1. Beyond CICO: Group Interventions
Evidence Base, Adaptation for Schools,
Fidelity & Evaluation

2. So Tell Us….
What are your schools currently implementing for Tier 2 interventions?
What do you need/want to know about Tier 2 interventions for behavior?
TASK
Complete the Tier 2 Intervention Inventory for your school or schools in your district

3. Tier 2 Intervention Inventory

4. Tier 2 Interventions Research/Evidence based Match to student need
Early student identification
Progress monitoring and Data Based Decision Making

5. So what do we know about all of these group interventions in schools?
Comprehensive Supports
Function-based Support
Tier III
Group Interventions w/function-based
modifications
Lunch buddies
Group Interventions
CICO
Skills groups
Tier II
Anger Mgmt group
Social Skills Groups
Peer Tutors
Structured Recess
Homework Club
School Mentors
So what do we know about all of these group interventions in schools?
Study Skills
Tier 1
SWPBS Tier I 5

6. Group Interventions for At-Risk Students
Several Group-based interventions have strong literature base:
Social Skills programs
Gresham, Cook, Crews & Kern, 2004
Mentoring programs
e.g. DuBois & Karcher, 2005
Check & Connect
E.g. Sinclair, Christenson & Thurlow, 2005
However, there is a SMALL literature base on embedding those interventions within the school context

7. Group Interventions for At-Risk Students
We can identify research-based interventions
Next Questions:
Has it been researched in school settings?
Do the research outcomes match your school’s desired outcomes?
What are the critical features of the intervention?
Do we have the resources, training, skills to implement the intervention with fidelity in school?
Are we implementing the intervention with fidelity?
How are you measuring student progress & outcomes?

8. School Based Mentoring
What does the research say?
Wheeler, Keller & DuBois (2010)
Social Policy Report
Don’t wing it…
Use a clearly defined program model with well articulated standards for practice
Provide ongoing monitoring & support so program models are implemented w/ fidelity
Ensure that eligible students are matched w/ appropriate mentors
Enlist adult mentors rather than older student mentors, whose effectiveness is not yet clearly established
Mentors & mentees must meet consistently & receive support in developing mentoring relationships that can be maintained

9. School Based Mentoring
Wheeler, Keller & DuBois (2010)
Social Policy Report
No evidence found to effect academic achievement
Outcomes:
Decreased truancy
Decreased school misconduct

10. Check-n-Connect http://checkandconnect.org/
Check & Connect is a model of sustained intervention for promoting students' engagement with school and learning. Demonstrated outcomes include:
decrease in truancy,
decrease in dropout rates,
increase in accrual of credits,
increase in school completion, and
impact on literacy.
Check & Connect is one of 28 dropout prevention interventions reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education's What Works Clearinghouse to date, and the only one found to have positive effects for staying in school.

11. Tier 2 Interventions & Social Skills Instruction

12. Evidence Base for Social Skills Training
7 meta-analyses completed since 1985
Conflicting results
Overall SST groups produce practically significant change in social behavior for at- risk/EBD students
Almost 2/3 of children receiving SST will show some degree of measurable improvement, compared with 1/3 in control or usual care groups

13. Cautions regarding Social Skills Instruction
Matching Interventions to Deficit Types
most social skills studies deliver a treatment to children with an almost complete disregard for the types of social skills deficits children may have (Gresham, 1998)
consider acquisition v. performance deficits

14. Cautions regarding Social Skills Instruction
Treatment Integrity
little evidence interventions were implemented as planned or intended

15. Cautions regarding Social Skills Instruction
Address Generalization & Maintenance Issues
failure to adequately program for generalization & maintenance
failure to match instructional procedures to specific types of deficits
failure to target socially valid behaviors

16. Cautions regarding Social Skills Instruction
Address Generalization & Maintenance Issues
Functional approach is needed to program for generalization & maintenance (Horner & Billingsley, 1998)
one reason so many socially skilled behaviors fail to generalize is the newly taught skill is masked or overpowered by older and stronger competing behaviors

17. Social Skills Basics
Social skills curriculum must match the specific need.
An ideal curriculum does not exist.
Basic set of “Preferred Teaching Practices” exists.
Initially, learning how to teach social skills takes time and energy.

