Effects of a Multifaceted Classroom Intervention on Racial Disproportionality

Abstract

Effects of a Multifaceted Classroom Intervention on Racial DisproportionalityThe present study is an examination of a classroom based intervention with five critical components of (a) defining and teaching desired behavior with cultural consideration, (b) increasing acknowledgement for African American students, (c) responding to unwanted behavior using an instructional approach, (d) using disaggregated data by race to guide intervention implementation, and (e) providing coaching to enhance intervention implementation. The study is a concurrent multiple-baseline single-case design across four general education teachers ranging from kindergarten to seventh grade. Results from the study indicate a functional relation between intervention implementation and increased rates of praise and decreased rates of reprimands for African American students.In addition, data show equitable increases in praise across both racial groups and decreases in reprimand disparities between racial groups during intervention. Teachers implementing the intervention found it to be acceptable, effective, and a good fit within their school and classroom contexts. The findings from this study suggest this intervention may help to close the discipline gap between African American students and their peers.

Equity-focused PBIS approach reduces racial inequities in school discipline: A randomized controlled trial.

“…The menus include strategies for (a) improving student–teacher relationships (e.g., positive greetings at the door; Cook, Fiat, et al, 2018), (b) teaching desired behaviors (e.g., learning about values of families; Hammond, 2014), and (c) responding to unwanted behaviors (e.g., wise feedback; Yeager et al, 2014). One core ReACT strategy is the Personal Matrix (Leverson et al, 2021), an activity that helps bridge expectations across school and home that has been shown to increase equity (Gion et al, 2021; Muldrew & Miller, 2021). These strategies align with a PBIS approach and principles of culturally responsive pedagogy (Bastable, Fairbanks Falcon, et al, 2021).…”

Understanding Educators’ Implementation of an Equity-Focused PBIS Intervention: A Qualitative Study of Critical Incidents

“…School discipline disproportionality remains a widespread issue affecting many students, educators, and communities across the United States. Although there is now evidence of interventions that can significantly decrease discipline disparities (Bradshaw et al, 2018; Cook et al, 2018; Gion et al, 2020; Gregory et al, 2016; Knochel et al, 2020), implementation of school approaches have proven challenging in practice (Augustine et al, 2018; Gregory & Evans, 2020). Variables such as an individual’s willingness to acknowledge racial inequities (DiAngelo, 2018; Singleton, 2015) and organizational and cultural factors in schools may limit educators’ capacity to address disciplinary equity in their classrooms or school-wide (Bastable et al, 2021; Sander & Bibbs, 2020; Wiley et al, 2018).…”

Using Improvement Cycles to Improve Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices

“…In addition, there is also research showing that the use of continuous improvement cycles embedded within equity-focused interventions, interventions designed to reduce racial disparities (Gion et al, 2020), can improve socially significant outcomes for students with and without disabilities (McIntosh et al, in press;McIntosh et al, 2021). As an example, we will refer to an intervention called ReACT (Racial Equity through Assessing data for vulnerable decision points, Culturally responsive behavior strategies, and Teaching about implicit bias and strategies to neutralize it).…”

“…For example, a school team may identify that disproportionality decreased substantially in the hallways but not in the classrooms. Therefore, the team may decide to modify their action plan by providing additional professional development to classroom teachers on identifying implicit biases and training teachers to use additional ReACT strategies, such as greeting students at the door or increasing the ratio of praise statements to reprimands in the classroom (Gion et al, 2020;McIntosh et al, 2021).…”