Student Achievement through an

Interdisciplinary Lens

Valerie R. Gue

University of Illinois, Chicago

SPED 595

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

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)

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)

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)

Links to Learning: Service Model

(Atkins et al, 2006-2008)

Mental

Health

Providers

Teachers

Effective Instruction Classroom Management

Family Outreach

Parents

Communication Home Routines

Academic Support

Leader Teachers

Family Advocates

Academic Performance

School Behavior

Home Behavior

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

• 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

1: Building a Knowledge Base

• 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

2: Collecting 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)

3: Reviewing Data

• 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

Reflections

• “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)

Social Validity

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.