Teachers’ adoption and implementation of evidence‐based programs is often limited. Program characteristics may be important facilitators or barriers of use, yet little is known about which attributes influence teacher decisions. Using a discrete choice experiment with a sample of general education elementary teachers (N = 230), we examined (a) preference for attributes of school‐based interventions, (b) relative preference for three intervention packages with experimentally manipulated characteristics, and (c) teacher characteristics related to the above preference profiles. Intervention outcomes were the most important characteristics in teachers’ intervention decisions. Most teachers’ responses suggested preference for a social and emotional learning program (57.9%) or school‐based consultation for behavioral interventions (35.8%); a small group of teachers preferred a general support intervention (5.8%). Teachers preferring the general support intervention reported greater mental health symptoms, lower mental health literacy and lower confidence in program effectiveness than peers preferring other interventions. Implications for intervention development and future directions are discussed.
The use of technology for delivering professional development (PD) shows promise for reducing common barriers (e.g., feasibility, access) to dissemination of teacher-implemented classroom management interventions. However, prior programs examined in research have been unable to produce satisfactory uptake and outcomes when used in isolation. Thus, the aims of this study were to examine a potentially more feasible level of support that leverages both online PD and low intensity consultation supports as a means of producing successful adoption of a Daily Report Card (DRC) intervention and positive student outcomes. Elementary school teachers who were determined eligible to participate (n = 33) were provided access to an interactive online program and, on an as needed basis, brief, solution-focused consultation. Over half of teachers (51.5%) who received access to the website adopted the intervention for at least 2 months. These teachers demonstrated acceptable levels of implementation integrity and their students demonstrated improvements in overall (d = .53) and hyperactive and inattentive (d = .83) problems. Importantly, teachers achieved these outcomes using an average of 33 minutes of face-to-face consultation. The results of this study suggest that, for some teachers, online supports may offer a more feasible means of supporting implementation of a DRC than more traditional forms of face-to-face consultation.
4Online supports may provide a promising direction for increasing the dissemination of the DRC and other evidence-based interventions. Future directions for improving technology and implications for integrating online PD into a continuum of supports for teachers are discussed.
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