Classroom-Based Research in the Field of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

Classrooms serving students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are complex environments that include multiple interactions such as those between (a) students and teachers, (b) students and peers, and (c) temporally distant or concurrent classroom-setting factors and subsequent behavioral episodes. As a result, the scientific processes and methods used to investigate the nature of these interactions are often as varied and complex. The purpose of this article is to review and discuss the extent to which research methods and practices evident in current classroombased studies measure and predict these relationships accurately. To this end, the authors present an overview of common research methodology and related measurement strategies and some considerations for conducting research using these methods in classrooms serving students with or at risk for EBD. Keywords: emotional and behavioral disorders; measurement; research; student-teacher interactionsC lassrooms are complex environments that include a host of dynamic, intersecting variables, such as classroom-setting factors (e.g., classroom arrangement), instructional strategies (e.g., use of scaffolding), and individual student factors (e.g., ability, skill level), with the overall goal of producing positive student outcomes. Needless to say, capturing how these variables interconnect and the relative influence they have on student outcomes is difficult. Current research in the field of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) has addressed some of these factors, but much of the methodology has failed to deal adequately with the complexity of these relationships while maintaining sufficient scientific rigor (Conroy & Stichter, 2005). The national emphasis on scientifically based practices, in combination with a critical need for interventions that are socially valid, necessitates increasingly multifaceted, rigorous methods, both in our current work and as we consider future research directions.In this article, we discuss methodological issues related to classroom-based research in the field of EBD. Specifically, the purpose of this article is twofold:(a) to provide an overview of the current methods used in classroom-based research about students with or at risk for EBD, including a discussion of the limitations and strategies that expand the potential and increase the rigor of that methodology and (b) to suggest future research directions, with the goal of contributing to a discussion of experimental methodology that will ultimately advance the field of EBD. For the purpose of this article, classroom-based research was defined as investigations of environmental variables (e.g., specific teacher behaviors, instructional components including planned interventions, physical arrangements) in relation to student behaviors (e.g., problem behaviors, time on task, academic achievement;

What exactly do RCT findings tell us in education research?

“…Her decision was in response to the needs of her group; it is indicative that the aspects of the routine that were present were taught with good quality and attention to detail. The gains of her group suggest that a programme needs to be flexible to adjust to particular circumstances—a matter more broadly associated with the evaluation of classroom‐based teaching interventions, as this quote notes:

On one hand, investigators need to ensure consistent treatment implementation [and on the other] teachers need some leeway to adapt interventions within particular classroom contexts (Conroy et al ., , p. 211).

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Preventing and ameliorating young children's chronic problem behaviors: An ecological classroom‐based approach

“…Because classrooms are dynamic environments, assuring that the interventions are implemented with integrity can be extremely challenging and have a significant impact on the findings. Thus, once again, measuring the integrity with which teachers are able to implement the intervention model as a whole and gathering social validity and treatment acceptability information would be important for future research (for a discussion of these issues, see Conroy, Stichter, Daunic, & Haydon, 2008).…”

“…Historically, randomization has occurred most frequently on the student level; however, when the intervention is classroom based (rather than student based), randomization should occur on the classroom or systems level. While considering randomization, researchers should try to match treatment and no treatment groups at the participant, classroom, or systems level and test for group equivalence as well as include potential mediating and moderating variables across all conditions and statistical analyses (Conroy et al, 2008).…”

Effects of a Multifocused Prevention Program on Preschool Children's Competencies and Behavior Problems

“…Most evidence‐based prevention programs developed in the field of early education have placed an emphasis on targeting children who are already at risk for poor social–emotional development, such as children from low‐income families (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group [CPPRG], ; Raver et al., ; Webster‐Stratton, Reid, & Stoolmiller, ) or those exhibiting clinically relevant levels of behavior problems (Webster‐Stratton & Hammond, ; Webster‐Stratton & Reid, ). However, in spite of this welcomed and much‐needed focus on high‐risk children, preventive interventions based on population level approaches should not be discarded as means of reaching a wider range of children and parents in need of mental health services (Conroy, Stichter, Daunic, & Haydon, ; Lopez, Tartullo, Forness, & Boyce, ). Community‐based interventions were initially designed as universal interventions targeting children irrespective of their risk status.…”