SCALE‐UP OF SAFE & CIVIL SCHOOLS’ MODEL FOR SCHOOL‐WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS AND SUPPORTS

This study evaluated the scale‐up of a Safe & Civil Schools Foundations: Establishing Positive Discipline Policies positive behavioral interventions and supports initiative through 4 years of “real‐world” implementation in a large urban school district. The study extends results from a previous randomized controlled trial that established the effectiveness of the Safe & Civil Schools program in 32 elementary schools in the same district. This study emphasizes the application and evaluation of the program in regular district schools. Four‐year results indicate that elementary, middle, and high schools experienced moderate but steady improvements in (a) school discipline, (b) student safety policy and training, (c) staff perceptions of student behavior, and (d) student suspension and chronic tardiness rates. With few exceptions, improvements occurred after schools began Safe & Civil Schools Foundations training, and more years of training were associated with larger cumulative improvements in school and student outcomes. Given that similar effects were observed in schools with and without random assignment of training, and only after training began, we concluded that the improvements stem from Safe & Civil School's Foundations training.     

TRAINING TEACHERS TO USE EVIDENCE‐BASED PRACTICES FOR AUTISM: EXAMINING PROCEDURAL IMPLEMENTATION FIDELITY

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which public school teachers implemented evidence‐based interventions for students with autism in the way these practices were designed. Evidence‐based practices for students with autism are rarely incorporated into community settings, and little is known about the quality of implementation. An indicator of intervention quality is procedural implementation fidelity (the degree to which a treatment is implemented as prescribed). Procedural fidelity likely affects student outcomes. This project examined procedural implementation fidelity of three evidence‐based practices used in a randomized trial of a comprehensive program for students with autism in partnership with a large, urban school district. Results indicate that teachers in public school special education classrooms can learn to implement evidence‐based strategies; however, they require extensive training, coaching, and time to reach and maintain moderate procedural implementation fidelity. Procedural fidelity over time and across intervention strategies is examined.     

Assessing teachers' perceptions for school‐based aggression prevention programs: Applying a cognitive‐ecological framework

This article describes qualitative and quantitative assessment based on responses of 221 teachers from nine elementary schools in two districts (urban and suburban) to inform plans for reducing and preventing student aggression. Teachers' perceptions of students' aggressive behavior and beliefs were validated against students' self‐reports and archival disciplinary data. Using a brief survey, we found district‐ and grade‐level differences in teachers' perceptions of students' aggressive behavior and aggression supporting cognitions. Teacher reports on these two constructs each uniquely predicted teacher perceptions of the degree to which student aggression interferes with their jobs. Focus‐group interviews with teachers were used to elaborate on individual‐cognitive and ecological school factors related to student aggression, including procedures for handling aggression. The importance of teacher reports is highlighted, and implications for school program development are considered. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 331–344, 2006.     

Community violence,school‐related protective factors,and psychosocial outcomes in urban youth

This study examined the relationship of two putative school‐based protective factors—student identification with school and perceived teacher support—to psychosocial outcomes in a sample of urban youth exposed to community violence. Participants were 175 high school students ages 14–19 in grades 9–12 from a large urban school district. Results indicated that exposure to violence was positively associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Additionally, identification with school and teacher support were related to higher hope and lower psychosocial distress. Adolescents who reported higher identification with school and higher teacher support reported higher hope, regardless of the level of violence exposure. Results emphasize the importance of school factors, particularly feeling connected to and supported in school, in promoting hope and minimizing psychosocial distress for youth exposed to community violence. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A multilevel analysis of the relationship between teacher and collective efficacy in urban schools

Although a great deal of research has linked both teacher and collective efficacy to student achievement, one overlooked question concerns the nested association between teacher and collective efficacy. The authors apply social cognitive theory to offer a theoretical analysis of this relationship. Next, using hierarchical linear modeling, they empirically test the strength of the relationship between these two theoretically related yet conceptually distinct constructs. Analysis of data collected from 438 teachers in 47 schools in a large urban school district shows that collective efficacy predicts variation in teacher efficacy above and beyond the variance explained by a number of school contextual factors including socioeconomic status and student achievement. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.     

Pilot study for the fidelity,acceptability, and effectiveness of a PBIS program plus mental health supports in under‐resourced urban schools

This paper describes implementation (fidelity, perceived acceptability) and tier 1 and Tier 2 outcomes of school‐wide positive behavior interventions and supports approach including mental health supports at Tier 2 in two K‐8 urban schools. Interventions for Tier 2 consisted of three manualized group cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) protocols for externalizing behavior problems, depression, and anxiety. Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions were implemented with fidelity but program feasibility for Tier 2 was in question because school personnel needed a great deal of external support to implement the interventions. Tier 1 interventions were associated with a decrease in office discipline referrals. Students participating in GCBT showed a significant decrease in mental health diagnostic severity at posttreatment. A discussion of perceived and actual implementation barriers and how they were addressed is provided. Implications for practice in low‐income urban schools are discussed.     

