Classroom Staff Research Articles

Application of a comprehensive framework to investigate worker well-being among head start staff

The purpose of this study was to investigate sociodemographic factors associated with five domains of worker well-being as well as overall well-being based on a multilevel framework among a large sample of Head Start staff. The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety’s Worker Well-Being Questionnaire (WellBQ) was completed by 332 Head Start staff in Colorado. We ran linear regression models to investigate associations between demographics, each domain, and overall well-being score. The strongest correlations were between work evaluation and experience, and workplace policies and culture (r = .72, p < .01), between work policies and culture, and workplace physical environment and safety climate (r = .64, p < .01), and between work evaluation and experience, and workplace physical environment and safety climate (r = .58, p < .01). Non-White individuals reported higher satisfaction related to the environment and safety climate domain (p < .05) and the home, community, and society domain (p < .01) compared to White individuals. Support staff reported higher satisfaction related to the work evaluation and experience domain and workplace policies and culture domain compared to classroom staff (both p < .05). Staff in supervisor roles reported statistically significantly poorer health status compared to classroom staff (p < .05). These findings inform future application of the WellBQ to the ECE workforce including the development of multilevel well-being promotion interventions.

Developing a Program Model for School-Based Day Treatment for Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Difficulties

School-based day treatment is an intensive mental health service for children with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. Research on day treatment is scarce and descriptions of program models are lacking. We used stimulated recall interviews to explore the moment-to-moment processes and strategies of classroom staff in a day treatment program for children in kindergarten and Grade 1 in Canada. Several processes and strategies used by staff emerged from the thematic analysis of the interviews. These included a process of individualized intervention, characterized by a continual and cyclical process of attunement, responsiveness, assessment, and evaluation, using a team-based approach, noticing positives about children, a climate of positive relationships, staff regulating their own emotions, being flexible while also being firm and consistent, and seeing children from a developmental perspective. More specific strategies used by staff (e.g., token economy) also emerged from the interviews. Implications for future research and teacher training are discussed.

Special Education Teacher-Delivered Training for Paraeducators: A Systematic and Quality Review

Schools rely heavily on paraeducators to support the delivery of special education services for students with disabilities (SWDs). However, paraeducators often lack formal training in implementing evidence-based practices. Traditional methods of professional development are not effective at producing long-term changes in classroom staff. Prior research shows that paraeducators can implement skills with high fidelity when provided experiential training or coaching; however, most research has included researcher-as-trainer for paraeducators. Training delivered by special education teachers (SETs) may be a more sustainable training framework. We conducted a systematic and quality review of research on SET-delivered training to improve paraeducators’ implementation of skills for supporting SWDs. We identified 11 studies with moderate or high methodological rigor and found behavioral skills training was the most common method used by SETs to train paraeducators. Contextual variables including participant characteristics, target skills, and procedural fidelity were synthesized to provide a summary of strengths and gaps in the research.

Psychological support of the process of adaptation of pupils during the transition to the level of basic general education

The article deals with the problem of psychological support of 5 form pupils to the secondary school. The necessity of developing such adaptation components as psychological, educational, motivational and social through the implementation of the developed programme is shown. The results of a ascertaining experiment conducted on a sample of 90 fifthformers using the following diagnostic tools are presented – Beeman N. Phillips' School Anxiety Scale, the questionnaire “Studying school motivation of pupilsˮ by Natal’ya Luskanova, methodology for studying the motivation of teaching schoolchildren during the transition from primary to secondary by Margarita Luk’yanova and Natal’ya Kalinina, questionnaire for assessing the attractiveness of the classroom staff, expert assessments of teachers. The analysis of the data showed that some of the children of younger adolescence have a high level of school anxiety, a negative attitude to school, positional and marking motives of teaching, the pedagogic staff is not interesting and attractive for them, they systematically violate the rules of school life, showing some unsociability, which indicated the expediency of developing and implementing a programme for psychological support of pupils during the transition to a new stage of school education. There were 25 group classes with pupils using role-playing games, psycho-gymnastic exercises, mini-lectures, discussions, situation analysis, art therapy, fairy-tale-therapy and relaxation techniques; a parent meeting and two pedagogic councils on creating conditions for successful adaptation of fifthformers. The control experiment, as well as the use of mathematical statistics methods, showed the effectiveness of the work done – the presence of changes in all components of adaptation, in particular, the number of children with higher indicators of educational motivation, communication skills, positive attitude to school, the normative level of school anxiety increased.