18. Social Skills
Common misperception is that the social skills group will “fix” the student and the classroom teacher does not need to be an active participant since “specialists” or outside staff are often involved in the intervention.
Important to stress that these interventions will require high level of involvement among ALL staff within the school building

19. Assessment: Student Identification
Emphasize the use of existing data / assessment sources such as ODR, visits to discipline room, teacher referral, number of “buddy room” visits
Measurable outcome – is social skill instruction making a difference?
Reductions in non-desired behavior
Increases in alterative behavior (social skill)

20. Homework Club What is the goal of the Tier 2 intervention?
What are the behavioral outcomes desired?
What are the academic outcomes desired?
How can you evaluate progress toward this goal in an observable/measurable way?

21. Homework Club Is there research supporting homework clubs?
What are the critical features of an effective homework club?
What are the desired outcomes?
How can we measure the outcomes?

22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Be Safe Be Responsible Be Respectful -turned in Homework
Be Respectful
-on task, approp lang.
What would you measure to determine student success in Homework Club?
-for behavior?
-for academic outcomes?
Top graph, ideal
Bottom graph, what we saw at CHS, blips of success, students still failing academically.
Needed additional supports. Remember the matrix? We didn’t use this kind of tool, we could have used more info, progress reports, etc. and then we would have had a better picture of student need.
This is Progress monitoring data – if we had used screening data, we would have been more efficient at meeting student need.
If we didn’t have systems in place we would not have known about student need, what else we needed.

23. Structured Recess Is there research supporting Structured Recess?
I haven’t found any using structured recess as a Tier 2 interventions
Improving structure in recess for Tier 1is effective
Lewis, Colvin & Sugai, 2000
Lewis, Powers, Kelk, & Newcomer(2002).
Murphy, Hutchinson, & Bailey (1983) JABA
What are the critical features of Structured Recess?
What are the desired outcomes?
How can we measure the outcomes?

24. Language Matched Instructional Priming (LMIP) Intervention
Teaching decoding skills (Reading Mastery Program)
Review/Preview of grade level story basal reader (Story being read in class)
Review 2-3 key vocabulary words in the story
Review directions and help student complete the next day’s reading independent task
Teach student how to ask for a break from task
Teach student how to ask for peer or adult assistance to complete a reading task

25. % Intervals with Problem Behavior and Peer Data

26. Check In / Check Out
As a model for what targeted interventions should be
explicitly teaching expected behavior to the student
structured prompts for appropriate behavior
opportunities to practice skills
opportunities for positive feedback
strategies for fading support as the student gains new skills
system for communicating with parents
Regular Data for Monitoring student progress

27. Systems Planning & Monitoring

28. Tier 2: Monitoring Systems
No matter how good the intervention
No intervention works for ALL….
It’s critical to track progress & Regularly evaluate:
benefit of Tier 2 interventions
Effective use of Tier 2 interventions
To do so… effective Data Systems are needed:
See SWIS-CICO –

29. Tier 2 Intervention Inventory

30. Team Task Complete the Tier 2 Intervention Inventory at your school
Determine:
How is student progress evaluated for each existing Tier 2 intervention?
How do we determine if a Tier 2 intervention is cost effective (worth the investment)?
How do we know if a Tier 2 intervention is being implemented with fidelity?

31. 6 of 13 (46 %) students are responding to CICO
% of Points Earned by Students on CICO Elementary School
% of Points Earned
6 of 13 (46 %) students are responding to CICO
What action plan items would you suggest given this data?
Students

32. % of Points Earned by Students on CICO Elementary School
24 of 31 (77 %) students are responding to CICO
What Systems action plan items would you suggest given this data?
Students

33. 6 of 13 (46 %) students are responding to Tier 2 Interventions
% of Points Earned x Students on
Tier 2 Interventions
% of Points Earned
CICO
6 of 13 (46 %) students are responding to Tier 2 Interventions
CICO
CICO
CICO
CICO
CICO
CICO
Anger Mgmt Group
Anger Mgmt Group
Anger Mgmt Group
Anger Mgmt Group
Anger Mgmt Group
Anger Mgmt Group
What action plan items would you suggest given this data?
How about now?
Students

34. Tracking Tool Tier 2

35. Elementary School of 515 student
Tier 2 Tracking Tool
Elementary School of 515 student
What action plan items would you suggest given this data?

36. Team Task
Identify one of the group interventions for students with behavioral concerns at your school
Define the outcomes/goals of the intervention for students
Develop a plan for measuring and evaluating the outcomes of the intervention

37. Tier 2 Interventions
How can you begin evaluating the efficacy of their group interventions?
How can you help them to prioritize which Tier 2 interventions will offer the greatest benefit?
How can you support your schools in turning existing group interventions into Tier 2 interventions?