School‐based promotion of fruit and vegetable consumption in multiculturally diverse,urban schools

Rates of childhood overweight 1

1 The term childhood overweight as opposed to childhood obesity is used in this article. This term is consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (2007a) nomenclature for describing children's weight status. For children, weight status is determined by a BMI percentile using age‐ and gender‐specific normative data. Underweight is defined as a child being below the 5th percentile based on the age‐ and gender‐specific norms, Normal Weight is defined as being between the 5th and the 84th percentile, At Risk for Overweight is defined as being between the 85th and the 94th percentile, and Overweightis defined as at or above the 95th percentile. For more information, go to www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/childrens_BMI/about_childrens_BMI.htm .

have reached epidemic proportions (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001), and schools have been called on to play a role in the prevention of this medical condition. This article describes a multiyear health promotion effort—the Athletes in Service fruit and vegetable (F&V) promotion program—which is based on social learning theory for urban, elementary school children in kindergarten through third grade. Children participate in the program for a period of 3 years. The goals of the program are to increase opportunities for children to be more physically active during the school day and to help students increase their F&V consumption. This article describes the F&V promotion components of the program that were implemented in year 1, including implementation integrity and treatment acceptability data. Year 1 evaluation data demonstrated that the program is acceptable from the perspective of school staff and was implemented by school staff with high levels of integrity. Hallmarks of the program's successful implementation and high acceptability include (a) having a school‐based program champion; (b) designing the program to include low‐cost, attractive, interactive materials; (c) including many school staff members to facilitate a culture of healthy eating in the school; and (d) spreading out implementation responsibilities among the multiple staff members so that each individual's involvement is time efficient. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

School demographic variables and out‐of‐school suspension rates: A quantitative and qualitative analysis of a large,ethnically diverse school district

This study examined out‐of‐school suspensions (OSS) in a large, ethnically diverse school district using both quantitative and qualitative procedures. Pearson product moment correlations and semi‐partial correlations were used to identify those school‐level variables that showed the strongest relationships to the duplicated OSS rate among elementary schools (n = 97) and secondary schools (n = 45). Additionally, interviews were conducted with administrators and student support personnel from the 24 schools in the district with the highest suspension rates and 24 demographically matched schools with significantly lower suspension rates. The majority of these schools served a high percentage of children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Although the correlational analyses indicated that student demographic variables (e.g., percentage of White students, percentage of Black students, percentage of students receiving free or reduced price lunch) were strongly related to a school's suspension rate, the school comparisons showed that not all schools serving a high percentage of children placed at risk have high suspension rates. Implications of the findings for school discipline reform are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Preparing Teachers’ to Raise Students’ Mathematics Learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the ORIGO Stepping Stones program in a large suburban school district in the Midwestern U.S.. The sample included 11 elementary schools that implemented the program during the 2013–2016 school years. Findings are presented from teacher surveys, classroom observations, and analysis of standardized student mathematics achievement scores on the Northwest Evaluation Association Measurement of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP). Using multilevel models, the program did not demonstrate a detectably larger effect on mathematics achievement than the comparison. Classroom observations and views of teachers that support program implementation were explored. In terms of fidelity of implementation, findings suggested that the program was delivered differently from how it was intended. With respect to researchers and policymakers, the approach used to evaluating mathematics program effectiveness is informative and could be used as part of larger accountability systems.     

Urban schools' teachers enacting project‐based science

What teaching practices foster inquiry and promote students to learn challenging subject matter in urban schools? Inquiry‐based instruction and successful inquiry learning and teaching in project‐based science (PBS) were described in previous studies (Brown & Campione, 1990 ; Crawford, 1999 ; Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx, Bass, & Fredricks, 1998 ; Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx, & Solloway, 1994 ; Minstrell & van Zee, 2000 ). In this article, we describe the characteristics of inquiry teaching practices that promote student learning in urban schools. Teaching is a major factor that affects both achievement of and attitude of students toward science (Tamir, 1998 ). Our involvement in reform in a large urban district includes the development of suitable learning materials and providing continuous and practiced‐based professional development (Fishman & Davis, in press; van Es, Reiser, Matese, & Gomez, 2002 ). Urban schools face particular challenges when enacting inquiry‐based teaching practices like those espoused in PBS. In this article, we describe two case studies of urban teachers whose students achieved high gains on pre‐ and posttests and who demonstrated a great deal of preparedness and commitment to their students. Teachers' attempts to help their students to perform well are described and analyzed. The teachers we discuss work in a school district that strives to bring about reform in mathematics and science through systemic reform. The Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS) collaborates with the Detroit Public Schools to bring about reform in middle‐school science. Through this collaboration, diverse populations of urban‐school students learn science through inquiry‐oriented projects and the use of various educational learning technologies. For inquiry‐based science to succeed in urban schools, teachers must play an important role in enacting the curriculum while addressing the unique needs of students. The aim of this article is to describe patterns of good science teaching in urban school. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 722–745, 2006     