Breakfast club lessons: staff perspectives on a yearlong collaborative teletherapy initiative during COVID-19

Due to social distancing mandates during COVID-19 pandemic, school-based staff no longer shared physical spaces, necessitating resilience and resourcefulness in recruitment of unique models to engage school community (Baker et al., 2021; Brown, 2021). In a northeastern public elementary school, related service and classroom staff sustained engagement remotely through a novel yearlong interprofessional initiative known as “Breakfast Club.” Objective of this research was to explore, via phenomenological approach, lived experiences of three educators and two therapists who participated in the yearlong interprofessional initiative. Upon qualitative thematic analysis, five themes emerged: (1) Technological Literacy (2) Consistency (3) Role-Blurring (4) Social-Emotional Benefits (5) Challenges/Advantages of Scheduling. Findings of this study support an intentional approach to sustained tele-therapeutic interprofessional efforts for school-based educational teams.

Collecting genetic samples and linked mental health data from adolescents in schools: protocol coproduction and a mixed-methods pilot of feasibility and acceptability

ObjectivesTo coproduce a school-based protocol and examine acceptability and feasibility of collecting saliva samples for genetic studies from secondary/high school students for the purpose of mental health research.DesignProtocol coproduction and...

Distance Delivery of Function-Based Skill Training for Providers in Rural Settings

Children with diagnosed disabilities, teachers and classroom staff, and families living in rural areas have difficulty accessing any and all behavioral services, including parent training, due to a lack of providers, distance to clinics, cost of transportation, low income and/or inadequate health insurance, and confidentiality concerns from living in small communities. In this study, Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) was used to train early childhood professionals on how to implement Prevent–Teach–Reinforce for Young Children, which is a step-by-step manualized approach to the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior that reflects a commitment to evidence-based practice. Results of the pilot study, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Quantitative Analysis of Classroom Communication Environments for Learners With Deaf blindness

Classroom environments were analyzed to better understand adult language modeling rates and whether teacher certification practices contributed to differences with learners with deafblindness (DB). Student characteristics were also examined in relation to communication rates. When there is a dual sensory loss, access to tactile and visual communication forms (i.e., multimodal) in addition to verbal communication is needed. Data were collected from 15 teacher–student dyads from four states through behavioral coding of videotaped language samples, teacher surveys, and the Communication Matrix assessment. Overall, teachers used verbal communication significantly more than additional classroom staff. Teachers in a state that required a severe/profound certification had significantly higher rates of overall communication and visual communication, and they had students with higher communication levels.

Adapting Active Support Interactive Training to a special school context to upskill classroom staff and increase engagement in pupils

Research indicates that engagement acts as an important precursor for learning, yet sustaining the engagement of pupils with special educational needs can be a challenge for classroom staff. An Active Support staff training package, Interactive Training, has been demonstrated as an effective way of increasing engagement in adults accessing learning disability services. In theory the logic of Active Support Interactive Training could extend to a school environment, with the aim of achieving similar outcomes. The current study evaluated a special school‐adapted version of Active Support Interactive Training with the aim of increasing engagement in pupils during group‐based learning. Findings showed an increase in engagement in pupils for all three settings (classrooms) immediately after intervention, which continued to either increase or stabilise at three‐month follow‐up. Further research could test the engagement behaviour of staff pre‐ and post‐ training intervention and explore practice leadership within the school leadership team to address maintenance.

A novel approach for evaluating contact patterns and risk mitigation strategies for COVID-19 in English primary schools with application of structured expert judgement.

Personal contacts drive COVID-19 infections. After being closed (23 March 2020) UK primary schools partially re-opened on 1 June 2020 with social distancing and new risk mitigation strategies. We conducted a structured expert elicitation of teachers to quantify primary school contact patterns and how contact rates changed upon re-opening with risk mitigation measures in place. These rates, with uncertainties, were determined using a performance-based algorithm. We report mean number of contacts per day for four cohorts within schools, with associated 90% confidence ranges. Prior to lockdown, younger children (Reception and Year 1) made 15 contacts per day [range 8.35] within school, older children (Year 6) 18 contacts [range 5.55], teaching staff 25 contacts [range 4.55] and non-classroom staff 11 contacts [range 2.27]. After re-opening, the mean number of contacts was reduced by 53% for young children, 62% for older children, 60% for classroom staff and 64% for other staff. Contacts between teaching and non-teaching staff reduced by 80%. The distributions of contacts per person are asymmetric with heavy tail reflecting a few individuals with high contact numbers. Questions on risk mitigation and supplementary structured interviews elucidated how new measures reduced daily contacts in-school and contribute to infection risk reduction.

The impact of an online stress intervention on burnout and teacher efficacy

The following study examines the impact of an online stress intervention on teacher burnout and teacher efficacy. Using a group experimental design, researchers tested the preliminary efficacy of the intervention: an online professional development program created for teachers that instructs coping strategies and promotes social-emotional competencies. Fifty-one teachers and classroom staff were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. After four weeks, participation in the program was associated with increases in coping practices, teacher efficacy, and personal accomplishment as well as decreases in emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Implications for research and professional development are discussed.

