Enhancing Student Achievement Interdisciplinary Study

1. Student Achievement through an Interdisciplinary Lens Valerie R. Gue University of Illinois, Chicago SPED 595

2. Personal Goals • To understand the connections between research and community service • To learn about and be involved in various data collection methods • To gain an understanding of the interdisciplinary approach to supporting student learning

3. UIC Institute for Juvenile Research Research, Training, & Service for Children’s Mental Health: • Mental health service provider for children, adolescents and their families • Clinical training site for child psychiatry and child psychology • Prevention and intervention researchers (http://www.psych.uic.edu/news/ijr.htm)

4. Links to Learning: Background Info. • School-based mental health service model focused on enhancing students’ learning • Comparison of school-based service with clinic-based services • Based in high poverty urban schools, with K-4th grade students with disruptive behavior disorders (ODD, CD, ADHD) (Atkins et al, 2006-2008)

5. Links to Learning: Project Goals • Unite key adults in children’s lives around the goal of learning • Respond to the need for accessible, effective, & sustainable mental health services in impoverished & under-served communities • Compare a classroom-based model focused on children’s learning with mental health services as usual (Atkins et al, 2006-2008)

6. Links to Learning: Service Model (Atkins et al, 2006-2008) Leader Teachers School Behavior Teachers Effective Instruction Classroom Management Family Outreach Mental Health Providers Academic Performance Parents Communication Home Routines Academic Support Home Behavior Family Advocates

7. Links to Learning: My Mission • Focus on strategies that teachers used: to improve academic performance, to improve student behavior & to reach out to families • Interview teachers on the extent to which they used the following classroom strategies or variations of them • Peer Assisted Learning Strategies • Good Behavior Game • Good News Note • Daily Report Card

8. 1: Building a Knowledge Base • Review the literature (articles, research studies, textbook chapters, training manuals) • Attend on-site & off-site meetings • Visit treatment schools • Engage in one-on-one conversations with project staff

9. 2: Collecting Data • Input pre-measure data on DatStat • Communicate with research participants through email & telephone • Conduct interviews at a site convenient for research participants (schools, coffee shops, summer employment sites) • Problem solve with project staff members strategies to accurately & efficiently collect data

10. 3: Reviewing Data • Install digital recorder software • Sync interview data to computer • Transcribe interview data • Identify trends/themes among data • Report findings (at a later date with project staff)

11. Reflections • Focus on student achievement through interdisciplinary lenses • Bonding & therapeutic nature of the teacher interviews • Meaningful research that leaves a lasting & potentially generative effect on school & family communities

12. Social Validity • “Emphasize indigenous resources • Develop capacity in families and schools to sustain positive change • Plan for services that can be implemented with existing funding sources” (Atkins et al, 2003)

13. References • Institute for Juvenile Research Website: http://www.psych.uic.edu/news/ijr.htm • Atkins, M. S., Graczyk, P. A., Frazier, S. L., & Abdul-Adil, J. (2003). Toward a new model for promoting urban children’s mental health: Accessible, effective, and sustainable school-based mental health services. School Psychology Review: 32(4), 503-514. • Atkins, M., Cappella, E., Frazier, S., Marinez-Lora, A., Shernoff, E., Watling-Neal, J. (2006-2008). Project Team Documents. UIC Institute for Juvenile Research.