Longitudinal disciplinary and achievement outcomes associated with school‐wide PBIS implementation level

Positive behavioral interventions and support (PBIS) is a multitiered framework for behavioral support that is being increasingly implemented in schools. Although research has linked PBIS to improved student outcomes, less research is longitudinal and considers both academic and behavioral outcomes. This study examined the relationships between changes in school‐wide (i.e., Tier I) PBIS implementation level and changes in disciplinary and achievement outcomes over a 2‐year period. Participants included 85 Ohio schools with data on PBIS implementation fidelity (from the tiered fidelity inventory, or TFI), out‐of‐school suspensions (OSSs), and statewide achievement tests for the 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 school years. Linear regressions were conducted to examine the degree to which changes in TFI Tier I scores predicted changes in OSS and achievement scores when controlling for school‐level demographic variables that also were related to the outcome variables. Changes in TFI Tier I scores was found to significantly predict changes in OSS per 100 students but not changes in achievement scores.     

Future aspirations of urban adolescents: a person‐in‐context model

Recognizing the importance future aspirations play in the developmental outcomes of adolescents, this study illuminates the role that individual and contextual factors play in the formation of future aspirations among urban youth. The data for this study were collected prior to the implementation of an intervention program at an urban high school. Focus groups, questionnaires, goal maps and a group identity collage were employed to solicit the perspectives of urban adolescents about their future aspirations and the influences on them. Using a grounded theory methodology, the authors classified the multiple sources of data into a theoretical model of urban adolescents’ future aspirations. Participants’ voices, which were used to construct the theoretical model, are also provided here to vivify the model. This ‘person‐in‐context’ model encompasses both individual/contextual resources and barriers to the future aspirations of urban youth. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

TEACHER BEHAVIORAL PRACTICES: RELATIONS TO STUDENT RISK BEHAVIORS,LEARNING BARRIERS,AND SCHOOL CLIMATE

Student behavioral problems pose a myriad of challenges for schools. In this study, we examine the relations among teacher and school‐level constructs (i.e., teacher collaboration, supervision/discipline, instructional management), and student‐related outcomes (i.e., high‐risk behaviors, barriers to learning, student social–behavioral climate). Teachers across 29 high schools, in a large urban school district serving primarily low‐income students, completed self‐report surveys. Multilevel regression was used to test both individual‐ and school‐level predictors of student outcomes. Findings suggest that teacher practices at the individual and school levels are linked to student high‐risk behaviors, barriers to student learning, and school climate. More specifically, findings indicate that better supervision/discipline and instructional management are associated with fewer high‐risk behaviors and barriers to learning. More instructional management is also linked to positive social–behavioral climate. Results from this study highlight the association between teacher practices and a range of student‐related problem behaviors, and suggest that system‐level interventions in the school may have positive effects.     

Professional development in inquiry‐based science for elementary teachers of diverse student groups

As part of a larger project aimed at promoting science and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students, this study has two objectives: (a) to describe teachers' initial beliefs and practices about inquiry‐based science and (b) to examine the impact of the professional development intervention (primarily through instructional units and teacher workshops) on teachers' beliefs and practices related to inquiry‐based science. The research involved 53 third‐ and fourth‐grade teachers at six elementary schools in a large urban school district. At the end of the school year, teachers reported enhanced knowledge of science content and stronger beliefs about the importance of science instruction with diverse student groups, although their actual practices did not change significantly. Based on the results of this first year of implementation as part of a 3‐year longitudinal design, implications for professional development and further research are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 1021–1043, 2004     

Book review of We Can't Teach What We Don't Know: White Teachers,Multicultural Schools,by Gary R. Howard

This case study describes how an urban school system evolved to support an externally developed and externally introduced whole-school reform (WSR) effort. Based on interview data with school district staff and external partners, it analyzes a central office reorganization that placed all schools implementing a combination of Direct Instruction (DI) and Core Knowledge (CK) reforms into one administrative area under a single area executive officer (instead of within their geographic administrative areas). It addresses how the creation of a DI Area grouping all DI/CK schools together facilitated the continued implementation of the reform models, as well as problems perceived with the new central office arrangement. Although limited by reliance on qualitative school-level data from the early years of the reform's implementation, this study's conclusions contribute to the small but growing research literature on the role of school systems-and, in particular, central office administrators-in creating supportive structures for WSR to achieve the best possible student achievement results.     

