Date of Award

Summer 8-2021

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Advisor

James Artesani

Second Committee Member

Sarah Howorth

Third Committee Member

Sidney Mitchell

Additional Committee Members

Deborah Rooks-Ellis

Brandi Simonsen

Abstract

A critical teacher shortage continues to exist throughout the United States. Challenges with student behavior and classroom management are identified as a top reason for teacher attrition. Educational research has demonstrated that PreK-12 students who receive social-emotional-behavioral support through evidence-based classroom management (EBCM) practices are more likely to achieve academic success. When teachers deliver high ratios of positive interactions to their students, positive student outcomes are likely to occur. However, researchers have consistently found that, like other EBCM practices, this low-intensity, high-impact practice is typically implemented at significantly lower levels than necessary to promote positive student outcomes. This implementation gap has been recognized as a critical need for future research by many leading scholars in the education field. Novice teachers are often at a significant disadvantage due to often minimal explicit teaching of positive student behavior support in preservice programs and their limited experience in the field. The goal of this single-case non-concurrent randomized multiple baseline study design was to bridge this gap by developing a feasible, inexpensive intervention to support novice teachers to effectively improve their ratios of positive-to-negative teacher/student interactions. Two dyads, four participants, engaged in a multi-component intervention package within a peer-coaching model incorporating access to readily available resources, peer-based performance feedback, and a gradual fading of intervention support. This study occurred in school settings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic which significantly disrupted educational contexts. While the results of the study did not show a significant positive effect of the intervention, three out of four of the participants demonstrated increases in their positive-to-negative teacher/student interaction ratios. Additionally, participants within each dyad showed similar trends, indicating that the dyad may be a critical component of the intervention. Qualitative data pointed to additional features of the intervention that served as potential reinforcers for participants. These insights are shared as implications for future research, practice, and policy.

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