The authors discuss their examination of the impacts of the BEST in CLASS, Tier 2 intervention, and its impacts on student engagement and problem behaviors in preschool-aged, high-risk children.
This study is part of a larger randomized efficacy trial examining the impact of Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Training: Competent Learners Achieving School Success (BEST in CLASS), a Tier 2 intervention that targets the prevention of emotional/behavioral disorders in young, high-risk children. In this investigation, the authors examined teachers’ implementation and maintenance of instructional practices in early childhood classrooms and the corollary relationships between teacher implementation of the specific instructional practices associated with BEST in CLASS and child engagement and problem behaviors. Fifty-three teachers (26 in treatment and 27 in comparison) and 130 preschool-aged children (66 in treatment and 64 in comparison) participated. Findings indicated that teachers who received training and coaching in the BEST in CLASS intervention increased their use of specific instructional practices, compared to teachers in the control condition. In addition, children whose teachers received the BEST in CLASS intervention demonstrated increased engagement and a decrease in problem behaviors, as compared with those children who were in the control group. Also, positive teacher–child interactions increased and negative teacher–child interactions decreased in the intervention group in comparison with the control group. The authors discuss the results in relation to measuring teachers’ implementation of instructional practices and implementation science. Publisher Abstract Provided