Principalles for Data Collection: Important Ingredients for Successful and Targeted Interventions

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Principal(les) for Data Collection Important
Ingredients for Successful and Targeted
Interventions
http//www.csf.usu.edu

• Richard P. West, Ph.D.
• Terry Humphreys, M.S.
• Tim G. Smith, M.S.
• Matthew J. Taylor Ph.D.
• Utah State University and Cache County School
  District

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If Schools Are To Achieve All They Can, They Will
Need

• Better information about what works (Best
  Practices)
• Tools for monitoring progress
• Tailored assistance in developing and
  implementing appropriate policy
• More skillful communication and more public
  involvement in reform

Education Commission of the States, 1998
3

• Better schools result from better decisions, and
  better decisions result from better data
• Sustained improvement in academic achievement
  requires changes in the school environment
• An ethic of collegiality and cooperation is
  necessary to bring about meaningful school reform

PRINCIPLES
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Indicators of School QualityMonitoring the
School Environment
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External Variables
Internal Variables
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Web of Causation for Academic Achievement
Instruction
Academic Achievement
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Web of Causation for Social Competence
Punishment
Social Competence
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Web of Causation for Myocardial Infarction (Heart
Attacks)
Taken from Friedman, G. D. (1994). Primer of
Epidemiology (5th Ed.). New York McGraw-Hill,
p.4.
Natural selection of metabolic adaptation to
starvation
Industrial society
Social pressures
Dietary excesses in saturated fat,
cholesterol, calories, salt
Personality emotional stress
Lack of exercise
Hereditary factors
Cigarette smoking
Obesity
Coronary artery distribution
Diabetes or carbohydrate intolerance
Increased catecholamines
Thrombotic tendency
Hyperlipidemia
Hypertension
Significant coronary atherosclerosis
Deficiency in collateral circulation
Myocardial susceptibility
Coronaryocclusion
The authors note that Despite the apparent
complexity of this diagram, it is undoubtedly
an oversimplification and will certainly be
modified by further study. (p. 5).
Myocardial infarction
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The Indicators of School Quality

• Parent Support
• Teacher Excellence
• Instructional Quality
• Administration
• Student Commitment
• Safety
• Resources

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Areas of Risk

• Home Language Is English the primary language
  spoken at home?
• Mobility Have you moved more than once in the
  past three years?
• Peer Associations Do you generally approve of
  your childs closest friends?
• Family Bonding Do your neighbors generally
  monitor their childrens activities?
• Community Affiliation Do you regularly attend
  community, social, or religious meetings?
• Academic Risk Do you have a high school
  diploma/GED?
• Economic Risk Do you have Internet access at
  home?

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ISQ and Academic Achievement

• The variables measured by ISQ account for more
  than 80 of the variance of academic achievement
  scores
• Even when risk is removed from the equation,
  the correlations between ISQ variables and
  achievement are statistically significant

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Hierarchy of Risk

• Economic Status
• Community Affiliation
• Family Bonding
• Mobility
• Academic Status
• Home Language
• Peer Acceptance

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At-Risk Schools
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A Tale of Two Schools

• "It was the best of times, it was the worst of
  times.

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(No Transcript)
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Office Referrals
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Office Referrals OCTOBER
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Total Level 1 Violations by Groups
59
41
25
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At-Risk students, in this case, are identified as
having 5 or more violations MARCH 2004
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Level 1 Violations by At-Risk Groups
MARCH 2004
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Violations by Location
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(No Transcript)
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The Future of ISQ

• Indicators of PBS
• Domain and PBS Checklists

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Elementary Students

• Do your teachers always give clear instructions?
• Are you often confused about how to behave at
  school?
• Do you like to read?
• Do your teachers tell you when you do well?

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Secondary Students

• Do all of your teachers generally give clear
  instructions?
• Is there an adult at this school who you can
  approach for help?
• Are you frequently confused about what is
  expected of you at school?
• Would you know where to get help if you fell
  behind in your schoolwork?
• Have you been recognized individually in the last
  school week for behaving well?

