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Behavior intervention plans (BIPs) are intended to help educators systematically support students with behavioral problems at school. Previous research confirms that the effectiveness of a BIP depends on the degree to which the plan is technically adequate and implemented with integrity. What remains unclear from the literature is how professional experience and environmental variables impact technical adequacy, treatment integrity, and student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore these relationships using data collected from a survey of members' experiences with the BIP implementation team. The researchers collected BIPs from local school districts and then surveyed members of the implementation team regarding their professional qualifications, training, involvement in the BIP development process, treatment integrity, and perceived impact on student outcomes. Results from two multiple regression models predicting treatment integrity and student outcomes suggest that practitioners' perceptions of BIP quality significantly predicted treatment integrity. Additionally, training, BIP quality, and treatment integrity significantly predicted student outcomes. These findings suggest that practitioners' perceptions of BIP quality may play an important role in predicting treatment integrity but improving student outcomes requires technical adequacy and targeted professional development.

A safe, supportive school climate is critical for school effectiveness. Unfortunately, the research linking a positive school climate to critical student outcomes includes few systematic reviews of the school climate literature and no reviews focused on the effects of interventions to improve school climate. This review examined the methodological quality and findings from 18 experimental studies evaluating the effects of schoolwide interventions on teacher and student perceptions of school climate. Each study was rated in terms of quality of the methods and magnitude of effects on school climate. Results indicated that only three of the 25 articles were considered methodologically sound. Effect sizes estimating the differences in teacher perceptions of school climate ranged from -0.29 to 1.69, while those concerning differences in student perceptions ranged from 0.03 to 1.93. Studies examining the effects of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) and social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions were the most methodologically sound and associated with the highest effect sizes.

This study examined gender differences in the psychometric properties of the Student Risk Screening Scale for Internalizing and Externalizing behaviors (SRSS-IE) using item response theory methods among a sample of 2,122 middle school students. The SRSS-IE is a screening instrument used to identify students who are potentially at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Differential item functioning and differential step functioning methods were used to examine differences in item and response option functioning according to student gender variables. Additionally, test information functions (TIFs) were used to indicate if current recommendations for moderate EBD risk and high EBD risk cut scores differ by gender. Results of this study indicated two items on the SRSS-IE systematically favored males over females, and one item systematically favored females over males. Additionally, examination of TIFs demonstrated differing degrees of measurement precision at various levels of theta for males and females on both the externalizing and internalizing constructs. Implications of these results are discussed relative to the SRSS-IE items, cut scores, and scale scoring procedures.

Retention of current school psychologists is a vital strategy for addressing shortages in the field. Understanding what contributes to why school psychologists stay in the field has the potential to influence leaders and administrators to ensure that they are targeting what matters most to school psychologists. Survey results from 134 school psychologists indicated that they stay in the field because they enjoy working with children and believe their work makes a difference. These generally satisfied school psychologists also shared that they work with teams that facilitate effective and creative problem solving and were acknowledged for their contributions. For the few school psychologists who expressed dissatisfaction, their responses communicated a lack of professional self-efficacy: their opinions were not valued, they did not believe they were effective in their roles, administrators did not value their contributions, and they did not believe they could make a difference for students. Implications for practice highlight the need for district and building administrators to ensure that school psychologists have manageable caseloads that allow them to work directly with children and to be a part of teams that solve problems.

The authors compared data from a social-emotional-behavior screener (i.e., the "Student Risk Screening Scale--Internalizing and Externalizing" [SRSS-IE]) with data from a high school early warning system. Data from 2,256 suburban high school students were used. Research questions examined the degree to which student demographic variables and early warning indicators predicted SRSS-IE outcomes; conversely, SRSS-IE ratings were used to predict future early warning system outcomes. Additionally, the authors examined the concurrence of screening data and early warning data to better understand students' behavioral challenges. Results indicated while there is some concurrence between behavior screening and early warning data, agreement was greater for externalizing than internalizing behavior challenges. School teams using both data sources can increase the possibility that interventions and supports are more likely to match individual student needs.

Many state education agencies provide supports for local education agencies (LEAs) that are implementing tiered frameworks or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). With a 61% response rate to an online survey, 35 LEA-level systems coaches identified what state-level supports were helpful in facilitating MTSS implementation. Responses highlighted the importance of state coaches knowing the LEA's needs, which was most likely to occur when state coaches attended onsite meetings, met with district leaders, reviewed data, and actively problem solved with the LEA. Participants indicated that the monthly meetings led by the state coaches for the local implementers were difficult to attend and may not have been as helpful as hoped. The online modules which were intended to create foundational understanding, were not as beneficial as the annual conferences. Implications for practice include the importance of connecting coaching practices to the specific needs of the LEA and providing funding for professional development.

