A Meta-Analysis on Behavioral Support Training and General Education Teacher Implementation

Abstract

The success of teachers is tied to their effectiveness in managing student behavior. In this meta-analysis, we identified 49 single-case-design studies that evaluated the effectiveness of teacher training on their implementation of behavioral support strategies. Training was most often provided in a one-on-one format ( n = 18) and included ongoing coaching ( n = 20). Thirty-three of the 49 designs met What Works Clearinghouse standards with or without reservations. The overall between-case standardized mean difference effect size was d = 1.50. We analyzed and grouped teacher- and student-level outcomes as a result of training into five domains: (a) teacher-delivered praise ( d = 1.94), (b) teacher desirable behavior (e.g., treatment fidelity; d = 1.22), (c) teacher undesirable behavior (e.g., reprimands; d = 0.87), (d) student desirable behavior ( d = 1.88), and (e) student undesirable behavior ( d = 1.22). Across all studies, the combined nonoverlap of all pairs scores ranged from 0.37 to 1.0 ( M = 0.866). We discuss future areas of research as well as implications for teacher training in behavioral support implementation.

Single-case design effect-size distributions: Association with procedural parameters.

“…Given the relative recency of development and use of meaningful and viable single-case effect sizes, single-case researchers do not have as much information about the magnitude of behavior change likely in a given context. However, recent work has been done to establish both intervention-specific effect-size estimates (e.g., via meta-analyses; McClain et al, 2021; Samudre et al, 2023) and broader benchmarks that are not intervention-specific (J. C. Chow, 2023; Pustejovsky et al, 2023).…”