Abstract
During the transition from the elementary to middle grades, young adolescents may become increasingly vulnerable for emotional and behavioral problems. Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams for middle level school (CW-FIT MS), the independent variable examined in this study, was developed to improve teaching and learning by fostering student engagement. The study’s purpose was to examine the feasibility and effects of CW-FIT MS Tier 1 implementation in nine middle level school classes using a single-subject ABAB withdrawal design. Participants were 234 students in grades 6–8, including 23 identified as at risk for emotional behavioral disorders. Results of CW-FIT MS Tier 1 implementation showed significant improvement in on-task behavior for groups as well as individual target students, increased teacher praise-to-reprimand ratios, and decreased target student disruptions. Outcomes of social validity surveys were consistent with earlier studies. Study findings extend previous results by demonstrating positive intervention effects in novel settings with a greater number of participants. Study limitations and areas for future research are discussed.
Highlights
IntroductionDisruptive behavior poses a significant problem to middle grades teachers and students, placing such students at increased risk for reactive discipline practices such as reprimands and suspensions (Närhi, Kiiski, Peitso, & Hannu, 2015)
Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams for middle level school (CW-FIT MS), the independent variable examined in this study, was developed to improve teaching and learning by fostering student engagement
Results of this study suggested that implementation of CW-FIT was associated with improvements in student on-task behavior and teacher praise rates, especially when peer tutors were included in the intervention and when the timer was silent
Summary
Disruptive behavior poses a significant problem to middle grades teachers and students, placing such students at increased risk for reactive discipline practices such as reprimands and suspensions (Närhi, Kiiski, Peitso, & Hannu, 2015). Such reactive practices are potentially harmful to teaching and learning; in particular, harsh reprimands prove less effective than positive behavioral classroom management strategies (Reinke, Herman, & Stormont, 2013). Sinclair et al (1998) identified the following teacher actions to improve school-related outcomes: (a) create supportive and caring learning environments, (b) provide opportunities for students to succeed, and (c) help learners understand connections between school achievement and future life events. Reexamining the academics-behavior relationship in terms of the current emphasis on prevention in school-wide systems of support, Algozzine, Wang, and Violette (2011) advised practitioners to “[Teach] behavior as relentlessly as . . . reading or other academic content” (p. 13) to strengthen student performance
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