tenant of EBP is that educators, including school psychologists, implement interventions that have strong empirical support. Researchers use a variety of rigorous experimental designs to demonstrate the effect of an intervention (i.e., independent variable) on student outcomes (i.e., dependent variable). To draw valid conclusions regarding such an effect, it is essential to assess both the outcomes of an intervention and treatment integrity, or the extent to which the intervention was implemented. Reviews of the treatment outcome literature across multiple areas (e.g., behavior analysis, learning disabilities, prevention programming) suggest that researchers often fail to report treatment integrity data. To date, the school psychology literature has not been reviewed. This will be done in this study.

• Research Question:
  What can be derived from coding the treatment integrity data reported in all school- and home-based experimental intervention articles, conducted with individuals up to 18 years, published in six prominent school psychology journals (i.e., School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly, Psychology in the Schools, Journal of School Psychology, School Psychology International) between 1995 and 2007?
• Design:
  Literature Review

• Project Liason:
  Lisa M. H. Sanetti, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  University of Connecticut Faculty Small Grant Competition

Strategic Teaching of At-Risk Students (STARS): Improving Reading Comprehension Through Story Structure Pedagogy

• Description:
  

  This study aims to (1) identify students for Tier-Two instruction based on Connecticut standardized testing scores, (2) randomly assign students to instructional groups of eight within the conditions described above, (3) pretest all students in the study with Gates-MacGinitie standardized reading comprehension measure, strategy use measure, and a cloze measure, (4) deliver to students 18 weeks of intervention instruction three days per week for thirty minutes with regular progress monitoring using both a cloze procedure and a strategy use measure, and (5) posttest all students in the study on all pretest measures.

• Research Question:
  Can reading comprehension be impored through story structure pedagogy?
• Design:
  Random assignment of 79 at-risk 5th and 6th grade students, including students with learning disabilities and English language learners from an urban middle school, to one of two Tier-Two reading comprehension interventions: (1) Embedded Story Structure Routine, a multi-strategy reading comprehension intervention (Faggella-Luby, Schumaker, Deshler, 2007), or (2) Comprehension Skills Instruction, taught by a certified reading teacher. All instruction occurred in a ratio of one teacher to eight students.

• Project Liason:
  Michael Faggella-Luby, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  University of Connecticut Large Faculty Grant

Cognitive Strategies Instruction: Reading/Writing Connections

• Description:
  

  The process through which students embark on in this study describes its purpose. Students write a report before and after reading the books in the intervention. Reports are scored for length, quality, and several measures assessing the declarative knowledge and vocabulary gained from reading the informational text. Two additional studies explore the vocabulary characteristics in the reports and the type of main ideas and details remembered from the text and included in the reports.

• Research Question:
  What is the transfer of knowledge and vocabulary from reading informational text to report writing?
• Design:
  Students in grades 2 - 5, identified as having word reading or reading comprehension deficits, are randomly assigned to one of three reading interventions (control, comprehension strategies, or vocabulary strategies).

• Project Liason:
  Natalie Olinghouse, Ph.D.
• Co-Project Liason:
  Sandra Chafouleas, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  U. S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, and Core Grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Vanderbilt University.

Project NEXUS: Doctoral Leadership Preparation in Special Education

• Description:
  

  Project Nexus is a new Doctoral Leadership Grant to support the specialized preparation of doctoral students in special education.

• Project Liason:
  Michael Coyne, Ph.D.
• Co-Project Liason:
  Joseph Madaus, Ph.D., George Sugai, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  Office of Speical Education Programs and the U.S. Department of Education
• PDF File:
  1124

Project PRIME: Planning Realistic Intervention Implementation and Maintenance for Educators

• Description:
  

  The intent of this study is to develop a theoretically and empirically based system of supports that will prevent teachers’ level of treatment integrity from declining.

• Research Question:
  1. Can functional relationships be demonstrated between PRIME components and initial and maintained treatment integrity? 2. Does self-administered or assisted action and coping planning result in high levels of initial and maintained treatment integrity? 3. How does implementation of PRIME affect student behavior outcomes? 4. What approximate “dose” of intervention (i.e., number, duration, frequency of intervention sessions) is required to achieve a visible change in level and stability of data measuring behavioral intentions and treatment integrity?
• Design:
  A series of single-case-design intervention studies. Participants include teachers and students in Connecticut schools.

• Project Liason:
  Lisa M. H. Sanetti, Ph.D.
• Co-Project Liason:
  Thomas Kratochwill, Ph.D.
• Sponsor:
  Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education
• Website:
  www.primeimplementation.com