Teachers and Parents as Partners During Middle School RCT

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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There are two aims of this study (a) to examine the effect of Teachers and Parents as Partners on student, parent, and teacher outcomes in middle school and (b) identify barriers and facilitators to implementing Teachers and Parents as Partners in middle school for students with behavior concerns.

Detailed Description
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In the business-as-usual control condition, participants will have access to any services that a school would routinely provide (e.g., develop and implement a behavior support plan) as well as services families can access in the community (e.g., mental health support). Teachers and Parents as Partners will occur in a series of stages comprised of approximately four structured meetings over approximately 8 weeks. A Teachers and Parents as Partners consultant will meet together with a student's parent(s), teachers, other school personnel (as appropriate), and the student (as appropriate). The Teachers and Parents as Partners team will collaboratively address behavior problem solving objectives. Specific TAPP objectives include: identifying strengths and specific behaviors of concern, specifying alternative prosocial behaviors, creating measurable behavior goals, co-constructing behavior intervention/support plans to address the target concerns, creating sustainable conditions to support plan implementation at home and school, and evaluating the plan to assess progress toward goals.

Official Title
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Randomized Controlled Trial of Teachers and Parents as Partners During Middle School

Conditions
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Behavior Disorders

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Teachers and Parents as Partners


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Students will be eligible if they have scores in the elevated or extremely elevated risk categories on the parent or teacher version of the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children (BASC) 3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS). Parents, and primary teachers and school staff associated with an eligible student will be included. Exclusion Criteria: Students who do not meet the inclusion criteria will be excluded from participation, which includes their parent(s), teachers, and other school personnel. Students also may not be eligible if they have mental health concerns or severe behavior problems that may not be appropriate for Teachers and Parents as Partners or a research project (e.g., some internalizing problems, students who pose an risk of harming themselves).

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 10 Years
Maximum Age: 17 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: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Intervention condition and business-as-usual control condition
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Teachers and Parents as Partners Intervention<br>Teachers and Parents as Partners will occur in a series of stages comprised of approximately four structured meetings over approximately 8 weeks. A Teachers and Parents as Partners consultant will meet together with a student's parent(s), teachers, other school personnel (as appropriate), and the student (as appropriate). The Teachers and Parents as Partners team will collaboratively address behavior problem solving objectives. Specific objectives include: identifying strengths and specific behaviors of concern, specifying alternative prosocial behaviors, creating measurable behavior goals, co-constructing behavior intervention/support plans to address the target concerns, creating sustainable conditions to support plan implementation at home and school, and evaluating the plan to assess progress toward goals. | Behavioral: Teachers and Parents as Partners<br>* Family-school partnership intervention<br>|
| No Intervention: Business as usual control<br>In the business-as-usual control condition, participants will have access to any services that a school would routinely provide (e.g., develop and implement a behavior support plan) as well as services families can access in the community (e.g., mental health support). | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Behavior Assessment Scale for Children (assessing change) | Report of child behavior | pretest and about 12 weeks later at posttest | 
| Social Skills Improvement System (assessing change) | Report of child social skills | pretest and about 12 weeks later at posttest | 
| Direct behavior rating (assessing change) | Ratings of child behavior | Time series during the approx 12 week intervention | 
| Goal attainment scaling (through study completion) | Ratings of goals met | At the conclusion of the intervention | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Academic Competence Evaluation (assessing change) | Reports of child academic competence | pretest and about 12 weeks later at posttest | 
| Parent-teacher relationship scale (assessing change) | Ratings of the parent-teacher relationship | pretest and about 12 weeks later at posttest | 
| Competence in problem solving (assessing change) | Parent and teacher ratings of their competence in problem solving | pretest and about 12 weeks later at posttest | 
| Parent monitoring scale (assessing change) | Ratings of parent monitoring child activities | pretest and about 12 weeks later at posttest | 
| Behavior intervention rating scale-revised (through study completion) | Ratings of intervention acceptability | At the conclusion of the intervention | 
| Work completion (assessing change) | Ratings of student work completion | Time series during the approx 12 week intervention |