Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item An Experimental Evaluation of the Effect of Instructional Consultation Teams on Teacher Efficacy: A Multivariate, Multilevel Examination(2009) Koehler, Jessica Robyn; Gottfredson, Gary; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Teacher efficacy, the extent to which teachers feel they can influence student learning (Berman, McLaughlin, Bass, Pauly, & Zellman, 1977), has been repeatedly linked to important student and teacher outcomes (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). Although the results of many studies support the claim that teacher efficacy is an important educational construct, few studies have investigated interventions to influence these teacher beliefs. The current study evaluated whether a specific teacher intervention, Instructional Consultation Teams (IC Teams), positively affected teachers' sense of self-efficacy as measured by two efficacy instruments. Participants included 1203 in-service elementary school teachers in 34 elementary schools within a large suburban school district--17 randomly assigned to the IC Team intervention and 17 assigned to the control condition. Because teachers are nested within schools, hierarchical linear modeling was utilized to evaluate whether scores on measures of teacher self-efficacy were influenced by IC Teams. A multivariate model was also used to evaluate the effects of IC Teams on both measures, simultaneously. The results imply that IC Teams significantly increased teachers' scores on the efficacy scales. The current study provides one of a few attempts to evaluate the effects of a specific school intervention on teacher efficacy within an experimental framework.Item The Assessment of the Forms and Functions of Childhood Aggression Reconsidered(2009) Potter, Tracey Meryl; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the relationships between aggression and adjustment with a configuration of aggression categories derived from factor analyses of two commonly used scales to measure aggression, Dodge and Coie's (1987) Reactive/Proactive scale and Crick and Grotpeter's (1995) Children's Social Behavior Scale (relational and overt aggression). Second and third grade students and their teachers completed aggression ratings and a battery of adjustment measures. Teacher and peer rated aggression scales were constructed from an exploratory factor analysis of the aggression items. The teacher rated scales that emerged were pure overt, reactive relational, and reactive overt, and emerging peer rated scales were pure overt and reactive relational. The factor analysis of the teacher ratings revealed numerous cross-loaded as did the analysis of peer ratings. Cross-loaded teacher-rated items captured the construct of emotional dysregulation whereas the cross-loaded peer-rated items represented pure relational aggression. Unique associations were observed between teacher-rated pure overt aggression with externalizing behaviors, peer rated reactive relational aggression with self-rated depression and anxiety symptoms, and peer rated pure overt aggression with self-rated depression symptoms. The results regarding overall gender differences were consistent with prior research in that boys were perceived as more purely overtly aggressive than girls when rated by both their teachers and peers, and girls were perceived as more reactively relationally aggressive than boys when rated by both teachers and peers. Gender was also found to moderate certain relationships between aggression and adjustment. Importance of informant, as well as implications for understanding the construct of aggression and its relationship to adjustment are discussed.Item The Influences of Classroom Characteristics and Teacher-Student Relations on Student Academic Achievement(2009) Vu, Phuong Anna; Gottfredson, Gary D; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines close teacher-student relations, classroom characteristics, and interaction effects on student academic grades and standardizes achievement scores. Classroom characteristics including teacher instructional practices, class mean teacher-student relationships, and a classroom index of academic risk are evaluated for their influence on student achievement. The participants are 24,328 students (kindergarten through fifth grade) nested within 946 classrooms from 45 public schools in Virginia. Multilevel analysis tests the student- and classroom-level associations separately for each grade level. Results indicate that close teacher-student relations and teacher self-reported use of good instructional practices predicts positive student academic achievement. Interaction results indicate that the association between close teacher-student relations and student achievement is slightly stronger in classrooms with more academic risk, according to the models examined.Item An Experimental Evaluation of the Effects of a School-Based, Universal Prevention Program on Parent and Teacher Ratings of Student Behavior(2009) Nebbergall, Allison Joan; Gottfredson, Gary; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Meta-analyses of skills-based prevention interventions show moderate effect sizes for increasing social competencies and decreasing behavior problems. While the literature suggests that prevention programs can be effective, rigorous independent research is lacking regarding the efficacy of many specific programs. The present study is based on a randomized-control experiment evaluating Second Step in 12 Maryland public elementary schools to assess the effects of the program on parent and teacher ratings of student behavior. Ratings using the Social Competency Rating Form had previously been considered as a single global measure of student behavior, and had not been found to be affected by the intervention. Nonetheless, a re-consideration of the psychometric properties of the scale and its sensitivity to skills taught by the Second Step curriculum led to the speculation that separation of the global measure to reflect distinct ratings of social competency and problem behavior might reveal effects on the social competency component. Analyses show no effects on parent or teacher ratings of social competency or on teacher ratings of problem behavior. In some analyses, students in treatment schools had nearly twice the odds of being classified in a "problem" group according to ratings made by their parents than did students in control schools. Results were supported by sensitivity analyses using weights and imputation.Item Teacher Identification of Students for a Social-Emotional Intervention(2009) Sedlik, Samantha Lynn; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study described how students received services for social-emotional issues in several schools where a social competence program was implemented. The study examined several variables including a) teacher referral practices in the context of a program designed as a prereferral intervention for these issues in elementary school-aged children; b) child characteristics; and c) group dynamics. Referring teachers completed pre and post-test behavior rating forms