ABSTRACT
Many evidence-based practices have not achieved their potential to broadly impact student outcomes as schools struggle with their adoption and implementation. This costly and consequential implementation gap must be addressed within school psychology through the focused study of implementation processes and outcomes. Implementation science is a multidisciplinary, translational field focused on increasing the usage and implementation of evidence-based practices into typical practice to improve outcomes. Despite the rapid development of the field of implementation science over the past decade it has been underexamined in school psychology research. As a step toward decreasing the implementation gap, the purpose of this introductory article is to increase school psychology researchers' implementation literacy. Specifically, this article provides an overview of implementation science, including (a) key terminology; (b) theories, models, and frameworks designed to explain, describe, or illustrate implementation processes or constructs; (c) strategies to support implementation across levels (e.g., provider, organization); (d) measures to capture implementation and related context; and (e) utilized research designs. By increasing school psychology researchers' implementation literacy, it is hoped that future research will attend to and evaluate implementation process and outcomes and thus facilitate the adoption and implementation of evidence-based practices to improve student outcomes.
Subject(s)
Behavioral Research/methods , Evidence-Based Practice , Implementation Science , Professional Practice Gaps , Psychology, Educational , School Health Services , Adolescent , Child , Humans , Research Design , Terminology as TopicABSTRACT
Increasingly teachers are the primary implementer responsible for providing evidence-based interventions to students. However, there is little knowledge regarding the extent to which teachers plan for intervention implementation, receive implementation support, or identify and address implementation barriers. This study explores survey data from over 1200 preschool through grade 12 teachers from 46 public school districts in a Northeastern state. Results indicate that teachers spend significant time engaging in intervention-related behavior and may be a primary source responsible for selecting student interventions. However, the current extent to which they plan for implementation and present levels of implementation support are inadequate to produce high levels of sustained intervention implementation. In addition, almost 60% of implementation barriers reported related to aspects of the intervention itself. Findings from this study provide guidance for future research and preliminary recommendations for ameliorating implementation barriers and proactively supporting treatment integrity in schools.
Subject(s)
Behavior Control , School Teachers , Schools , Students , Achievement , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
School psychologists commonly provide intervention services to children through consultation with teachers. Data suggest, however, that many teacher consultees struggle to implement these interventions. There are relatively few evidence-based strategies for promoting teacher consultees' intervention implementation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Implementation Planning as a strategy for increasing the adherence and quality with which teacher consultees implemented behavior support plans. Implementation Planning involves adapting intervention steps to the implementation context, providing detailed logistical planning, as well as identifying implementation barriers and developing strategies to address them. Results indicated that teachers' implementation adherence levels increased and quality levels increased with corresponding decreases in variability, compared to standard behavioral consultation. Implications for future research on treatment integrity are discussed.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior/psychology , Problem Behavior/psychology , Psychology, Educational/standards , School Teachers/standards , Schools/standards , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Previous research suggests that performance feedback improves treatment integrity. This study compared the effects of verbal performance feedback and verbal plus graphic performance feedback on implementation of a student-specific behavior support plan (BSP) by members of a second-grade teaching team at a public elementary school. A consultant to the school delivered feedback following regularly scheduled classroom observations. Results indicated that combining verbal and graphic performance feedback was more effective than verbal performance feedback alone in improving treatment integrity. Informal data collected on student performance also suggested that appropriate behavior increased with better implementation of the BSP. Clinical and research issues are discussed.
