The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Program: Outcomes from a Group Randomized Trial

This group randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the efficacy of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Program (IY TCM) on student social behavioral and academic outcomes among a large diverse sample of students within an urban context. Participants included 105 teachers and 1817 students in kindergarten to third grade. Three-level hierarchical linear models (HLM) were conducted to examine the overall treatment effects on teacher-reported student behavior and academic outcomes. In addition, multi-level moderation analyses were conducted to examine whether the treatment effects on student outcomes differed by demographic variables and pretest measures of social emotional and disruptive behavior and academics. Findings indicate that IY TCM reduced student emotional dysregulation (d = − 0.14) and increased prosocial behavior (d = 0.13) and social competence (d = 0.13). In addition, students initially lower on measures of social and academic competence demonstrated significant improvements on the same measure at outcome in comparison to similar peers in control classrooms. Practical significance of the findings and implications for schools and policy makers are discussed.

[1]  Wei Wang,et al.  Effects of a universal classroom behavior management program in first and second grades on young adult behavioral, psychiatric, and social outcomes. , 2008, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[2]  Lauren H. Supplee,et al.  Introduction to the Special Issue: Subgroup Analysis in Prevention and Intervention Research , 2013, Prevention Science.

[3]  George Sugai,et al.  Evidence-based Practices in Classroom Management: Considerations for Research to Practice , 2008 .

[4]  C. Webster-Stratton.  The Incredible Years: A Training Series for the Prevention and Treatment of Conduct Problems in Young Children. , 2005 .

[5]  K. Herman,et al.  The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Training: The Methods and Principles That Support Fidelity of Training Delivery , 2011 .

[6]  D. Rubin.  Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys , 1989 .

[7]  D. Daley,et al.  Early results from developing and researching the Webster- Stratton Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Training Programme in North West Wales , 2007 .

[8]  P. Leaf,et al.  Utility of TOCA-R scores during the elementary school years in identifying later violence among adolescent males. , 2004, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[9]  F. Gresham,et al.  Behaviorally Effective School Environments. , 2002 .

[10]  Melissa Stormont,et al.  Using Coaching to Support Teacher Implementation of Classroom-based Interventions , 2014 .

[11]  Robert F. Boruch,et al.  Standards of Evidence: Criteria for Efficacy, Effectiveness and Dissemination , 2005, Prevention Science.

[12]  David Daley,et al.  A randomized controlled trial of the impact of a teacher classroom management program on the classroom behavior of children with and without behavior problems. , 2013, Journal of school psychology.

[13]  Catherine P. Bradshaw,et al.  Examining the Effects of Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on Student Outcomes , 2010 .

[14]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[15]  Evangelos Kontopantelis,et al.  Outcome-sensitive multiple imputation: a simulation study , 2017, BMC Medical Research Methodology.

[16]  Mark W. Lipsey,et al.  Translating the Statistical Representation of the Effects of Education Interventions Into More Readily Interpretable Forms , 2012 .

[17]  M. Stoolmiller,et al.  Preventing conduct problems and improving school readiness: evaluation of the Incredible Years Teacher and Child Training Programs in high-risk schools. , 2008, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[18]  D. Mackinnon,et al.  Multilevel Modeling of Individual and Group Level Mediated Effects , 2001, Multivariate behavioral research.

[19]  Catherine P. Bradshaw,et al.  Examining Variation in the Impact of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Effectiveness Trial. , 2014 .

[20]  Carolyn Webster-Stratton,et al.  Treating Children With Early-Onset Conduct Problems: Intervention Outcomes for Parent, Child, and Teacher Training , 2004, Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53.

[21]  Carolyn Webster-Stratton,et al.  Strengthening Social and Emotional Competence in Young Children—The Foundation for Early School Readiness and Success: Incredible Years Classroom Social Skills and Problem‐Solving Curriculum , 2004 .

[22]  Allison B. Dymnicki,et al.  The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. , 2011, Child development.

[23]  Jeanne M. Poduska,et al.  The Distal Impact of Two First-Grade Preventive Interventions on Conduct Problems and Disorder in Early Adolescence , 2001 .

[24]  Jeanne M. Poduska,et al.  Modeling growth in boys' aggressive behavior across elementary school: links to later criminal involvement, conduct disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. , 2003, Developmental psychology.

[25]  C. Brown,et al.  The effect of the level of aggression in the first grade classroom on the course and malleability of aggressive behavior into middle school , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[26]  K. Herman,et al.  Creating school environments that deter antisocial behaviors in youth , 2002 .

