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The Impact of Working Alliance, Social Validity, and Teacher Burnout on Implementation Fidelity of the Good Behavior Game

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Abstract

This study examined the association of three teacher-specific factors on their level of treatment implementation of an evidence-based classroom management strategy. The three factors were (a) the teacher–coach alliance, (b) teacher ratings of the intervention’s social validity, and (c) teacher burnout. Results indicated that both teacher–coach alliance and social validity were uniquely associated with treatment implementation. In addition, a model with all predictors revealed that the teacher–coach alliance had the largest relation with treatment implementation. It was also found that the reported level of teacher burnout moderated the relation between teacher–coach alliance and procedural fidelity. Specifically, teacher burnout was found to have a negative relation to treatment implementation at low levels of teacher–coach alliance but no relation to treatment implementation at high levels of teacher–coach alliance. These findings suggest that the teacher–coach relationship may not only play a direct role in enhanced treatment implementation for school-based programs but also may mitigate the effects of teacher burnout.

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Acknowledgments

Preparation of this manuscript supported in part by grants from the Institute on Education Science, US Department of Education (Grant #s: R324B080007; R305B040110; H324P040013).

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Correspondence to Daniel M. Maggin.

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Opinions expressed herein are the authors’ and do not reflect necessarily the position of the US Department of Education, and such endorsements should not be inferred.

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Wehby, J.H., Maggin, D.M., Moore Partin, T.C. et al. The Impact of Working Alliance, Social Validity, and Teacher Burnout on Implementation Fidelity of the Good Behavior Game. School Mental Health 4, 22–33 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-011-9067-4

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