Rural teacher practices and partnerships to address behavioral challenges: The efficacy and mechanisms of conjoint behavioral consultation

The efficacy of conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC), a family-school partnership intervention, for teachers’ practices and process skills was evaluated. Participants were 152 teachers of grades K–3 in 45 Midwest rural schools randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Treatment group teachers participated in an 8to 10-week CBC intervention. Outcome measures were (a) self-reports of classroom practices and collaborative process skills and (b) direct observations of teachers’ use of effective behavioral strategies. Relative to control group participants, there was a significant positive intervention effect on CBC teachers’ self-report of appropriate behavioral strategies (β =.47, p <.001), observations of their use of positive attention (β =.50, p <.001) and positive consequences (β =.72, p <.001), and competence in addressing problems (β =.95, p <.001). Teachers’ appropriate strategy use was mediated by their use of problem-solving processes. Implications for rural settings are discussed.