Reducing Threats to Validity by Design in a Nonrandomized Experiment of a School-Wide Prevention Model

Abstract

List of FiguresChapter 2.1. Critical elements of SWPBS 2.2. A school-wide multi-level prevention approach 2.3. Multiple systems of school-wide behavior support 2.4. Portion of students involved in serious behavior incidents over three school years 2.5. N reports of minor and major problem behaviors across two school years 2.6. N reports of minor and major problem behaviors on different school areas across two school years 2.7. Example of a school's fidelity scores Chapter 4 4.1. Recruitment flow chart 4.2. The study design 4.3. Example of a hierarchical or nested data structure

Behavioral Trajectories During Middle Childhood: Differential Effects of the School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Model

“…The mean school size was 282 students, and the student-teacher ratio per class was 1.7. Significant group differences at baseline were found on only one of 29 variables explored (lower mean reading score in the N-PALS group), and the participating schools were fairly representative of Norwegian elementary schools (Sørlie and Ogden 2014 ).…”

“…Questionnaire data were collected from class head teachers in the 4th to 7th grades at four time points (T1–T4) in 48 Norwegian elementary schools participating in a non-randomized experimental effectiveness study of the N-PALS model (Sørlie and Ogden 2014 ). Several elements were added to the design to reduce potential threats to the internal validity, and schools were randomly invited to participate as intervention or control schools.…”

“…Several elements were added to the design to reduce potential threats to the internal validity, and schools were randomly invited to participate as intervention or control schools. Schools that volunteered were selected according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria (Sørlie and Ogden 2014 ). The behavioral development of 4th and 5th graders (9–10 years) in the 28 N-PALS intervention schools were compared through the 7th grade (12 years) with students of the same age in 20 schools that did not receive the intervention (regular practice, see Fig.…”

“…Most evaluations of the SWPBS model have, however, focused on main effects of the universal tier (tier 1) only, while few have, as in the present study, investigated the differential effects of the combined three-tiered model (Sørlie and Ogden 2015 ). Data from a large-scale longitudinal evaluation of SWPBS as implemented in Norway (Sørlie and Ogden 2014 ) were used to examine the heterogeneity of externalizing trajectories from grade 4 through 7 among students in 48 ordinary Norwegian elementary schools, and to explore possible differential intervention effects on externalizing trajectories. Previously, significant main effects of the full N-PALS model have been reported on several outcomes (Sørlie and Ogden 2015 ; Sørlie et al 2016 ).…”

The longitudinal association between internalizing symptoms and academic achievement among immigrant and non‐immigrant children in Norway

“…The participants come from a larger multi-cohort and multi-wave effectiveness study of the N-PALS model (Norwegian acronym for positive behavior, interactions and learning environment in school), the aim of which was to prevent and reduce student problem behavior and to promote social skills through schoolwide positive behavior support (Ogden, Sørlie, Arnesen & Meek-Hansen, 2012). Information of the participants, study design and procedures were described in more detail in Sørlie and Ogden (2014).…”