Using data from a national survey of school psychologists we investigated (a) the extent to which school psychologists supported students' social-emotional and behavioral well-being using data and evidence-based practices programming, (b) how facilitators and barriers impacted school psychologists' service delivery in these areas, and (c) how participants' demographic characteristics predicted facilitators to these practices. The survey was administered to randomly selected National Association of School Psychologists' members. One hundred ninety-nine full-time, school-based school psychologists (24% response rate) completed the survey. Results indicated more practitioners reported using data to design, implement, and evaluate evidence-based strategies for social--emotional and behavioral supports (M = 3.32, SD = 0.90) than reported using evidence-based strategies themselves in these same areas (M = 3.10, SD = 1.05). School psychologists who reported more facilitators were more likely to use data and engage in evidence-based practices related to social-emotional and behavioral supports for students. Results also indicated certain barriers impeded school psychologists' practices in these areas. Few demographic characteristics predicted the presence of facilitators or barriers. Findings from the current study extend the extant literature by providing empirical data on facilitators of and barriers to services related to school psychologists' use of data and evidence-based practices in these areas.

A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is a framework for organizing and integrating academic, social, and emotional supports within a school. Full implementation of MTSS establishes a continuum of readily-available supports matched to student needs. Federal education statute and state-education agencies (SEAs) have prioritized the scale-up of MTSS as a means of improving student performance and the quality of the school learning environment. Our prior research into SEA MTSS scale-up projects identified critical incidents, that helped or hindered the success of these projects in 27 states. The purpose of this paper is to reexamine our findings using the active implementation framework to identify the linkages between the an implementation framework developed based on implementation science and critical incidents in the scale-up of MTSS. We provide recommendations to educational leaders and researchers. In addition, we provide commentary on the utility the active implementation framework as it applies to state scale-up and consider areas for future research.

This study used item response theory (IRT) to derive sets of maximally efficient items (SMI) for a brief behavior rating scale (BBRS) from a common universal screening tool (i.e., the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener--Student Rating Scale [mySAEBRS]). We also evaluated the change sensitivity of these items for potential use in progress monitoring. Data from over 24,000 students (47% female; 40% White; 17% African American; 7% Hispanic) in Kindergarten through 12th grades were included in the first phase of analyses. A subsample of 774 students (43% female; 33% White; 3% African American; 0.5% Hispanic) was included in the change sensitivity analyses. Results suggested 3 items from each of the SAEBRS subscales (Social Behavior, Academic Behavior, and Emotional Behavior) could be considered maximally efficient and psychometrically informative. Additionally, change sensitivity analyses across the SMIs offered some evidence for the development of brief, 3-item standard BBRSs for use in progress monitoring students with social, academic, and emotional behavioral challenges. More research is needed to examine whether using BBRSs result in meaningful behavioral and social emotional change, particularly for specific demographic subgroups.

This study examined the item and category response option functioning of items on the "Student Risk Screening Scale for Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors" (SRSS-IE), using item response theory (IRT) methods with a sample of 2,122 middle school students. The SRSS-IE is a screening instrument used to identify students who are potentially at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Utilizing the nominal response and generalized partial credit models of IRT, items from the SRSS-IE were evaluated in terms of the degree to which the response options for each item functioned as intended and how well those response options discriminated among students who exhibited varying levels of EBD risk. Results indicate that the four-response option configuration used in this study may not adequately discriminate regarding the frequency of externalizing and internalizing behaviors demonstrated by middle school students. Recommendations for revising the response options and scoring procedures are discussed.

Behavior intervention plans (BIPs) are intended to help educators systematically support students with behavioral problems at school. Previous research confirms that the effectiveness of a BIP depends on the degree to which the plan is technically adequate and implemented with integrity. What remains unclear from the literature is how professional experience and environmental variables impact technical adequacy, treatment integrity, and student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore these relationships using data collected from a survey of members' experiences with the BIP implementation team. The researchers collected BIPs from local school districts and then surveyed members of the implementation team regarding their professional qualifications, training, involvement in the BIP development process, treatment integrity, and perceived impact on student outcomes. Results from two multiple regression models predicting treatment integrity and student outcomes suggest that practitioners' perceptions of BIP quality significantly predicted treatment integrity. Additionally, training, BIP quality, and treatment integrity significantly predicted student outcomes. These findings suggest that practitioners' perceptions of BIP quality may play an important role in predicting treatment integrity but improving student outcomes requires technical adequacy and targeted professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the United States Department of Education (USDOE), 16% or over eight million kindergarten through twelfth grade students in the US missed 10% or more school days during the 2017-2018 school year. This is approximately 18 of 180 days required. We know this because schools are mandated to report their attendance data to their respective states and to the USDOE. There are concerns around accuracy and consistency because each state is allowed to compile data in their own way and report only select metrics to the USDOE to comply with federal guidelines. The consistency on federal metrics, nonetheless, allows for similar analyses at the federal and state levels and comparisons across states. To best understand what is reported, we report on data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) housed in the Institute of Education Sciences, the science branch of the USDOE, and describe how attendance data are collected, reported, and used at the national level. We share similar findings for two representative US states - Connecticut and Indiana - to highlight similarities and differences between them, and their "best practices." Key results from these multiple levels of analyses are then discussed, with the goal of informing research, practice, and policy related to school attendance, so that students of all ages and from all backgrounds are provided the opportunity to obtain optimal benefits from schooling throughout their school careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]