Comprehensive School Reform in Middle Schools: The Effects of Different Ways of Knowing on Student Achievement in a Large Urban District

Comprehensive school reform (CSR), a federally funded program, is designed to raise student achievement via the implementation of whole school reforms. Unfortunately, although close to 400 CSR models have been adopted by schools nationally, there is relatively limited empirical evidence from rigorous research studies regarding the effectiveness of CSR in general or of specific models in particular. Of additional importance is the extent to which CSR models can demonstrate positive effects over time. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects on student achievement and attendance, in an urban school district in Kentucky, of the Year 3 implementation of the Different Ways of Knowing (DWoK) for the Middle Grades model. Results indicated that achievement results on both the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills and Kentucky Core Content Test were significantly superior for the DWoK schools relative to matched control schools; no positive impacts on student attendance occurred for Year 3. The implications of the study lies in revealing that learner-centered CSR models that integrate the arts with the core curriculum can produce observable achievement gains in both normed- and criterion-referenced tests.     

Design Considerations for Conducting Large‐Scale Learning Research Using Innovative Technologies in Schools

Since the advent of computers, scientists who study how people learn have been utilizing technology to uncover the cognitive and neural mechanisms of learning. Recent technological advances have allowed learning scientists to move their research out of the lab and into the wild, to investigate how students learn in real‐world environments. However, the move from the lab to the classroom involves a significant shift in strategy, requiring consideration of factors varying from the design of mobile (vs. lab‐based) technology to the recruitment of participants, as well as the contextual variables to account for in the less‐controlled environment of schools. Here I discuss the learnings our group has gleaned from a research program involving over a thousand elementary and middle school students in a longitudinal, multi‐year design that involves technologies for assessment and improving learning in schools.     

Powerful Learning Environments: The Critical Link Between School and Classroom Cultures

Schools serving large populations of students placed at risk have been the focus of reform for over a decade, with the assumption that school reform leads to classroom reform, resulting in improved student achievement. Student achievement data at the school level are typically used to judge the effectiveness of the reform. This practice assumes uniformity of implementation within the school. This study of classrooms within 4 Accelerated Schools Project (ASP) schools operationalizes the ASP principles, values, and concepts of powerful learning at the classroom level. Together, they form what is called a powerful learning environment (PLE). In addition, the study examines the extent to which PLE is implemented similarly in different classrooms and different schools, and analyzes the relation between degree of implementation and differences in student achievement. Data collection involved structured observations in 40 classrooms during English and language arts or mathematics instruction. Analysis of data indicates that more variation in implementation of PLE occurred within schools than between schools. The study also finds a correlation between degree of implementation and higher student achievement.     

The Goals of a Voluntary Integration Program and the Problems of Access: A Closer Look at a Magnet School Application Brochure

The article incorporates a critical theoretical and methodological framework to study a large urban district's implementation of a court-ordered voluntary integration program through magnet school choice. Drawing on the interview data from parents and district staff, the author analyzes the data as they relate to the district's magnet school application brochure, Opportunities for Success, and how the application is designed to support the voluntary integration program. The article first presents a short historical grounding for the district's voluntary integration program and how it influences the choice options for parents. Next, it discusses how the district implemented and organized the voluntary integration program and produced the magnet school application text. It then introduces data on parents' interactions with the magnet school brochure and application. The article concludes with a discussion of what can be learned from studying the texts of a voluntary integration program, what it tells us about racial and class privilege and diverse families' access to magnet school programs, and how text analysis can help us see where, in the institutional processes of school choice, further resegregation is likely to take place.     

Achievement and Climate Outcomes for the Knowledge is Power Program in an Inner-City Middle School

This study was designed to examine the effects of a whole school reform, the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), specifically designed to raise academic achievement of at-risk urban middle school students by establishing an extended school day and year, a rigorous curriculum, after-school access to teachers, and increased family-school connections. In our mixed-methods design, qualitative (interview and observation) and quantitative (survey and achievement test) measures are employed to determine first-year program implementation and student outcomes for the KIPP:DIAMOND (Daring Individual Achievers Making Outstanding New Dreams) Academy (KIPP:DA), an inner-city school in a large, high-poverty urban district. For the achievement analyses, 49 KIPP:DA students were individually matched to highly comparable control students of the same ethnicity, socioeconmic status, gender, and ability, who attended different district schools in the same neighborhood. Statistically significant and educationally meaningful advantages for KIPP:DA students were found on 4 out of 6 standardized tests. The achievement results are interpreted in relation to the key program elements, the positive school climate established, and the quality of the 1st-year implementation.