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Staff

• Do you post clearly stated expectations for
  behavior in your classroom?
• Do teachers regularly encourage students to come
  to them for extra help?
• Is there a coordinated effort by all school staff
  to teach appropriate social skills?
• Do all of your students know where to get help to
  catch up academically?
• Are you encouraged by the administration to
  recognize positive student behaviors?

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Checklist of Contextual Factors
Clear Communication of Expectations for
Performance

• A well-written set of behavioral standards and
  expectations exists at this school
• The set of expectations is short (generally from
  5 to 7 items)
• Students were involved in the development,
  refinement, and communication of the standards of
  behavior
• The behavioral expectations are statements of how
  to behave well, rather than what not to do
• Behavioral expectations are posted prominently
  throughout the school
• Behavioral expectations are emphasized in each
  classroom (e.g. explicitly taught, reminded, and
  encouraged)
• Students are able to remember and repeat
  statements of behavioral expectations

Adapted from G. Roy Mayer (2001) California
State University,Los Angeles
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Checklist of Contextual Factors
Relationships and Bonding

• Strong administrative support for staff exists
  (e.g. good teaching is recognized, faculty
  requests are acted upon promptly)
• Strong staff support for one another exists (e.g.
  staff confer with one another regarding
  instruction and discipline)
• Staff greet and help students feel welcome in the
  classroom
• Staff interact with and show interest in students
  in various settings
• Staff have many more positive than negative
  interactions with students
• Students generally comply willingly with staff
  requests and instructions
• Students tend to hang around staff, engaging in
  conversations, etc.
• Staff are really well acquainted with each and
  every student, and are familiar with students
  personal characteristics, attributes, and
  challenges

Adapted from G. Roy Mayer (2001) California
State University,Los Angeles
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Checklist of Contextual Factors
Skill-Building Emphasis Academic, Social, and
Self-Management Skills

• The school assumes responsibility for learning of
  academic skills
• Curriculum in all areas is organized to emphasize
  active rather than passive responding, with many
  tailored opportunities for all students to
  respond
• Academic assignments are adjusted to students
  functional levels
• Sufficient additional academic support is
  provided to struggling students
• The school assumes responsibility for learning of
  social skills
• Social skills are identified and taught
  effectively emphasizing fluency and generalized
  performance in natural settings
• Failure to meet high expectations of performance
  is followed by individual intensive teaching
  rather than punishment
• Students receive explicit instruction and support
  in self-management

Adapted from G. Roy Mayer (2001) California State
University,Los Angeles
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Checklist of Contextual Factors
Recognition of Appropriate Behavior

• Recognition is provided by the administration to
  students who meet the behavioral expectations
• Recognition is provided by classroom teachers to
  students who meet the behavioral expectations
• All students receive frequent and appropriate
  recognition for their accomplishments and efforts
  to meet high standards of good behavior
• At-Risk students receive more frequent and
  personalized (tailored) recognition for their
  efforts to meet high standards and expectations
  (in both academic and deportment)
• Evidences exist in this school of efforts to pay
  more attention to good behavior and success than
  to problem behavior and mistakes

Adapted from G. Roy Mayer (2001), California
State University,Los Angeles
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CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

• It appears that changing these identified
  contextual factors not only can help prevent
  antisocial behavior, but also can help to create
  an environment more conducive to learning

G. Roy Mayer (2001) California State
University,Los Angeles
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Nine Contextual Factors that Contribute to
Punitive School Environments and Promote
Antisocial Behavior

• Low student involvement in school activities
• Unclear rules for student deportment
• Weak or inconsistent administrative support
• Student academic failure
• Student deficiency in social personal
  management skills
• Problems discriminating prosocial antisocial
  behavior
• Consequences delivered inconsistently
• Inadvertent reinforcement of antisocial behavior
• Over reliance on punitive methods of control
  (Mayer, 1995 Similar to home-based contextual
  factors noted by Loeber, Stouthammer-Loeber
  Green, 1987 and Reid Patterson, 1991)