Teachers and Parents as Partners During Middle School RCT

Randomized Controlled Trial of Teachers and Parents as Partners During Middle School

There are two aims of this study (a) to examine the effect of Teachers and Parents as Partners on student, parent, and teacher outcomes in middle school and (b) identify barriers and facilitators to implementing Teachers and Parents as Partners in middle school for students with behavior concerns.

In the business-as-usual control condition, participants will have access to any services that a school would routinely provide (e.g., develop and implement a behavior support plan) as well as services families can access in the community (e.g., mental health support).

Teachers and Parents as Partners will occur in a series of stages comprised of approximately four structured meetings over approximately 8 weeks. A Teachers and Parents as Partners consultant will meet together with a student's parent(s), teachers, other school personnel (as appropriate), and the student (as appropriate). The Teachers and Parents as Partners team will collaboratively address behavior problem solving objectives. Specific TAPP objectives include: identifying strengths and specific behaviors of concern, specifying alternative prosocial behaviors, creating measurable behavior goals, co-constructing behavior intervention/support plans to address the target concerns, creating sustainable conditions to support plan implementation at home and school, and evaluating the plan to assess progress toward goals.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Students will be eligible if they have scores in the "elevated" or "extremely elevated" risk categories on the parent or teacher version of the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children (BASC) 3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS). Parents, and primary teachers and school staff associated with an eligible student will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students who do not meet the inclusion criteria will be excluded from participation, which includes their parent(s), teachers, and other school personnel. Students also may not be eligible if they have mental health concerns or severe behavior problems that may not be appropriate for Teachers and Parents as Partners or a research project (e.g., some internalizing problems, students who pose an risk of harming themselves).