Evaluation design
The study used an experimental-control group design that incorporated within-group
and between-group comparisons to evaluate the effects of the FACET program on
children’s behavior over time, as well as differences between children with challenging
behaviors in experimental versus control classrooms. Children whose behavior was typical
in experimental and control classrooms were included as a normative comparison group.
The design permitted the testing of several predictions:
First, we predicted that implementation of FACET for FOC and GEN children would
yield significant reductions in challenging behaviors and improvement in positive
behaviors over time. A 2 (Group: FOC, GEN)3 (Time: T1, T2, T3) repeated
measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to examine
change in behavior and group differences.
Second, at post-intervention, we expected FACET children (FOC and GEN) to exhibit
more positive behaviors and fewer negative behaviors than children with challenging
behaviors in control classrooms (Control-CHALL). To test this prediction, we
conducted a multivariate analysis of covariance on T3 behaviors (covarying for T1
behaviors) to examine differences between experimental and control groups.
Third, we expected that implementation fidelity would be associated with improvement
in children’s behavior in FACET classrooms. Specifically, we predicted a strong
correlation (r N.70) between behavior gains and ratings of intervention fidelity for FOC
and GEN children in FACET classrooms who received the intervention.
Results
Baseline to post-intervention change for experimental children with challenging behaviors
Table 4 displays the frequency of positive and negative behaviors among children in
experimental classrooms who received the FACET intervention. For both groups (FOC
and GEN), T1 occurred pre-intervention (baseline); T2 measurement occurred preintervention
for GEN children and 5–6 weeks following implementation for FOC children;
and, T3 measurement occurred post-intervention for both FOC (11–12 weeks following
implementation) and GEN (5–6 weeks following implementation) children. The observed
behaviors of children were compared using a 23 mixed-model multivariate analysis of
variance (MANOVA) with group (FOC versus GEN) as the between-subjects variable and