Where Do Teachers Go for Behavior Management Strategies?

Challenging student behavior can have negative consequences for both educators and students. Although effective behavior management strategies can improve student behavior, they are not consistently implemented with fidelity. The purpose of this exploratory mixed-methods study is to investigate which resources educators and other school personnel use to find information on effective behavior management strategies and their perceptions of those resources. We surveyed 238 educators in four West Virginia counties regarding the degree to which they used, trusted, could access, could implement, and could understand information regarding behavior management strategies on six types of resources (i.e., search engines, internet media, professional organization websites, journals, colleagues, and professional development). Ten participants shared additional insights regarding why educators prefer specific resources and what they searched for in behavioral resources in follow-up interviews. Results indicated that educators primarily used colleagues because they provide information perceived to be accessible, understandable, trustworthy, and usable.

Using an App-Based Token Economy to Increase Engagement in Daily Living and Vocational Tasks with Adults with Developmental Disabilities.

The token economy is an evidence-based practice that improves outcomes across populations, settings, and behaviors. Nonetheless, their complex nature frequently leads to ineffective implementation. In addition, little is known about the extent to which token economies are effective for increasing engagement in adults with disabilities. Therefore, we conducted a multiple probe across participants to evaluate the effectiveness of a token economy using an app (i.e., Class Dojo) to increase engagement with daily living and vocational tasks in adults with disabilities. All participants increased their engagement with tasks following the introduction of the intervention and maintained higher than baseline levels of engagement up to 6 weeks after the intervention ended. Staff members completed an anonymous survey to indicate their perception of the feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention. Social validity results indicated that some staff members found the intervention effective, but time-consuming and challenging.

Predicting implementation of the PAX Good Behavior Game + MyTeachingPartner interventions.

Introduction: Effective classroom management is critical to creating a classroom environment in which social, emotional, and academic learning can take place. The present study investigated the association between early career, early elementary teachers' occupational health (job stress, burnout, and perceived teaching ability) and perceptions of program feasibility in relation to their implementation dosage and quality of two evidence-based classroom management programs implemented together: the PAX Good Behavior Game (GBG) and MyTeachingPartner (MTP) intervention. Methods: Teachers provided information on their occupational health at the start of the school year and were then randomized to the PAX GBG + MTP condition or control condition. Teachers' perceptions of the feasibility of the program, implementation dosage, and implementation quality of the intervention were measured at the end of the school year for the 94 intervention teachers. Results: Teachers participated in more MTP coaching cycles when they reported that the combined PAX GBG + MTP program was feasible. Although there were no main effects of occupational health on implementation, the associations between job stress and implementation quality were moderated by perceptions of feasibility. Discussion: Findings highlight the complexity of factors influencing the implementation of evidence-based programs in school settings.