Paraprofessional Behavior Support Coaching Project
Professional Development
The Rutgers Paraprofessional Coaching Project provides job-embedded professional development supports to enhance Elementary Grades K-5 Paraprofessionals’ work with students that have challenging behavioral issues in the classroom. Over the course of the school year, we offer collaborative coaching sessions focused on helping paraprofessional classroom aides implement evidence-based behavioral interventions for students. By helping improve paraprofessionals’ skills in managing challenging behaviors, we aim to improve students’ learning and social behavior in the classroom, and ultimately promote their success in schools.
How Paraprofessionals, Teachers, and Students Benefit
Each coach teaches paraprofessionals and their classroom teachers how to choose evidence-based interventions that match the function of student behaviors and systematically support paraprofessionals’ intervention fidelity. Increasing paraprofessional skills are the main priority and coaching aims to increase paraprofessional skills in the following areas:
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Understanding of positive reinforcement through labeled-specific praise
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Determining the antecedent, behavior, and consequences (ABCs) of behavior
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Using ABCs to figure out the function of the student’s behavior
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Matching interventions to the behavior’s function
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Following implementation protocols for evidence-based interventions to provide best practices when addressing externalizing behaviors
Background
Although paraprofessionals maintain a substantial role in providing classroom-based behavioral interventions for students, they often receive very little training or job-embedded support in behavior management. Given the challenges of providing adequate support to students with externalizing behavior disorders and their risk for negative outcomes (e.g., poor academic performance, drop-out, juvenile delinquency), there is a significant need to identify effective models for supporting these students and the professionals who work with them. Thus, the purpose of the Rutgers’ Paraprofessional Coaching Project is to test the efficacy of a behavior support coaching model for improving (a) paraprofessional’s classroom intervention practices and (b) behavioral and academic outcomes for elementary school students with or at risk for externalizing behavior disorders.
The Rutgers Paraprofessional Coaching Project is sponsored research by the US Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (Award #R324A170069) under the NCSER-Professional Development for Educators and School Based Service Providers program. The project is led by Drs. Linda A. Reddy and Todd A. Glover of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University.
Drs. Reddy and Glover conducted a three-cohort randomized control trial to test the impact of the Behavior Support Coaching for Paraprofessional (BSC-P) on paraprofessionals and student behavior outcomes. The research investigated the potential moderating effects of paraprofessional-teacher relationships and observed teacher instructional and behavior management practices on paraprofessional self-reported behavioral practices and student outcomes. Also, the mediating effects of paraprofessional self-reported behavior practice usage on the relationship between BSC-P implementation and student outcomes were examined.
Coaching Model
Our Behavior Support Coaching model focuses on helping paraprofessional classroom aides learn about and implement evidence based behavioral interventions for students. Our team of coaches help paraprofessionals: identify student behavior needs, set goals, model interventions, facilitate practice, and provide ongoing feedback.
Over the course of the year, 8 collaborative coaching sessions are provided that are job-embedded, classroom specific, and tailored to individual students. Each coach teaches paraprofessionals and their classroom teachers how to choose evidence-based interventions that match the function of student behaviors and systematically support paraprofessionals’ intervention fidelity. Interventions can either target the whole class or the individual target student. Coaches conduct observations throughout the coaching process and use the data to drive key decisions and actions for improving paraprofessionals’ classroom and behavior management practices.
Theory
Our coaching model is based on a data-driven behavioral consultation framework (Bergan & Kratochwill, 1990; Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2008) which has been found to yield moderate to large effects on both teacher and student outcomes via decades of research (e.g., Erchul & Sheridan, 2014; Reddy et al., 2001; Sheridan et al., 2012). The BSC-P framework is guided by principals of behavior theory with three foundational concepts: (a) behavior is learned, (b) behavior is lawful, and (c) behavior is alterable through environmental modifications (Skinner, 1953). Within this framework, new behaviors (i.e., skills) are acquired, refined, and maintained through practice, monitoring, and reinforcement that is contingent on demonstration of desired behaviors. the toolkit of interventions used in this project are based on best practices identified through a review of over 250 experimental and quasi-experimental studies of school-based interventions where outcomes of disruptive and aggressive behaviors were obtained (e.g., Eyberg, Nelson, & Boggs, 2008; Evans, Owen, & Bunford, 2014, Reddy et al., 2009; Wilson & Lipsey, 2007). Behavior interventions and supports for student with externalizing behaviors also have been widely endorsed by the Council of Exceptional Children (2014) and American Academy of Pediatrics (2011).
Initial Project Outcomes
An initial study has been conducted on outcomes for two cohorts of participants from the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years. The initial sample from 37 schools included 108 paraprofessionals and 239 students with or at risk for disruptive behavior disorders. Schools were randomly assigned to the BSC-P or a waitlist control condition.
