Relationship between behavior intervention plan quality and student outcomes in California schools

¶ … evidence-based quality of behavior intervention plans (BIPs) and student outcomes under natural educational conditions," (p. 4). The five components of the research question are all related to the purpose of the study, about the relationship between BIPs and real-world outcomes for students. The high level of specificity makes the research question relevant, and it also relates to the theoretical viewpoints expressed throughout the introduction. Although it is clumsily worded and a bit too verbose, the five-part research question statement does effectively tell the reader how the hypotheses will inform research design. The research questions also emphasize evidence-based practice.

Sampling Technique

Participants were culled from the State of California and involved in the Positive Environments Network of Trainers (PENT), or identified by a PENT member. This does significantly narrow down and restrict the sampling technique, as there are several other organizations through which the researchers might have recruited samples. However, the authors clarify the reasoning for using PENT only: that is, the members tend to be primary implementers of the BIPs, or at least coimplementers. For the purposes of this research, therefore, PENT was an acceptable choice.

There is also state specificity in the research, making it appropriate to focus on the state of California only. If this research were to be replicated in another state, different organizations would be used and different sampling criteria based on the type of special education programs and methods of implementation.

A total of 200 PENT members were requested to participate, but only 99 could participate to recruit the primary implementers. In the end, 139 PENT members and 99 primary implementers participated. The students for which the BIPs were written had a variety of special education designations including emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, and autism spectrum. The sample size was relatively small, but remains a decent starting point for the research.

Study Design

The study was administered longitudinally, allowing for a more accurate assessment of the data. At different stages, the researchers collected and processed data. This provided a comprehensive overview of the results. Advantages to the research study design include its ease of implementation and relatively low cost. One of the strongest advantages of the study is that students are not being directly evaluated, a situation that would contaminate the results and create bias in the data evaluation. Disadvantages include potential lack of generalizability of results, and validity problems due to the use of a web-based survey.

Application

In spite of the flaws in the research design, the information yielded in this study can be used to inform best practices in special education. It is important to use evidence-based practice when designing programs for students. The BIP needs extra support from research if it is to be implemented in the public school system. Research like this should be conducted more frequently, in order to ensure that students are receiving the best possible interventions. It would be irresponsible to promote any practice that is not directly linked to real world student results. It was shown that BIPs are linked to positive student outcomes. This encourages teachers and administrators to recognize the worth of BIPs and value their use in schools.

Because the results were also obtained in a naturalistic or real-world setting, it is possible to see the immediate relevance of the research for my professional life. The results are about real students in classroom settings, and the students were not directly participating in the research. This means the results were not influenced by the notion they were being watched, which would have influenced the results. Designing special education programs is challenging, especially in California where there are a number of different programs that are sometimes conflicting. This research supports the use of BIPs in special education based on evidence. Some of the potential positive effects of using BIPs include improved behavioral outcomes, increases in positive behavior, and improvements to academic performance. Educators will be happy to integrate new programs when they yield positive results for their students.

Reference

Cook, C.R., Mayer, G.R., Wright, D.B., Kraemer, B., Wallace, M.D., Dart, E., Collins, T. & Restori, A. (2010). Exploring the Link Among Behavior Intervention Plans, Treatment Integrity, and Student Outcomes Under natural educational conditions. The Journal of Special Education 46(3).