Using behavioural skills training via telehealth to increase teachers use of communication interventions and increase student use of speech-generating devices in a high school functional skills classroom.

Behavioural skills training (BST) has demonstrated effectiveness in training teachers in evidence-based interventions to increase communication for children with limited repertoires. However, research has yet to extend to youth with developmental disabilities who are learning to communicate using speech-generating devices. The emergent use of telehealth technology in applied behaviour analysis has been associated with greater access to therapeutic services. Although the use of telehealth has been extended as an avenue for parents to access behavioural intervention services for their child, fewer studies have evaluated the use of telehealth for teacher behavioural consultation or with adolescents and young adults with complex communication needs. In the present study, four teaching staff were trained via telehealth to implement communication facilitation strategies with augmentative and alterative communication users in a high school functional skills classroom. During the coaching sessions, the staff were provided BST on the basic behaviour analytic teaching strategies (e.g. assessing preference, environmental arrangement, and reinforcement strategies). Independent adapted ABAB designs were used to evaluate the effectiveness of modified BST delivered via telehealth on increased teaching staff-implemented communication opportunities within the functional skills classroom and the effectiveness of staff-implemented communication intervention on increased speech-generating device mands for four adolescents/young adults with developmental disabilities. The results indicated that the improved staff fidelity of the communication interventions was associated with the increased level of independent student mands for each dyad. Lastly, social validity data suggest that the procedures were acceptable and feasible. These data indicate that the use of telehealth may be a viable model for specialised classroom consultation. The use of a telehealth delivery model to train classroom staff may be a viable option when specialised support is necessary, but access is limited.

Partners in play: Exploring ‘playing with’ children living with severe physical and intellectual disabilities

Introduction Play occupation is central to children’s occupational lives and play is established as a fundamental right. While children with disabilities are at increased risk of play deprivation, few studies have explored the play occupation of children living with severe physical and intellectual disabilities. Method Informed by an ethnographic approach, this qualitative study involved 17 participants including five families of children with severe disabilities and six classroom staff. Methods combined observations of children’s play with adult interviews and focus groups to explore factors that influence play in home and school contexts. Findings were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings Three themes emerged: (a) play as an occupation, play as an activity; (b) an empowered and empowering play partner; (c) the ‘just-right’ play object and environment. Conclusion The influence of an empowering and empowered play partner combined with the suitability of the object and environment was central to successful play. A commitment to play for fun, for the wellbeing of these children, and by ‘playing with’ and not ‘doing-to’ the child was fundamental. Although the findings are specific to this study, play facilitators may use them to inform future play interactions through an enhanced understanding of empowerment and enablement for successful play occupation.

Strengthening capacity for implementation of evidence-based practices for autism in schools: The roles of implementation climate, school leadership, and fidelity.

Understanding the factors that influence the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in schools is critical to the selection of effective implementation strategies to support their sustained use. The current study has 2 aims: (a) evaluate the association between school leadership profiles (undifferentiated and optimal) and fidelity of EBP implementation and (b) examine the role of implementation climate as a mediator in this association. Participants included 56 principals, 90 special education teachers, and 133 classroom staff from 66 elementary schools. Participants completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and Implementation Climate Scale. Teachers and staff reported on intensity (frequency) of EBP delivery, and the research team rated the accuracy (adherence) to the components of the EBP. Schools were required to implement at least 1 of 3 EBPs for ASD (discrete trial training, pivotal response training, or visual supports). Using structural equation modeling, we found that schools with optimal leadership had higher observed ratings of teacher and staff fidelity for pivotal response training accuracy (p < .05), but not for discrete trial training or visual supports. However, this association became nonsignificant with the introduction of implementation climate into the models. Optimal leadership profiles were linked to more positive teacher/staff-reported implementation climate, compared with undifferentiated profiles (p < .01), but found no association between implementation climate and fidelity. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the role of principal leadership in EBP implementation is complex, which has implications for fostering a conducive organizational implementation context in schools. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of staffing and classroom characteristics on preschool teachers' use of one-to-one intervention with children with autism.

For preschool children with autism, individual (one-to-one) behavioral interventions are among the best-tested treatments. However, they are rarely used in special education preschools. We observed formally and informally delivered one-to-one behavioral interventions use by classroom staff (n = 51) in 12 classrooms across three special education preschools for children with autism, aged 3-6 years, in a major US city. We estimated the associations between one-to-one intervention use and classroom characteristics including staff-student ratio, professional role composition, and frequency of challenging child behaviors. As a whole, the factors we examined were considerably important for both formally and informally delivered one-to-one interventions. The number of individually assigned personal care aides in the classroom was negatively associated with the use of formally delivered one-to-one intervention. Classroom challenging behavior was positively associated with use of formally delivered one-to-one interventions. Interventionist's professional roles and the number of children in the class were most important for the use of informally delivered interventions. Staff training, clarifying professional roles, setting performance expectations for personal care aides and other classroom team members, and reducing class size may represent promising implementation targets. Findings suggest caution around task-shifting policies that transfer clinical functions from more highly trained to less highly trained staff.