[27]  M. Lipsey,et al.  Performance Trajectories and Performance Gaps as Achievement Effect-Size Benchmarks for Educational Interventions , 2008 .

[28]  Catherine P. Bradshaw,et al.  Effects of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on Child Behavior Problems , 2012, Pediatrics.

[29]  Peter Z. Schochet,et al.  Understanding Variation in Treatment Effects in Education Impact Evaluations: An Overview of Quantitative Methods , 2014 .

[30]  Catherine P. Bradshaw,et al.  Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation—Checklist: Development and Factor Structure , 2009 .

[31]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  Data analysis in social psychology. , 1998 .

[32]  Timothy W. Curby,et al.  Do emotional support and classroom organization earlier in the year set the stage for higher quality instruction? , 2013, Journal of school psychology.

[33]  H. Walter,et al.  Teachers' beliefs about mental health needs in inner city elementary schools. , 2006, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[34]  Andrew A. Mroch,et al.  Prevalence and Patterns of Academic Enabling Behaviors: An Analysis of Teachers' and Students' Ratings for a National Sample of Students , 2004 .

[35]  A. Bandura.  Social learning theory , 1977 .

[36]  W. Reinke,et al.  The Classroom Check-Up: A Classwide Teacher Consultation Model for Increasing Praise and Decreasing Disruptive Behavior , 2008, School psychology review.

[37]  B. Zimmerman.  Developing self-fulfilling cycles of academic regulation: An analysis of exemplary instructional models. , 1998 .

[38]  J L Schafer,et al.  Multiple Imputation for Multivariate Missing-Data Problems: A Data Analyst's Perspective. , 1998, Multivariate behavioral research.

[39]  Vern Jones,et al.  Comprehensive Classroom Management: Creating Communities of Support and Solving Problems , 1997 .

[40]  J. Carlson,et al.  The Influence of Group Training in the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Program on Preschool Teachers’ Classroom Management Strategies , 2011 .

[41]  A. Crijnen,et al.  Understanding Mechanisms of Change in the Development of Antisocial Behavior: The Impact of a Universal Intervention , 2005, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[42]  N. Duan,et al.  Quality of publicly-funded outpatient specialty mental health care for common childhood psychiatric disorders in California. , 2005, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[43]  T. Boat,et al.  Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities , 2009 .

[44]  Elizabeth Ramsey,et al.  Antisocial Behavior in School: Strategies and Best Practices , 1994 .

[45]  Barbara J. Wendling,et al.  Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. , 2009 .

[46]  M. Conroy,et al.  Preventing and ameliorating young children's chronic problem behaviors: An ecological classroom‐based approach , 2009 .

[47]  S. Morgan,et al.  Book Review: The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement: Third Edition , 2004 .

[48]  C. Webster-Stratton,et al.  The incredible years teacher classroom management program: Using coaching to support generalization to real‐world classroom settings , 2012 .

[49]  M. Reid,et al.  Preventing Conduct Problems, Promoting Social Competence: A Parent and Teacher Training Partnership in Head Start , 2001, Journal of clinical child psychology.

[50]  J. Anthony,et al.  Developmental epidemiologically based preventive trials: Baseline modeling of early target behaviors and depressive symptoms , 1991, American journal of community psychology.

[51]  K. Herman,et al.  Teachers’ Characteristics and Ratings for Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions , 2011 .

[52]  Catherine P. Bradshaw,et al.  Examining the validity of office discipline referrals as an indicator of student behavior problems , 2011 .

[53]  K. Herman,et al.  Classroom-Level Positive Behavior Supports in Schools Implementing SW-PBIS , 2013 .

[54]  D. Henry,et al.  Methodological Challenges Examining Subgroup Differences: Examples from Universal School-based Youth Violence Prevention Trials , 2011, Prevention Science.

[55]  K. Herman,et al.  Supporting Children's Mental Health in Schools: Teacher Perceptions of Needs, Roles, and Barriers. , 2011 .

[56]  M. Roper.  How to Promote Children's Social and Emotional Competence , 2004, Journal of child and adolescent mental health.

[57]  K. Herman,et al.  Illustrating the Multiple Facets and Levels of Fidelity of Implementation to a Teacher Classroom Management Intervention , 2013, Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.

[58]  Mark W. Lipsey,et al.  Empirical Benchmarks for Interpreting Effect Sizes in Research , 2008 .