Project Description

The mission and overall goal of the Behavior and Reading Improvement Center at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is to implement and evaluate the effects of school-wide programs designed to prevent serious behavior and reading problems of students in kindergarten through third grade at-risk for failure. Children participating in the project (a) come from backgrounds of poverty as indicated by high rates of free or reduced lunch (b) live in neighborhoods with high violent crime rates (c) experience marked difficulties learning to read and/or exhibit behaviors that lead to discipline problems, and (d) likely develop high rates of school problems that are viewed as the foundation for identification with emotional disturbance and learning disabilities if not corrected. Schools participating in the project serve a large percentage of children with this profile and share a commitment to school-wide adoption, implementation, and evaluation of systematic, research-based, and unified primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies for addressing behavior and reading challenges. 

Primary prevention involves universal instruction to avert the onset of behavior problems and reading difficulties such as research-based school-wide reading and behavior programs. Secondary prevention refers to strategies and procedures that address small groups of students who need additional intensive support or assistance to successfully acquire new skills in reading and behavior. Tertiary prevention involves more intense, specialized interventions, such as one-on-one interventions, for individual students who despite previous instruction and intervention efforts experience chronic behavior problems or marked difficulties in learning to read.

Toward the goal of primary intervention of behavior problems, the Behavior and Reading Improvement Center implements the Unified Discipline model that incorporates all aspects of effective school-wide discipline models. Project participants use a variety of secondary prevention procedures that address small groups of students who need additional support or assistance to successfully acquire new behavior skills. Tertiary (more intense, specialized) prevention methods, such as one-on-one interventions, are used for individual students who despite previous instruction and intervention efforts experience chronic behavioral problems. Effective group and individual contingency procedures with strong reinforcement components for encouraging appropriate student behavior are among the research-based strategies that are used to address behavior problems that remain unmanaged by application of the school-wide primary and secondary prevention programs.

Recent summaries of research have emphasized the importance of phonics as a primary decoding strategy for beginning readers. Early reading instruction is most effective when it uses explicit, systematic, phonics as a primary decoding strategy, reinforced with highly decodable text. Our primary reading prevention strategy supports such a program (e.g., Open Court) by providing teachers with instruction in the effective use of remedial practices for students who fail to profit from ongoing instruction. Coupled with this is the need for a close monitoring system to insure consistent progress by students. When students fail to reach benchmarks or if students are already reading below grade level, secondary interventions are required. Secondary interventions in reading use teacher expertise in identifying error patterns and provide small group instruction on specific reading difficulties, using materials which provide sufficiently intense and focused practice directed toward helping students make rapid gains (e.g., Practice Court--a project developed, evidence-based approach to improving skills essential for success in the primary reading program). If weekly progress monitoring fails to show these gains, tertiary strategies will be employed. The most challenged readers are provided with daily, one-on-one supplementary instructional program (e.g., Reading Mastery). Tertiary interventions will incorporates instructional design principles of a beginning reading framework developed at the National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators at the University of Oregon.

At each of these levels teachers receive project led training, consistent monitoring and consultation services, and help in collecting, analyzing, and making instructional decisions based on formative evaluation data. Further, to accomplish its goals, the project provides a full-time teacher to support the three-tiered behavior and reading interventions at each school site. School support teachers assist with ongoing professional development, model lessons and procedures, observe and provide constructive feedback, and work with teacher assistants to make best use of their time in the classrooms. They also help teachers incorporate successful interventions at the primary, secondary, and tertiary level based on the individual needs of students. The school support teachers represent an important part of our efforts to develop sustainable practices beyond the grant period.

 The Behavior and Reading Improvement Center also includes a parent involvement component. We will be working closely with The Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center to develop workshops, technical assistance, and support materials so that parents and teachers can collaborate in providing coordinated efforts to improve the behavior and reading of children across school and home environments. Our efforts are directed toward finding ways to involve parents in school programs and helping them to acquire the skills needed to actively support literacy and behavioral improvements of their children.

The need for comprehensive interventions designed to prevent school failure is widespread. The Behavior and Reading Improvement Center responds to this need by supporting schools in two critical areas. The conceptual model for improving behavior is grounded in a systematic approach that provides a school-wide behavior management program derived from accepted practices with emphasis on positive behavioral support that can be implemented inexpensively. The conceptual model for improving reading is grounded in a systematic approach that provides a school-wide program based on effective principles of instructional design. This approach emphasizes teaching phonological and phonemic awareness to all students, including those at risk for reading disabilities and reading failure. The Project implements and evaluates a full continuum of interventions including primary prevention/universal instruction to avert the onset of behavioral problems, secondary prevention strategies that address small groups of students who need additional support or assistance to successfully acquire new skills in reading and behavior, and tertiary prevention that involves more intense, specialized interventions for individual students who despite previous instruction and intervention efforts experience chronic behavioral problems or marked difficulties in learning to read. The interventions are strength-based, culturally competent, family-focused, and easily maintained once project support has been removed.