Culturally Focused Classroom Staff Training to Increase Praise for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder in Ghana

This study examined the impact of culturally focused classroom staff training on delivery of praise and its collateral effects on student on-task behavior. Training involved self-monitoring and performance feedback to promote staff delivery of culturally adapted praise to students. Four classroom staff and four students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Ghana participated in the study. The outcomes of the study were evaluated using a concurrent multiple baseline across participants (dyads) design with an ABC sequence. Results indicated that staff training using self-monitoring and performance feedback procedures successfully increased staff delivery of behavior-specific praise, but the procedures did not produce desired student outcomes. Culturally relevant adaptations to the topography of praise and implementation support were necessary to improve on-task behavior. This experiment provides an impetus for further examination of how common behavior-analytic training procedures can be culturally adapted for children with ASD in non-Western contexts.

Enhancing Classroom-Based Communication Instruction for Students with Signifificant Disabilities and Limited Language

Many students with significant disabilities have complex communication needs and are not yet able to express themselves using speech, sign language, or other symbolic forms. These students rely on nonsymbolic forms of communication like facial expressions, body movements, and vocalizations. They benefit from responsive partners who interpret and honour these forms and teach symbolic alternatives. The purpose of this article is to describe ways in which classroom teachers and other classroom staff can be responsive partners using three targeted teaching practices: (a) attributing meaning and honouring early communication behaviours, (b) giving students personal access to aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems with a core vocabulary, and (c) using aided language input strategies to show students what is possible and how to use graphic symbols on aided AAC systems. These teaching practices are discussed using scenarios to illustrate how each can be integrated into typical academic and non-academic classroom activities.

Individual and organizational factors that affect implementation of evidence-based practices for children with autism in public schools: a cross-sectional observational study

BackgroundChildren with autism receive most of their intervention services in public schools, but implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for autism varies. Studies suggest that individual (attitudes) and organizational characteristics (implementation leadership and climate) may influence providers’ use of EBPs, but research is relatively limited in this area. This study examined individual and organizational factors associated with implementation of three EBPs—discrete trial training, pivotal response training, and visual schedules—for children with autism in special education classrooms in public elementary schools.MethodsParticipants included 67 autism support teachers and 85 other classroom staff from 52 public elementary schools in the northeastern United States. Participants reported their attitudes toward EBPs (e.g., intuitive appeal, willingness if required, openness, and divergence), implementation leadership and climate of their school, and the frequency with which they deliver each of three EBPs. Linear regression was used to estimate the association of attitudes about EBPs with organizational characteristics and intensity of EBP use. Demographic covariates with a bivariate association with EBP use significant at p < .20 were entered into the adjusted models.ResultsThere were significant findings for only one EBP, discrete trial training. Teachers who reported higher perceived divergence (perceived difference of usual practice with academically developed or research-based practices) between EBPs and current practices used less discrete trial training (f2 = .18), and teachers who reported higher appeal (willingness to adopt EBPs given their intuitive appeal) of EBPs used more discrete trial training (f2 = .22). No organizational factors were significantly associated with implementation with any of the three EBPs.ConclusionsAttitudes toward EBPs may affect teachers’ decisions to use EBPs; however, implementation leadership and climate did not predict EBP use. Future implementation efforts ought to consider the type of EBP and its fit within the context in terms of the EBP’s similarities to and differences from existing practices and programs in the setting. Implementation strategies that target individual attitudes about EBPs may be warranted in public schools.

Improving Classroom Appearance and Organization Through a Supervisory Performance Improvement Intervention.

This study evaluated the effects of a supervisory intervention on maintenance of appearance and organization in classrooms at a human services program for children and youths. The intervention combined performance feedback to classroom staff, public posting of performance outcomes, and eligibility for a performance-based incentive. Conducted in a multiple-baseline design, intervention was immediately and consistently effective in all classrooms. These findings support organizational behavior management applications within human services programs to improve performance that is related to environmental care.

The role of technology-mediated music-making in enhancing engagement and social communication in children with autism and intellectual disabilities

Very little research has explored the impact of interventions combining music and technology on children with a dual diagnosis of autism and intellectual disabilities (ID) incorporating the active involvement of school staff. Video recordings and group interviews were used to collect data in this study. Video recordings of five children with autism and ID were conducted as they engaged with a technology-mediated music-making intervention over a period of 5 weeks. Additionally, five group interviews with classroom staff were carried out. This study is the first to explore the impact of a technology-mediated music-making intervention on the engagement levels and social communication skills of children with autism and ID at school. Some positive outcomes, especially regarding social communication skills, are reported, which are of significant value to educational researchers and school staff.