Supporting Teacher Use of Positive Behavior Management Interventions in the Classroom

Summary

Behavioral classroom management interventions are an effective and accessible treatment for elementary-aged children with inattentive, hyperactive, or impulsive behavior.¹ These interventions decrease disruptive behavior, such as distracting others, calling out of turn, or aggression, as well as improve on-task behavior and academic outcomes for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.¹ However, it can be challenging for teachers to implement these evidence-based practices in the classroom. There can be implementation barriers at the school level (e.g., leadership, school climate), individual level (e.g., teacher stress, beliefs), and intervention level (e.g., ease of use), and our work suggests that challenges that interfere with teachers’ ability to execute interventions (such as being distracted or forgetting, or feeling stressed or burnt out) may be particularly salient barriers.²

This study, supported by funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, aimed to 1) examine the barriers and facilitators to teacher use of behavioral classroom management interventions (e.g., behavior specific praise, reminders about classroom norms in advance of any behavior issues) with students with ADHD symptoms; 2) develop a set of Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources with community stakeholders that promotes teacher use of these interventions by targeting these barriers and facilitators; and 3) pilot test the implementation resources in a small-scale trial to determine feasibility. The research team was led by Dr. Gwendolyn Lawson, and also included a clinical research coordinator, mentors and advisors, and school district partners. The team used a community-partnered approach throughout all aims of the study in order to ensure that the implementation resources reflected teachers’, administrators’, and the community’s specific needs. Specifically, we aimed for the resources to fit within existing school structures, to align with school-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), and to be supported sustainably with existing resources. There were two key aspects to the development process to ensure that community feedback was incorporated: first, we worked with a Program Development Team (PDT) of school-district stakeholders, and second, we conducted a series of tryouts in which teachers used a version of the implementation resources and provided feedback. With guidance from the PDT, we used data from teachers’ experiences with it to make revisions to the resources.

Significance

The goal is that the implementation resources will support teachers in improving relationships and using positive behavior management approaches with students with disruptive behavior within the context of a school district serving a predominantly low-income, minoritized population. These are key challenges for many schools and districts, and difficulty managing disruptive behavior is a primary factor contributing to teacher burnout.³ Children who display disruptive behaviors are also at increased risk for a range of negative academic and social outcomes,⁴ and are frequently referred for behavioral health services.⁵ Although intensive teacher coaching models show promise of being effective in improving teacher implementation,⁶ these time- and resource-intensive models may not be feasible or contextually appropriate in many districts.

We hope this will advance equity because it improves implementation within this context. We hope that, if the Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources shows evidence of acceptability, feasibility, and initial promise, it will be disseminated beyond the context of the study, and will have potential impact on teacher classroom practices, teacher well-being, student-teacher relationships, and child well-being. Positive behavioral interventions in the classroom have the potential to improve equity outcomes,⁷ and we hope that this will provide an additional resource to promote the accessibility of these interventions.

Benefits

Demonstrated benefits are those that have been observed and are verifiable.

Potential benefits are those logically expected with moderate to high confidence.

Developed a set of Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources for teachers. demonstrated.

Community

Health education resources

Develop a dissemination protocol for Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources. potential.

Community

Health care delivery

Implementation of the resources will improve teacher and student well-being. potential.

Community

Life expectancy & quality of life

The implementation resources may make positive behavioral classroom interventions more accessible for children, including those from low-income, minoritized populations. potential.

Community

Health care accessibility

Students with identified behavioral needs access appropriate tools rather than suspension or incorrect diagnosis. potential.

Community

Health care accessibility

The Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources have the potential to be more cost effective compared to traditional teacher coaching models. potential.

Economic

Cost effectiveness

This research has community, and economic implications. The framework for these implications was derived from the Translational Science Benefits Model created by the Institute of Clinical & Translational Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.⁸

Community

The Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources provide resources to support teachers in using evidence-based interventions for children with symptoms of ADHD or other disruptive behavior concerns in the classroom. It has the potential to increase teachers’ use of these interventions, and thereby improve child mental health, school engagement, and developmental outcomes. The resources also have the potential to make positive behavioral classroom interventions more accessible for children in public schools. Currently, the Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources are being used in five Elementary and Elementary-Middle schools in the context of the research study, and teacher implementation and child outcomes are being measured. It has the potential to be disseminated more widely in the future, as the team is developing accessible resources to support school personnel in delivering it to teachers in the future.

Economic

The Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources have the potential to be more cost effective compared to traditional teacher coaching models.

Lessons Learned

Strong community partnerships are critical to the potential benefits named here. The research team developed the Positive Behavior Management Implementation Resources with input from teachers, administrators, counselors, and Positive Behavior Management Intervention and Support (PBIS) coaches, and worked closely with school and district leadership to design and support research procedures. The resources were also designed to align with school-wide (PBIS) and are being tested in schools that already use PBIS as a school-wide model, which has strengthened buy-in and reduced burden.