Values Affirmation to Improve Teachers' Outcomes

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this project is to examine whether a values affirmation intervention improves teacher-student relationships, classroom performance, and well-being of first-year teachers.

Official Title
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Can a Values Affirmation Improve the Classroom Outcomes and Well-being of K-12 Teachers?

Conditions
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Psychological

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Values affirmation exercise
* Behavioral: Active control exercise


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Must be teachers (current or prospective) affiliated with the Relay Graduate School of Education in the targeted classes/programs Must consent to participate and begin the experimental (values affirmation or control) exercise Exclusion Criteria: None Note: Our primary hypotheses focus on the effects of values affirmation for first-year teachers, particularly White first-year teachers at majority minority schools. Participants who are not White first-year teachers will be permitted in the study, but will not be included in confirmatory analyses.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: Control<br>The control condition of a standard values affirmation intervention | Behavioral: Active control exercise<br>* In the active control condition, participants spend 10-15 minutes completing a guided reflection regarding values that are not personally important but could be important to someone else (see Logel and Cohen, 2012; Brady, Griffiths, & Cohen, in prep).<br>|
| Experimental: Values affirmation<br>The treatment condition of a standard values affirmation intervention | Behavioral: Values affirmation exercise<br>* In the experimental values affirmation condition, participants spend 10-15 minutes completing a guided reflection regarding values that are personally important (see Logel and Cohen, 2012; Brady, Griffiths, & Cohen, in prep).<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Student-teacher relationships | Teachers will complete a survey that includes a 4-item scale to assess the quality of their relationships with students (scale: 1=not at all true for me; 5=extremely true for me) I have a good relationship with my students. My students have a positive opinion of me. I feel comfortable interacting with my students. My students respect me. | Approximately 6 months post-intervention | 
| Teacher well-being | Teachers will complete a survey that assesses their well-being. Average scores for the individual scales (below) will be computed. Scales will then be averaged to create a composite score. Due to space constraints, the full text of the scales is available on the project's OSF page at https://osf.io/ju5gh/. Burnout (7 items; scale: 1=not at all true for/of me, 5=very much true for/of me; reverse-scored for composite) Self-integrity (3 items; scale: 1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree) Belonging (3 items; scale: 1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree) Belonging uncertainty (2 items; scale: 1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree) [reverse-scored for composite] Perceived stress (4 items; scale: 1=never, 5=very often) [reverse-scored for composite] | Approximately 6 months post-intervention | 
| Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) - Instructional Support dimension | To assess quality of teachers' instruction, we will use the instructional support dimension of the CLASS (https://curry.virginia.edu/classroom-assessment-scoring-system). Coding will be conducted by staff from the Relay Graduate School of Education or their designees. | Approximately 6 months post-intervention |