Session: Interventions to Build the Capacity of School Teams to Improve Outcomes for Students with or at Risk for Disabilities (Society for Prevention Research 25th Annual Meeting)

SESSION INTRODUCTION: The goal of this symposium is to present a series of innovative approaches to measuring and improving data-based decision-making (DBDM) and implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) among school teams. Schools are frequently the primary providers of academic, behavioral, and transition services for students with or at risk for disabilities. Teams of school-level professionals (e.g., administrators, teachers, related services providers) play a critical role in using data to identify problems and implement evidence-based solutions for these students. However, school teams often need additional training and resources to engage in these processes in a way that improves student academic, behavioral, and transition outcomes. The symposium will bring together researchers from a diverse set of institutions who are developing and/or evaluating team-based interventions around DBDM and implementation of EBPs with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for students in Grades K-12 with or at risk for disabilities. The symposium supports the general conference theme, Development and Testing of Interventions and the special conference theme, Prevention in Primary Care: Investments, Policy, and Implementation.

The first presentation will describe an observational measure of school team problem solving processes developed for the purpose of evaluating the efficacy of a training and coaching model for teaching elementary school teams to use progress-monitoring data to identify and solve problems and improve outcomes for students demonstrating problem behavior. The second presentation will discuss an innovative approach to improving elementary school teams’ adoption and implementation of EBPs for students with disruptive behavior problems and disorders. Specifically, the presentation will describe the application of functional behavior assessment to evaluate the activities of school teams and the promise of this assessment and intervention protocol for increasing teams’ adoption and implementation of EBPs and improving student outcomes. The third presentation will describe results of a randomized controlled trial of a comprehensive school-based program implemented by school teams to improve outcomes for high school students with autism. Results will highlight the relationships between team functioning and intervention implementation and sustainability.

Following the presentations, there will be a discussion between the presenters and the attendees. This symposium is expected to appeal to SPR participants with a particular interest in building capacity for schools and districts to support students with or at risk for disabilities in Grades K-12.