Study finds effective method to help teachers address gap between finding a good practice and getting started

LAWRENCE — Educators can attest they are regularly informed of new approaches, interventions and methods they can use to teach their students, but their time to do so is finite. New research from the University of Kansas has found that an approach that assists special educators with implementing evidence-based practices for their students helps overcome the “know-do gap” to put new approaches in place.

Maria Hugh, assistant professor of special education at KU, and colleagues have been researching how to help teachers adopt new practices and to even anticipate obstacles and visualize how to overcome them. They published their findings in the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation.

“There are a lot of things that we know to do would be good for us, but for many reasons we don’t actually do. Some of those reasons are out of our control. Some are due to our internal thoughts and behaviors,” Hugh said. “My work focuses on those internal reasons, as we know it’s harder to start something than it is to do when it is habit. My research shows that those attitudes are highly predictive of whether people will adopt these evidence-based practices. I target those beliefs because they are malleable and able to change. It may not be easy, but there are strategies for it.”

The new research from Hugh and her colleagues details their work with Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Intervention in Schools, known as BASIS. The technique blends practices known as motivational interviewing, strategic education and social influence techniques to improve individual change behavior and evidence-based practice adoption. Researchers implemented the approach with 191 school counselors and psychologists from eight states for the study.

BASIS uses a technique called motivational interviewing to gauge educators’ attitudes and beliefs about an intervention. The approach allows educators to ask questions about a practice, anticipate obstacles to its intervention and develop plans for overcoming such obstacles before they occur in practice.

Results showed that educators and school mental health professionals who received the training implemented an evidence-based approach called Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy comprehensively, with facilitator competence, participant responsiveness and with fidelity to the intervention. Additionally, the findings showed that educators who received motivational interviewing implemented practices sooner than others who did not, which Hugh said is significant within the course of a school year, when time is limited.

The resistance to new evidence-based practices is not one of stubbornness or an unwillingness to new methods, the researchers said. There have long been trainings on how to implement new practices, but they often lack a method for educators to express their beliefs, anticipate challenges or address what to do if obstacles arise. Moreover, educators have many demands on their time already and often must consider what to stop doing if they are required to adopt a new practice.

“There are barriers like demands on time or lack of leadership support. These are things we plan for and address in BASIS and how to deal with those sorts of situations, like if a teacher doesn’t feel a lot of clear structural support from the principal to integrate this practice into their workload,” Hugh said.

The research team delivered BASIS virtually to teachers and school mental health professionals. The study also found that school professionals competently conducted motivational interviewing and other techniques of the approach with colleagues. Those findings not only improved implementation but help improve sustainability and the reach of such practices.

“It shows that not only researchers can implement evidence-based practices,” Hugh said. “BASIS and MI are very pragmatic and can help teachers and school-based mental health professionals implement new practices.”

Hugh co-wrote the article with Ana Paula Martinez Cueto of the University of Kansas, Kathryn Bruzios, Larissa Gaias, Yasmin Landa, Mahima Joshi, Rose Reyes, Roger Goosey, Michael Pullmann, Rachel Barrett and Aaron Lyon of the University of Washington; Catherine Corbin of the University of Florida; and Clayton Cook and Madeleine Larson of the organization Character Strong.

The publication is the latest in a series the researchers have written on addressing the know-do gap. Previous studies have focused on cost analysis of implementing EBPs, factors influencing adoption of the practices and teachers’ beliefs on transforming instructional practice. The team is also leading several grant-funded projects to further analyze data and study practices to address the know-do gap with administrators, a version of BASIS that is digitized and delivered in 75 minutes instead of the original three hours, and how to individualize the approach even further for individual school-based educators and mental health providers.

The researchers point out that educators, especially special education teachers, are devoted professionals dedicated to delivering the best practices for their students. 

“One thing I see all the time, with BASIS or not, is that our educators are resilient,” Hugh said. “Even when we, as researchers or teacher educators, can’t pay them more, we can support them in helping their students the best that they can. By recognizing the needs of teachers, we’re also humanizing them. In society, teachers are often viewed as heroic or self-sacrificial, but we need to give them support so they can continue provide students the best available practices.”