for 45 children (N=45) in the program. All students completed pre and post-test measures of listening comprehension and self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and anger. A case study of two children with different initial profiles highlights how initial child characteristics affect performance and progress in the group situation. The variability in child performance demonstrates the need for careful selection of participants when conducting group interventions in schools. Implications for prereferral interventions are discussed.Item A Grounded Theory of Supervision During Pre-Service Level School-Based Consultation Training(2009) Newman, Daniel Seth; Rosenfield, Sylvia A; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of the current study was to explore a university-based supervision process for pre-service level school-based consultants engaged in a consultation course with practicum experience. The study was approached from a constructivist worldview, using a constructivist grounded theory methodology. A qualitative research software program, NVivo8, was employed to assist with data organization and analyses. Guiding research questions included: (a) how does the process of university-based supervision in pre-service level, school-based consultation training work?; (b) what content and process concerns arise for consultants-in-training (CITs) during their practicum experiences?; (c) how are these concerns considered through the supervision process?; and (d) what are the interactions between the CITs and me (the supervisor) as part of supervision? Supervision session transcripts, reflective logs, and my own notes as supervisor from one semester of ongoing supervision with the five participants (second-year school psychology doctoral students engaged in consultation training) composed the data. I acted in the dual roles of researcher and supervisor. The theory that emerged from the participants' experiences demonstrates that the supervision process included activities outside of and within supervision sessions. Within supervision sessions, the CITs and I engaged in strategic interactions focused on past experiences, the present moment, and future application; these interactions were differentiated in a manner responsive to CIT needs based on perceptions of CIT skill level, requests for assistance, and consultation case process and content concerns. The perceived effectiveness of the supervision process in addressing CIT concerns resulted in mixed feelings including confusion, worrying, frustration, and positive feelings. This theory has implications for school-based consultation training and practice, and makes a unique contribution to broader supervision literature by emphasizing supervision at the pre-service training level, and connecting developmental models of supervision to differentiated models of supervision and instruction.Item The Intentionality and Social Information Processing Patterns Associated with Ethnic Minority Children's Aggression(2009) Simcox, April Guzy; Teglasi-Golubcow, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)According to Dodge and colleagues' social information processing model (e.g. Crick and Dodge, 1994) when faced with social situations, children engage in five components of decision making. In previous research using the model and corresponding social information processing (SIP) instruments, deficiencies in different components corresponded with childhood aggression. In particular, a tendency to interpret others' intentions as hostile is associated with aggression. Dodge and his colleagues cite schemas, or mental structures, as responsible for SIP deficiencies. However, the relationship between schemas and childhood aggression has not been systematically examined. This study investigated the social information processing patterns and schemas of ethnic minority children in relation to reactive and proactive aggression, as rated by teacher, peer, and self informants. The SIP instrument measured participants' social information processing patterns and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) assessed schemas underlying aggression using portions of Teglasi's coding system (2001) and coding procedures developed to capture SIP components. The TAT and SIP instruments were not correlated with one another and each correlated with different aspects of aggression. The SIP correlated primarily with teacher rated reactive aggression whereas the TAT correlated primarily with both peer and teacher rated proactive aggression. Prior research using the SIP instrument which found relationships between intentionality and aggression were not replicated. The TAT showed that among second and third grade children, most do not spontaneously consider the intentionality behind a provocation (intent attribution) but do consider the intention behind their response to a provocation (goal formation). Older age--within the two year span, significantly correlated with improved performance on some aspects of the SIP and TAT. On the SIP, girls were more likely than boys to select aggressive responses to a hypothetical situation, but expressed these in proactive ways while boys expressed more reactive aggression. Gender differences on the TAT were not present. Overall the TAT was a better predictor of both aggression types than the SIP and this was true for all informants. The use of multiple measures and multiple informants to capture various aspects of aggression is discussed along with implications for theory and practice, and directions for future research.Item Cost-Effectiveness of an Enhanced Whole-School Social Competency Intervention(2008-10-22) Huang, Sharon; Gottfredson, Gary D; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background The cost and efficacy literature regarding elementary school-based preventative programs is limited, and many cost and efficacy studies suffer from research design and methodology problems. Purpose This study compares the marginal costs of a specific whole-school intervention to marginal costs of control school programs. It also assesses the cost-effectiveness of treatment and control interventions with respect to self-reported aggression, academic grades, and Maryland State Assessment (MSA) scores. Setting The study takes place in elementary schools in Anne Arundel County, a relatively diverse, suburban county in Maryland. Subjects Counselors (n=9) and principals (n=11) from 12 schools; the project manager, data clerk, and coordinator of guidance from the school system central office; and five research team members completed questionnaires about their time use. The study relies on efficacy data from another study. Intervention Implemented for three years, Second Step is a popular preventative, school-wide social competency program that aims to augment students' social skills and prevent problem behavior (Frey, Hirschstein, & Guzzo, 2000). Using manual-based lessons, classroom teachers in first through fifth grades were trained to deliver 30-minute lessons once a week to their classes in the areas of empathy, anger management, problem solving, and impulse control. Teachers also