Student Research 2009-B

2009 Research Grant Results

Name: Benjamin Solomon

Title: A  Multi-­level  Investigation  of  Teacher  Instructional  Practices  and  the   Use  of  the  Responsive  Classroom  Curriculum 

Research Proposal: The emergence of school-based behaviorally orientated prevention programs have caused a reaction from the research and practicing community to establish quality indicators to determine if practices are actually effective. Several organizations have offered comprehensive rubrics to evaluate the quality of prevention programming. The Wing Institute (2010), in their Road Map for Evidence-Based Practice, stated that different standards exist for programs to be deemed to have efficacy, be deemed effective, or ready for implementation. The study proposes to test whether the professional development sequence for teachers, Responsive Classroom (RC), as used in a typical setting, is effective in increasing student achievement over the course of one academic year. RC is a research-based approach that offers practical strategies for bringing together social and academic learning derived from and consistent with the goals of Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS).

Hypothesis or Questions:

  1. How does initial investment in classroom organization play out as a cost-benefit analysis across the school year?
    • Is Response Classroom cost effective?
  2. Is the RC method a unique and effective tool for behavioral prevention and social/emotional growth?
    • How do we know if a prevention program works?
    • How much evidence is required before a program should be disseminated?
  3. Will the effects of RC generalize across behavioral constructs not previously measured, including direct observation of teacher instruction practices?
    • Will the study replicate results of other studies across academic and social domains controlling for nesting effects of students within classrooms and using multiple instruments?
  4. What contextual variables moderate the effects of RC?
    • For what populations?
    • How do variables such as SES effect the effectiveness of the program?
  5. Can instructional behavior of the teacher be observed and quantified in a reliable and valid manner and used to answer the above questions?
    • How does RC change teacher behavior?

View the Results