Pyramidal Training and Coaching to Implement CW-FIT in Elementary General Education Classrooms: A Participatory Action Research Study

Teachers serve as key practitioners to implement Tier 1 positive behavior supports. Using a participatory action research approach, this study examined the effects of a pyramidal training and practice-based coaching (PBC) framework to support general education teachers' implementation of Class-wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT). Two school-based coaches were trained to fidelity in CW-FIT and PBC and participated in all phases of the project, including research design, training, implementation, analysis, and dissemination. Using a multiple-baseline design, we examined the effects of school-based coach-delivered training and coaching on four general education teachers' procedural fidelity of CW-FIT, rates of BSP and reprimands, and whole-class student on-task behavior. Results demonstrated a functional relation between pyramidal training and coaching, and teacher implementation and increases in rates of BSP. Subsequently, whole-class on-task behavior improved across all four classrooms. Social validity data indicated CW-FIT and pyramidal training and coaching to have high acceptability and feasibility.