What Makes the Most Difference in Sustaining a Good Program?

In this article in Exceptional Children, Kent McIntosh (University of Oregon), Sterett Mercer, Amanda Hume, Mary Turri, and Susanna Mathews (University of British Columbia), and Jennifer Frank (Pennsylvania State University) report on their study of the sustainability of the Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support (SPBS) program in 217 schools in 14 states. They analyzed four factors they hypothesized would make a difference:

• Whether the program was a priority within the school – Staff commitment and buy-in, administrative support, integration with existing and new efforts, and perceptions of effectiveness and efficiency within the school;
• Whether teacher teams used data – Teams’ skill level, meeting regularly, use of student behavior data to adjust practices, and sharing data with colleagues within the school;
• Whether the program was a priority in the district – Funding, commitment, visibility, and integration with district initiatives;
• Capacity building – Coaching, technical assistance, regular professional development, and connections to a community of practice.

The researchers found that team use of data was by far the most important factor in sustained, successful implementation of the SPBS program. Capacity building came in second, district support third, and school priority a distant fourth. 

“The results indicate that the most directly influential role in sustainability is not the administrator, but the school team,” conclude the authors. “The finding that neither school nor district priority made a significant independent contribution to sustained implementation was somewhat surprising. Results seem to go counter to existing literature describing the importance of these aspects.” But perhaps school support manifests itself in teams that meet regularly, are skilled, and use data for decision making – and indeed, the schools that implemented SPBS most successfully had strong, data-using teams and supportive administrators.

“Factors Related to Sustained Implementation of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support” by Kent McIntosh, Sterett Mercer, Amanda Hume, Jennifer Frank, Mary Turri, and Susanna Mathews in Exceptional Children, Spring 2013 (Vol. 79, #3, p. 293-311), 

http://cec.metapress.com/content/v062875460165216/ 

From the Marshall Memo #474