supplemented the formal lessons by reinforcing what had been taught at other times during the day (Frey et al., 2000). The intervention was enhanced by adding specific implementation standards and the use of periodic feedback about implementation to intervention managers and teachers. Research Design and Methods This study makes use of results from a large-scale randomized controlled trial that investigated the efficacy of Second Step. Researchers selected 12 elementary schools that had never implemented Second Step to participate, and these schools were matched based on their demographics and achievement history. Within each pair of schools, researchers randomly assigned one school to the treatment group and one to the control group. The methodology used for assessing costs is the ingredients approach (Levin & McEwan, 2001). Data Collection and Analysis Effect sizes for third and fourth graders for the third year are obtained from outcome evaluation reports. Third-year costs are added to retrospective training costs to estimate three-year costs. Data for costs of personnel time are collected in the form of time-use questionnaires, supplemental teacher questionnaires, and implementation logs. Accounting expenditures, rental agreements, and contacts with district personnel provide other cost data. To reflect current and annual costs and to account for opportunity costs, costs are discounted (expressing future costs in terms of their present values) and amortized (distributing a cost across its lifetime). Finally, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios are calculated for some of the outcome measures examined. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to consider variability in cost and cost-effectiveness estimates. Results Results imply that the enhanced whole-school social competency intervention attained no positive effects in student self-reported aggression, academic grades and MSA scores, at a cost of only $69 less per student over a three-year implementation period. Conclusions The enhanced whole-school social competency intervention is no more cost-effective than the control programs: annual marginal student costs are only slightly less than those of the control program, and the program is not efficacious. Limitations include the small number of schools and personnel and correspondingly large standard errors for effect sizes, the use of self-report methods to estimate time, and dependence on unreliable accounting expenditure data from the school district. Undependability of cost data may result from both measurement error and bias. In addition, since this particular Second Step program was implemented in only one school district, its generalizability to other school districts or variations of program implementation is unexplored. Despite these limitations, the study provides a range of credible values for cost-effectiveness for the program. It may provide insight to the scientific community about the costs involved in operating an enhanced whole-school intervention to share with school administrators and educators in their considerations of elementary school-based preventative interventions.Item The Effects of Online Coaching on Instructional Consultation Skill Development and Treatment Process Integrity(2008-09-23) Pavey-Scherer, Deborah; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE EFFECTS OF ONLINE COACHING ON INSTRUCTIONAL CONSULTATION SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND TREATMENT PROCESS INTEGRITY Deborah L. Pavey-Scherer, Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Dissertation directed by: Professor Sylvia Rosenfield Department of Counseling and Personnel Services Providing early intervention to teachers through indirect service delivery has become an important priority in serving student needs. The Instructional Consultation Institute, designed to train school-based consultants in the IC problem-solving model, includes online coaching during an actual case where consultant-trainees practice their new consultation skills. This study investigates the effects of online coaching on consultant-trainees' levels of skill development and studies the relationship between skill development and the integrity with which the IC process is followed. Archival data were used to analyze consultant-trainee (N = 132) and coach perception of skill development before and after receiving online coaching, and to explore the relationship between skill development and treatment process integrity. Although demographic data are limited, the consultant-trainees and coaches were from multiple states and represented a variety of professional roles. Data from three forms (the IC Professional Development Survey, the Rating of Consultant's Skill Development and the Student Documentation Form were analyzed. Results from paired samples t-tests indicated significant level of growth between consultant-trainees' perceptions of their own skill development before and after participating in the online coaching. Consultant-trainees indicated they felt competent in performing their skills after the coaching. The data showed suggested that consultant-trainee and coach perception were similar. Discrepancies existed in the areas of contracting and communication skills, where consultant-trainees rated their skills significantly higher than coaches did, but the actual number of consultant-trainees rated as competent was similar between the two groups. However, in curriculum-based assessment, where consultant-trainees rated their skills lower than coaches did, far fewer consultant-trainees than coaches rated trainees as competent. Using Pearson correlations it was determined there was no relationship between consultant-trainee perception of skill development and treatment process integrity, as measured by completion of the SDF, but that a significant relationship between the coaches' perceptions of skill development and SDF completion did exist.Item An Investigation of the Effect of Instructional Consultation Teams on Special Education Placement Rate(2007-11-30) Newman, Daniel Seth; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The main goal of Instructional Consultation Teams (IC Teams) is to promote and sustain student academic success within a general education environment. Research suggests that the implementation of IC Teams is followed by decreased referrals for special education and decreased overrepresentation of minority students in special education. Yet only a limited research supports these suggestions. In the current study, special education placement rates for 46 treatment schools and 46 matched comparison schools are analyzed in a multiply replicated interrupted time series design. This provides a powerful basis for examining the effect of IC Teams by limiting threats to internal validity, thereby increasing certainty about causality. A HLM statistical analysis of the data suggests that the implementation of IC Teams is not significantly effective in reducing special education placement rates. Statistical and visual analyses suggest that IC Teams may have a differential effect with schools with different socioeconomic standings.