IVES: On-going Positive Behavior Support for Teachers

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to create an Interactive Video Email Service (IVES) that provides professional development training incorporating empirically validated behavioral techniques to give middle school teachers the knowledge and skills to help them improve their classroom behavior management skills. The Teacher-IVES program is an Internet-based service that integrates automated email, live-action video exemplars, and interactive website technologies to deliver frequent, ongoing training to classroom teachers. Links to a central interactive training website will provide teachers with ongoing access to self-assessments and archives of training topics. IRIS Media, a recognized leader in the development of media-based behavior support training for schools, is well-positioned to license this program to school districts, thus providing teachers across the nation with the opportunity to improve their classroom management skills through long-term exposure-in small doses-to effective, evidence-based practices. In Phase I, teachers will evaluate a working prototype of IVES that trains them in skills for responding to non-compliance in the classroom, a problem behavior that is a common source of referrals and is of major concern to teachers (Gardill, DuPaul, & Kyle, 1996). Criteria for evaluating the feasibility of this program will be based on measuring a) social validity, b) content knowledge and self-efficacy of users via a randomized, treatment-control group, pre-post test design with 100 teachers from distinct schools, and c) consumer satisfaction and use patterns of participants in the treatment group. In Phase II, we will expand the Phase I effort to support the development of student self-control and social competency, and to foster parental involvement. In Phase II, we will perform an experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of IVES as compared to other professional development options. The Teacher-IVES project is important and socially relevant. Classroom management has been identified as a major teacher concern and negative student behaviors compromise all students' learning. Furthermore, the participation of Drs. Colvin, Horner, Sprague and Sugai, and Ms. Browning Wright as Project Consultants gives validity to the Teacher-IVES content and their collaboration ensures that teachers will receive empirically sound approaches for implementing positive behavior supports.