Paraprofessionals in BSC-P schools participated in eight coaching sessions facilitated by a highly trained BSC-P coach. Initial screening was conducted using the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (MESS) and Behavioral Observation of Students in Schools (BOSS) system to identify students for whom intervention coaching would be provided to paraprofessionals in the BSC-P condition and for whom data would be collected in both the treatment and control conditions. Regular systematic direct observations were used to inform coaching sessions where coaches facilitated paraprofessionals’ identification of student targets/goals and selection and implementation of interventions. Student outcomes were assessed using the BOSS, Behavior Assessment System for Children-3 (BASC-3), and Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS).
Statistically significant differences were found between BSC-P and waitlist control condition on measured outcomes, with students receiving support from BSC-P paraprofessionals exhibiting greater pre-post intervention improvements on BOSS-measured academic engagement (F = 30.54, p < .01, d =. 67), inappropriate physical behaviors (F= 24.52, p < .01, d=.66), and inappropriate verbal behaviors (F= 17.87, p < .01, d =.42).
BSC-P paraprofessionals exhibited greater improvements on BASC-3 indicators of adaptive behavior (F= 12.40, p < .01, d= .48) and school problems (F= 7.48, p < .01, d= .29) and on SSIS measured social skills (F = 10.99, p < .01; d = .39) and academic competence [F = 6.20, p < .05; d = .32). BSC-P paraprofessionals rated higher levels of instructional support (F= 12.18, p < .01, d= .59) than controls.
Publications and Presentations
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Dudek, C. M., Bronstein, B., Reddy, L., Wiggs, N., Glover, T., & Fingerhut, J. (accepted). Classroom teachers’ relationships with paraprofessionals serving students with challenging behaviors. Contemporary School Psychology.
Fingerhut, J., Reddy, L., Dudek, C., Bronstein, B., & Elliott, A. (2024). Classroom paraprofessional and teachers serving students with disruptive behaviors: A study of professional relationships. Exceptionality, 1, 57-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362835.2023.2271588
Fingerhut, J., Reddy, L., Lewka, A., & Dudek, C.M. (2024 Implementation of behavior support coaching: A study of behavior concerns and interventions used in elementary schools. Psychology in the Schools, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.23256
Alperin, A., Dudek, C. M., Reddy, L. A., Glover, T. A., Wiggs, N. B., & Bronstein, B. Convergent Validity of the Behavioral Observation of Students in Schools for Elementary School Students with Disruptive Behaviors (2023). Psychology in the Schools, 60, 4039-4060. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22983
Reddy, L.A., Glover, T., Dudek, C., Alperin, A., Breeden, N., & Bronstein, B. (2022). A randomized controlled trial of paraprofessional behavior support coaching on intervention implementation and student outcomes in high-poverty schools. Journal of School Psychology, 92, 227-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2022.04.002
Wiggs, N.B., Reddy, L.A., Glover, T.A., Dudek, C.M., Bronstein, B., & Alperin, A. (2021). A mixed-method study of paraprofessional classroom roles, professional development, and needs for training in elementary schools. Psychology in the Schools, 58, 2238-2254. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22589
Wiggs, N., Reddy, L. A., Glover, T., Bronstein, B., Dudek, C. M., & Alperin, A. (2024). Paraprofessional Perceptions About and Use of Behavior Strategies in Elementary Schools. Psychology in the Schools, 61, 2100-2114. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.23153
Bronstein, B., Reddy, L.A., Glover, T.A., Wiggs, N.B., & Christopher M. Dudek (2021). Paraprofessional and teacher relationships in working with students with or at risk for disruptive behavior disorders. Journal of Special Education, 56(3), 123-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/00224669211049442
Alperin, A., Reddy, L.A., Glover, T.A., Bronstein, B., Wiggs, N.B., & Dudek, C.M. (2021). School-based interventions for middle school students with disruptive behaviors: A review of components and methodology. School Psychology Review, 52 (2), 180-205. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2021.1883996
Reddy, L.A., Lekwa, L.A. & Glover, T., (2021). Supporting paraprofessionals in schools: Current research and practices. Psychology in the Schools, 58, 643-647. https://DOI.ORG/10.1002/pits.22457
Lekwa, A., & Reddy, L.A., (2021). Assessment of paraprofessional practices: Current status and future measurement directions. Psychology in the Schools, 58, 648-668. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22480
Breeden, N., Reddy, L., Glover, T., Dudek, C.M., Alperin, A., & Reagan, P. (2020). Behavior coaching support for paraprofessionals and students with emotional behavior disorders: A case study in an urban high-poverty elementary school. Journal of Applied School Psychology,37 (3), 221-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377903.2020.1821272
Alperin, A., Breeden, N., Reddy, L.A., Glover, T., Dudek, C.M., & Reagan, P. (2020). Behavior support coaching for a paraprofessional working with first-grade students Exhibiting disruptive behavior Problems in an urban high-poverty elementary school. Clinical Case Studies, 19 (5), 303-2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534650120935197
Reddy, L.A., Alperin, A., & Glover, T. (2020). A critical review of professional development literature for paraprofessionals supporting students with externalizing behavior disorders. Psychology in the Schools, 58,742-763. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22381
Bronstein, B., Breeden, N., Glover, T. & Reddy, L. (2021). Paraprofessionals’ perceptions of behavior problems in elementary school classrooms. Journal of Special Education, 55 (3), 153-162. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466920961085
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Dudek, C. M., Reddy, L. A., & Glover, T. (2024). Relationship between paraprofessionals use of behavior management strategies and student disruptive behaviors. Paper presented the American Educational Research Association annual conference. Philadelphia, PA.
Fingerhut, J., Reddy, L. A., Glover, T., Lekwa, A. J., & Dudek, C. M. (2024). Implementation of paraprofessional behavior support coaching: A study of behavior concerns and interventions used in elementary schools. Paper presented the American Educational Research Association annual conference. Philadelphia, PA
Dudek, C. M., Reddy, L.A., Lekwa, & Glover, T. (2024) Paraprofessional supervision and training needs: A mixed methods study. Paper presented at the National Association for School Psychologists annual conference. New Orleans, LA.
Dudek, C. M., Lekwa, A. Reddy, L. A. (2023, February). Current status of paraprofessionals’ supervision needs: A national study. Fingerhut, J., Reddy, L., & Glover, T. Paper presented at the National Association for School Psychologists annual conference. Denver, CO.
Reddy, L.A. (September 2023, Keynote) Educator effectiveness, wellbeing and retention:
Opportunities for research, practice and policy Signature Speaker Series at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research and Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Fingerhut, J., Reddy, L., & Glover, T. (2022, August). Paraprofessional behavior coaching: Behavior goals and interventions in elementary schools. Poster presentation at APA, virtual conference.
Reddy, L.A. (2022, June invited). A randomized trial examining the effects of paraprofessional behavior support coaching for elementary students with disruptive behavior disorders: Paraprofessional and student outcomes. Symposium: Pathways from Educator Coaching to Improved Teacher and Student Outcomes, presented at the Society for Prevention Research, Seattle, WA.
Reddy, L.A. (2022, May Invited B.F. Skinner Keynote). Supporting educator effectiveness through measurement, coaching and technologypresented at the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), Boston, MA.
Reddy, L.A. (2022, April Invited Keynote). Teacher experiences with violence in American schools: A social-ecological analysis of the 2010 and 2020 APA national studies. National Science Foundation at the University of Haifa, Israel.
Dudek, C. M., Reddy, L. A., Wiggs, N., Bronstein, B., Alperin, A., and Glover, T. (2022, February). Convergent validity between teachers’ practices and students’ at-risk for EBD. Paper presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, Boston, MA.
Bronstein, B., Breeden, N., Glover, T. & Reddy, L. (2020, August). Paraprofessional behavior reporting for students with disruptive behavior disorders in elementary schools: A mixed-methods approach. Oral Session at the Pennsylvania Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Virtual Conference.
Alperin, A., Reddy et al., (2020, August) Evidence-based behavior intervention and support toolkit for middle school students with disruptive behavior disorders [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association 2020 Convention, Washington, D.C.
Reddy, L. A., & Glover, T. A. (2020, February). Findings of paraprofessional behavior coaching for elementary students with disruptive behaviors. Poster presented at the Pacific Coast Research Conference 2020 Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Breeden, N.C., Alperin, A., Reddy, L.A., & Glover, T.A. (2020, February). Can you help my para? Behavior coaching for paraprofessionals. Mini-skills session presented at the National Association of School Psychologists 2020 Convention, Baltimore, MD.
Dudek, C. M., Reddy, L. A., Glover, T. A. (2020, February). Examining the validity of a paraprofessional teacher relationship scale. Poster presented at the National Association of School Psychologists 2020 Convention, Baltimore, MD.
Reddy, L. A., & Glover, T. A. (2020, January). Initial findings of behavior support coaching for paraprofessionals in high poverty elementary schools. Poster presented at the Institute of Education Sciences Annual Principal Investigators Meeting, Washington, DC.
Reddy, L.A., (2019 August). Paraprofessionals the Unspoken and Understudied Heroes of Students with Externalizing Behaviors Disorders.Paper presented at the American Psychological Association, Chicago, Illinois.
Dudek, C. M., Reddy, L. A., Glover, T., Ziemba, H. (2019, February). Teacher practices and student behavior data to enhance learning environments. Paper presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, Atlanta, GA.
Alperin, A, Reddy, L., & Glover, T., & Grant, C. (2019, February). Training paraprofessionals for students with challenging behaviors: A systematic review. Poster presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, Atlanta, GA.
Dudek, C. M., Reddy, L. A., & Glover, T. (2018, February). Examining the professional development needs of paraprofessionals. Paper presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, Chicago, IL.
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